Frank interviewed a recent MALS grad, Libby O'Neil '19, about her master's thesis, "'A Voice and Nothing More': Technological Embodiment and the Artificial Female Voice." Libby is a graduate of Reed's only graduate degree program, the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies, often referred to as the MALS degree. Libby used Amazon's Alexa voice assistant as a primary text for part of her thesis, and used Alexa, in part, to examine some ways we use technology in our daily lives.

Reed's MALS program: https://www.reed.edu/MALS/

Reed community members can read Libby's thesis online in the Electronic Theses Archive: https://rdc.reed.edu/i/9dc51a44-8ac0-41ef-9776-833d1e09943c

Frank and Saga discuss Saga's thesis, "Our Beds Are Islands: Creating Queer Intimacy Through Physical Theatre In The Age Of Streaming Media", which included a theatre performance in the fall.

If you'd like to hear more from Saga, check out this TEDx event from January 2020 (referenced on the podcast): https://www.ted.com/talks/robbin_derry_and_saga_darnell_understanding_non_binary_excerpts_from_a_correspondence

Reed community members can read Saga's thesis online in the Electronic Theses Archive: https://rdc.reed.edu/i/e9c32ac5-bb19-4998-8b30-7a98c6fc3fa4

Seth Paskin '90 interviewed Mitzi Zitler '19 back in fall of 2019 about her thesis work investigating the wholesale electricity market in Oregon, and some of its interactions with California markets. Mitzi's thesis title: "Econometric analysis of real-time wholesale electricity prices at major west coast trading hubs".

Frank and Duncan talk about his thesis, "Beyond the Photo Album: Families in Photography Books," and Duncan explains why photo books are his favorite way to display photography. He also talks a bit about how the pandemic did, and didn't, affect his thesis, along with how his current role working in the Reed Admission Office is informed by his experience in writing a thesis.

Reed community members can read Duncan's thesis online in the Electronic Theses Archive: https://rdc.reed.edu/i/189ef975-5cb2-425e-a377-51f3fe283434

Gerry wrote a thesis which focuses on 20th century cigarette advertisements, and the relationship which those advertisements mediated between cigarettes and the people who smoke them. Follow along with Gerry's experience writing this thesis for an ad hoc interdisciplinary major.

Reed community members can read Gerry's thesis online in the Electronic Theses Archive: https://rdc.reed.edu/i/f0af5aa1-fd3d-4d6e-856a-79279df06bda

Alyse entered Reed with an interest in microfinance and connections in Mexico, so spending a year examining microloans and their outcomes for people in Mexico made sense for her. Listen to Alyse as she talks about the thesis she wrote as part of her bachelor's degree in Economics.

Reed community members can read Alyse's thesis online in the Electronic Theses Archive: https://rdc.reed.edu/i/3a1e5820-b5cc-4d57-a9b3-f1e793a6d89b

Lewis had a secular upbringing, but was fascinated by Fundamentalist Christianity in the U.S. from a young age. His political science department thesis gave him the opportunity to research Fundamentalism by examining the politics of Pat Robertson. Lewis spent a year and a half visiting churches and interviewing Fundamentalists, and also took an unplanned dive into social theory to find a working definition of "fundamentalist" in order to support his thesis.

Learn a bit about genomic sequencing and annotation of Daphnia magna (water fleas) with Nick as he talks about finding his thesis topic and advisor, and how he switched directions after the pandemic shutdown interrupted his lab work.

Reed community members can read Nick's thesis online in the Electronic Theses Archive: https://rdc.reed.edu/i/bec39bda-5872-4539-9307-9b6b45ed4f07

Ella Fisher '20 talks about the relationships between trauma and stand-up comedy in a thesis that discusses both Hannah Gadsby and Richard Pryor.

Reed community members can read Ella’s thesis online in the Electronic Theses Archive: https://rdc.reed.edu/i/73344e7d-043a-472c-8ede-95489c1329ba

A spontaneous thesis sounds like an oxymoron, but to Rosie Tabachnick it sounded like a challenge. Today we will hear about the use of spontaneity as a method of rehearsal and direction in her senior thesis production.