Article by Pho Vu In the beginning of the fall 2022 semester, I had the opportunity to sit down with Professor Lilian Pentecost, the newest addition to Amherst College’s Computer Science Department, for The Amherst Student’s “Fresh Faculty” article. After our initial interview, I asked to follow up with Professor Pentecost to delve deeper into…
Probing Planet Formation: Cailin Plunkett Thesis Spotlight
Article by Amy Zheng Cailin Plunkett ’23 is a physics and math major from Oakland, California. She is writing her thesis with Assistant Professor of Astronomy Kate Follette on the formation of protoplanets. Since childhood, Plunkett wanted to study space and physics. Despite receiving advice to pursue computer science or engineering, Plunkett chose to follow…
Changing Perspective With Galois Theory: Will DeGroot ’23 Thesis Spotlight
Will DeGroot ’23 is a mathematics and computer science major. His thesis works toward answering a “big open question” within the field of abstract algebra called the Galois embedding problem. In collaboration with the Amherst Student. …
The End of the Beginning: Thesis Progress, Applications, and Gnomes
Long time no see, everybody! It has definitely been a productive and exciting summer, and I cannot wait to tell you all about it! As I mentioned in my introductory post, this summer I worked on my psychology thesis. This project explores the emotions, threats, and prejudices that underlie evaluations of people who engage in…
BDSM and Bias: Introducing a Psychology Thesis Process
Hi everybody! My name is Sarah Lapean, and I am a rising senior at Amherst College double majoring in English and psychology. I am doing a thesis in each of my majors, and this summer I received funding through the Gregory S. Call Summer Student Research Program to do preliminary work on my psychology thesis…
Following the Script: Kelly Huang Thesis Spotlight
Kelly Huang ’22 is a mathematics and psychology major from Arcadia, California. Her thesis explores the relationship between anger scripts and psychological adjustment, specifically looking at depression, anxiety, and stress. A script is an assumption or expectation that people have in their heads about how different kinds of interactions are supposed to go. These expectations…
Studying Four-Dimensional Manifolds: Audrey Rosevear Thesis Spotlight
Tell us a bit about yourself; what life experiences influenced you to write a senior thesis? I’ve always liked math. I think my parents did a good job of encouraging that when I was young, and I got lucky and had a number of good math teachers who were very encouraging. I had a kind…