Student Research

Sociology Capstone Projects

Created by Gettysburg College Students

In their junior or senior year, sociology majors design and conduct independent, primary research under the direction of their Sociology Capstone instructor. These original content analyses form the basis for the digital portfolios featured here. Feel free to click through to students’ websites to learn more about their projects, their use of data visualization tools, and their future career aspirations.

LGBTQ+ Legislation & Universities

Mav Schmidt, class of 2024, investigated the relationship between pro- or anti-LGBTQ+ state legislation and diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at public […]

TERFs on Twitter

Jacob Krebs ’24, Sociology major and Writing minor, analyzed the rhetoric of trans-exclusionary radical feminists (TERFs) and transphobic conservative pundits on Twitter […]

Decolonizing the Museum

Fiona Cheyney ’24, a Sociology and Anthropology double major, analyzed museum websites in order to better understand their decolonizing efforts in her […]

Prisons, Programming & Rehabilitation

December 2023 graduate Bella Hoffman, a Sociology and Psychology double major, compared prison websites in Democrat- and Republican-led states to understand contemporary […]

Malls & Consumer Rhetoric

In her senior capstone project, Grace Daihl-Gochenauer ’24 looked at Facebook posts about successful and unsuccessful malls in Pennsylvania, concluding that nostalgia […]

Homelessness, Media & COVID-19

In her senior capstone project, ‘(De)humanizing Homelessness,’ Sociology major and Writing minor Natalie Wisniewski ’24 compared news media images of homelessness before […]

Race in Campaign Advertising

Sociology and Political Science double major Max Robins ’24 studied US presidential campaign ads aired on television between 1980 and 2020 in […]

Gender & Toy Advertising

In her senior capstone project, ‘Shaping Behavior: Gender Stereotypes in Toy Advertising,’ Mikaela Rice ’24 examined print toy ads from the 1960s […]

Islamophobia in Presidential Speeches

Ronald Moyer’s ’23 senior capstone project, entitled ‘A Faceless Enemy: Islamophobic Rhetoric in State of the Union Speeches,’ examined the words of […]

Women in Magazine Ads

In her senior capstone project, Keep your Face on Longer, Claudia Mischler, class of 2023, conducted a content analysis of advertisements in […]

Christianity, College & Sexual Consent

In her senior capstone project, Is it Christian to Consent?, Public Policy and Sociology double major Alli Dayton, class of 2023, studied […]

First Gen Students & College Websites

Sociology and Spanish double major Julia Piness’s ’23 capstone project analyzed HBCU and PWI websites and the discourse those institutions constructed around […]