Here is what we’re thinking about thesis topics at the halfway mark.
Crystal is interested in propaganda. She wants to compare some of the targeted ads we see now with propaganda from the early twentieth century.
Jonah is looking at CRISPR, a gene editing technology. He’s interested in some of the social implications of its use on human beings, how it is treated in the law, and how it is being used in China.
Diana wants to look at private deportation centers.
Kamyab is interested in different understandings of freedom and liberty in political philosophy. He has the suspicion that libertarians and conservatives have a different understanding of these terms than he does and he wants to know more about what they mean when then use them.
Jeremy is looking at a law that made it easier to use crowd funding to invest in a business. The idea was to make it easier for smaller firms to raise funds and also to enable smaller investors to get in on early funding of firms. He wants to know how it worked and why those are thought to be desirable goals in the first place.
Molly is working on domestic violence policy. Specifically, she is interested in feminist criticisms of using the criminal justice system to address domestic violence.
Zeke looks to the north, sees the San Gabriel mountains, and says to himself, “there’s a thesis topic out there.” Specifically, he’s interested in how we think of wilderness and he wants to look at the San Gabriel national forest and LA river as examples.