Society, Culture, and Thought (SCT) Senior Thesis Presentations: Winter 2025
Braving a frigid December evening, Bennington students and faculty packed the CAPA Symposium on Tuesday, December 9, to hear sixteen seniors present their Advanced Work in Society, Culture, and Thought (SCT).
Hosted by SCT faculty member Emily Waterman, the evening events offered an inspiring vision of SCT at Bennington College: splendidly diverse, rooted in serious research, and committed to contemporary relevance.
From forever chemicals to linguistic imperialism, from dorm design to Islamic revolutions, from the philosophy of gaslighting (with an aim towards rooting it out) to the philosophy of love (with an aim towards perfecting its practice), these presentations showcase the breadth and depth of Advanced Work in SCT.
Reflecting on the quickening headwinds of this moment and how these Bennington College seniors are rising to the challenge, SCT faculty member John Hultgren raised a glass, toasting a job well done and also just begun.
Presentations
Katriina Aasmäe '26: “Imposed Unity, Enduring Division: Soviet Linguistic Policies and Their Afterlives in the Baltics”
Yamile Antonio '26: “How does the Construction of Deservingness Impact International Communities’ ability to build Belonging and Support?”
Fatima Alamgir Apurba '26: “Is Your Machine Biased? The Case of AI for Dermatology, Pulse Oximeter, and Risk Prediction in the Era LLM in Healthcare Systems”
Lorijane Bezdjian '26: “The Intersection of Poverty and Higher Education Attainment”
Bianca Burz '26: “Love as an Ethical Practice: Synthesizing Eros and Philia”
Maia Devoy '26: “A Phenomenology of Gaslighting”
Shadan Karimi '26: “How do Elements of Architectural Design Affect Student Well-Being in a College Dorm?”
Phoebe Lahey '26: “Subjectivity and Incompleteness”
Imogen McCain '26: “Kink as a Tool”
Parsa Memarzadeh Moshrefi '26: “The Politics of Nation & State Building in Iran: Reimagining The Persian, The Islamic & The Republic”
August Schnell '26: “PFAS and Toxics Regulation in the United States: The Case of Cottage Grove”
Brayden Peck-Parker '26: “Unionization and it’s Political and Economics Outcomes”
Grace Ripley '26: “Countering the Vigilante Eye: Black Resistance to Surveillance in the US”
Cassadie W. Scott '26: “An Attachment Perspective on the Developmental Origins of Narcissism: Implications for Adult Social Functioning including Interpersonal Violence”
Beatrix Sherry '26: “Nurturing Hate: Moms for Liberty and the Affective Politics of American Conservative Movements”
Mattias Van Cleef '26: “The Alienated Worker: Examining Class Dealignment in the Age of Information”
