reed college thesis archive

The Reed Electronic Theses Archive

Reed's digital repository for senior and MALS theses. The archive—of voluntary submissions—originated from a Reed Students for Free Culture proposal in 2007.

How to contribute to the etheses archive

Current students can opt in to the ethesis archive during the final library submission.

All alumni can contribute to the archive, but the process to do so depends on your graduation year.

If you graduated after 1992, you can use our   Online Submission Portal , but will need a Kerberos account to do so. Instructions on setting one up are available on the   Alumni Programs website .

If you graduated in 1992 or before, please email a PDF copy of your thesis to   [email protected] . After receiving your thesis we will send you a permissions form to fill out and return. Unfortunately, we cannot scan theses at this time. Please check back.

• Save the final version of your thesis as a PDF .
• Save any accompanying materials as a zip file (optional, most people won't have extra files.)
• Gather information about your thesis including; title, abstract, graduation date, and subject keywords.
• Determine your terms of access and copyright clearance statement .
• New submission form in progress. Please check back soon for instructions on submitting

Consult with your advisor about your interest in submitting to the electronic archive, especially if your thesis contains research ongoing at Reed. Additional info can be found in the FAQ section.

Don't have a PDF of your thesis? We can help!

Does the etheses archive have all the reed theses.

No! Adding your thesis is completely voluntary. Submissions do not replace the printed, bound thesis. 

I'm graduating soon. Does my thesis go into the etheses archive?

It is up to you! In the thesis submission form, you can choose whether or not to add your thesis to the etheses archive. Adding your thesis to the etheses archive is voluntary and is not a graduation requirement. If you are unsure about submitting, talk with your advisor.

How do I save my document as a PDF?

Instructions from IT for creating PDFs with Mac and Windows . 

What are accompanying materials and how do I submit them? How do I make a zip file?

You can submit supplemental files such as digital images, audio, data, and video files in addition to your thesis. They should be compressed into a separate, single zip file. You will need to create a zip file even if you are just submitting one single accompanying file. Instructions on making a zip file are below.

Mac: Highlight the file(s) you wish to zip, go to the File menu (or right-click) and select the option to “Compress” items. The zip file “Archive.zip” will appear in the same directory as the files you selected to compress.

Windows: Highlight the file(s) you wish to zip, right-click and select  Send to>Compressed (zipped) folder . The zip file will appear in the same directory as the files you selected to compress.

What's a copyright clearance statement?

If your thesis incorporates copyrighted material, (images, photographs, figures, data, illustrations, etc. not created by you), you’ll need to confirm that you have sought permission or are claiming fair use. For more information consult the Copyright Help for Theses guide or contact us for help .

Who can access the archive?

At present, access is limited to current Reed students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Log in with your Reed Kerberos credentials .

The archive may eventually become a public collection. Your thesis will not be made public unless you have given us permission to do so.

I submitted my thesis, but I don't see it yet.

The library will load the theses as quickly as possible, but there will typically be some time between submission and access.

I submitted the wrong PDF, can I resubmit it?

Please contact us at [email protected]  if you submitted the wrong file or you wish to change the terms of access for your theses (e.g. from Reed-access-only to public.) 

I'm an alum, can I contribute my thesis to the archive?

Yes! If you graduated after 1992, you can submit your thesis through our Online Submission Portal . You will need to set up a Kerberos account to do so. Instructions on doing that are available on the Alumni Programs website .

If you graduated prior to 1992, please email a PDF copy of your thesis to [email protected] . After receiving your thesis we will send you some brief questions to help us catalog your thesis in the archive.

I don't have a PDF but I'm an alum. Can you digitize it for me? 

Unfortunately, we cannot scan theses at this time. Please check back as we hope to reopen scanning requests soon.

I have another question but don't see the answer here.

Contact us at [email protected] .

Music Department

Thesis title archive.

Class of 2021

• Sound, Media, and Affect at Portland's Black Lives Matter Protests  - Mo Allyn 
• La Orquestra Psicodélica Transcontinental: Musical Hybridity in Modern Latinx Alternative Music - Sebastian Bishop
• Mambo Mambo: How It Got On The Dance Flo’ - JuCe Brandon
• Waveform Transmissions: Minimalism and Dynamic Expression in Techno - Henry Oberholtzer

Thesis Help 2023-24

• Thesis General Info
• Thesis Submission Process
• Electronic Thesis Archive
• Copyright Help This link opens in a new window
• How to Cite Sources
• Data Help This link opens in a new window
• CUS Thesis Help This link opens in a new window
• Frequently Asked Questions

Email us at [email protected]

Find your subject librarian to send an email or make an appointment.

• Last Updated: Feb 29, 2024 4:04 PM
• URL: https://libguides.reed.edu/thesis

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Burn Your Draft

Exploring the reed college senior thesis process.

Thesis Mini #1

Producer and current senior, Juno Kerelis, talks about organization, and how being responsible for writing a year-long thesis differs from more structured, assignment-driven courses. Juno talks to other thesising seniors about how they’re dealing with organization as well.

#58: Snowbirds in South Beach with Isaac Walton ’24, Anthropology

Isaac graduated in fall 2023 as a spring/fall grad in the anthropology department. His thesis was titled “ Aging in The Sun : An exploration of the Jewish Retirement Community in South Beach, Florida,” and his work focused on how this community in Florida appeared and disappeared. He also talks about how he found anthropology, found his topic, and found Reed (he’s from Australia).

#57: Title IX Perceptions with Francesca Tangherlini ’22, Sociology

We’re excited to welcome Francesca back to the podcast! Francesca was our first student producer, named the podcast, and was integral as we were still figuring out what we were going to be and how we were going to do it. The voice of this podcast is largely Francesca’s voice (along with the voices of all the alumni we’ve interviewed) and it would have been something entirely different without her. Thanks Frank! (Francesca went by Frank back when she was working for the podcast.)

Francesca’s thesis examined Title IX implementations and student perceptions of these implementations at the level of the liberal arts college. Check out the episode to hear about institutional review boards, and why you should put your thesis into the library thesis template well before it’s due.

Reed community members can read Francesca’s thesis, “ The Small Liberal Arts Experience: Title IX and Student Perceptions of Sexual Misconduct ,” online in the Electronic Theses Archive.

#56: Breaking Ancient DNA with David Rothfels ’23, Chemistry/Classics

David studied archaeometry at Reed through an ad hoc major in the chemistry and classics departments (classics at Reed is now known as Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies). He was introduced to archaeometry, the application of scientific methods and technology to archaeological study, by a research mentor after his sophomore year, and then went about petitioning to form his ad hoc program at Reed (it’s not an easy process).

Reed community members can read David’s thesis, “ Hoping to Smash DNA with Rocks and Pickaxes ,” online in the Electronic Theses Archive.

#55: Oregon’s Black Exclusion Laws and a Salem Church with Peri Joy Long ’23, Religion

Peri Joy planned for the work of her thesis year to center on race, religion, and the history of Oregon, and her writing focused on archives related to a 19th century congregation in Salem, Oregon led by Reverend Obed Dickinson. Dickinson’s decision to admit three formerly enslaved Black persons—Elizabeth Johnson and Robert and Polly Holmes—into his congregation marked the beginning of a six-year conflict between Dickinson, the white church members, and the broader Salem community over the issue of race.

Reed community members can read Peri’s thesis, “ Bringing the Truth to Bear: Obed Dickinson and an Imagined Community of Racial Equality in Nineteenth-Century Salem, Oregon ,” online in the Electronic Theses Archive.

You can learn more about Obed Dickinson and Oregon’s Black exclusion laws from the Oregon Historical Society’s Oregon Encyclopedia.

• Victor Mukhin

Victor M. Mukhin was born in 1946 in the town of Orsk, Russia. In 1970 he graduated the Technological Institute in Leningrad. Victor M. Mukhin was directed to work to the scientific-industrial organization "Neorganika" (Elektrostal, Moscow region) where he is working during 47 years, at present as the head of the laboratory of carbon sorbents.     Victor M. Mukhin defended a Ph. D. thesis and a doctoral thesis at the Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia (in 1979 and 1997 accordingly). Professor of Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia. Scientific interests: production, investigation and application of active carbons, technological and ecological carbon-adsorptive processes, environmental protection, production of ecologically clean food.   

Title : Active carbons as nanoporous materials for solving of environmental problems

Quick links.

• Conference Brochure
• Tentative Program

Visual culture and the Moscow Metro

James Andrews first rode the Moscow Metro in the 1980s as an undergraduate student studying in the former Soviet Union.

Now after 35 years, the metro is taking him on a new journey: documenting how its iconic public spaces reveal the story of Moscow itself as the city evolved under Joseph Stalin and his Soviet and post-Soviet successors.

This May, Andrews, professor of history, gave a public lecture on his new research project at the Kennan Institute in Washington, D.C. The Kennan Institute is part of the Woodrow Wilson Center, where Andrews was a former senior resident fellow.

The talk, which has been made available on YouTube, was so well-received that Andrews immediately received an additional invitation to present at the Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia at New York University.

What makes the Moscow Metro a fascinating subject for a historian? More people ride the Moscow Metro each day than the New York City Subway and London Tube combined, yet its history is relatively unknown, Andrews said.

“Everyone has a story about the metro, but there has never been a book in English about its history,” Andrews said. “Many of my generation spent an endless amount of time on the metro. Before people had cell phones, you would always say, ‘Well, we’ll meet on the platform at this station.’ Everyone spent time traveling through this cavernous system. It’s a labyrinth really, but at the same time people don’t know much about its history in detail.”

Andrews’ previous books focus on the history of Russian science, technology and the Soviet space program. His new book project on the metro is another opportunity to study iconic Soviet technology, as well as visual culture.

The original metro stations, built with deep shaft tunneling methods beginning in 1932, had airy open ceilings with gorgeous bas-relief architecture—a canvas that Stalin used to create a public art monument to socialism.

“Socialist countries had a tendency to produce technologies that they could adorn with stories,” Andrews said. “Their metro was started in the 1930s under Stalin, and they invested a lot of money in it. It was important for two reasons: there was a utilitarian nature. The crowds were incredible in Moscow. They needed better public transportation. People had been flooding in from the countryside during collectivization. The other thing was to come up with a monument to socialism. That’s why they hired all these architects to decorate, and they decorated each station thematically.”

In the years after Stalin’s death, Nikita Khrushchev issued an edict rejecting the metro’s flamboyant architectural style in favor of a pre-fabricated, practical style, Andrews said. At the same time all over the city, de-Stalinization was happening, and street signs, busts of Stalin and station names were changed or removed.

“The irony is Stalin funded it,” Andrews said. “It’s a Stalin-era display technology project, but by the Khrushchev era they were erasing Stalin’s name from it.”

Andrews has had unlimited access to Moscow’s architectural archives, including many original photographic negatives, and will return to Russia next summer to research political archives.

“The Bolsheviks liked to document everything, but I was shocked at how many photographs they had taken of all these projects, documenting every stage and how well they were preserved,” he said.

Throughout his research, he has uncovered more stories hidden within familiar metro spaces.

One Russian architectural archivist told Andrews about being born in the metro in 1942, during a time when its underground stations housed makeshift hospitals, military meetings and even cultural events such as film nights.

Public spaces bear new stories over time, and Andrews is closely following the story told by newly constructed metro stations. New stations are bringing back marble-laden aesthetics and cultural themes that highlight famous Russian figures like chemist Dmitri Mendeleev or writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky, he said.

“I think the story tells us now that during Putin’s era you see a resurgence of Russian nationalism and Russian themes,” he said. “Not every station can be imploded into this reductive narrative, but it points again to how the narrative of the metro stations changes as the politics of Russian change to some extent and the city itself.”

And it shows how the Moscow Metro has a seemingly endless amount of track for a historian to travel.

“What I love about the project is there is a political history to it, a technological history, a social history, an engineering element, and an artistic element,” Andrews said. “It’s a multi-disciplinary study, which is both fascinating to me and challenging.”