2024 Thesis Presentations
The senior thesis is…
the culminating work of WCA’s Humanities program. It is a summative and integrative project that requires students to use the rhetorical skills developed at all phases of their learning at WCA to develop a thoughtful and persuasive argument on a chosen topic. Their thesis and topic must be things of depth and significance about which Christians can reasonably disagree.
The thesis is not meant to be, primarily, a research paper. It is an argument which will, as a matter of course, rely on good research to make its argument thoroughly and comprehensively. However, unlike a thesis at the collegiate or graduate level, it is not intended to demonstrate specific knowledge of a field in which the student has particular expertise or training. Rather, it is intended to demonstrate the students’ rhetorical skills that have been trained throughout their WCA career, and the ability to use the ideas and arguments discussed and evaluated throughout their studies.
Students think, research, debate, and discern in order to deliver an approximately 20 minute presentation, which is followed by a defense before a panel of academics.
Nathaniel Taylor
Basically Good
Defining morality is a vastly important issue, the world will continue to run from the truth without this understanding. In this thesis I will argue that mankind, believing themselves and all they do to be good, have resultantly fled from an innate, God-given understanding of morality in three ways. First man has sought to create his own personalized morality. Secondly man makes a mirror in which he sees his evil, but chooses to ignore it. Finally it will be made evident that all mankind has been physically and biologically corrupted as result of the Fall, our minds are bent not towards good, but toward evil.
Recorded Thesis
Emmanuel Lewis
Academic Labeling: Focusing on Hardware, Ignoring Virtue
Labeling humans based on their talents and intellectual abilities often distracts from God’s perfect design; and although it is the Christians’ responsibility to grow in intellect, they must also walk daily in the garden of virtue. In this thesis Three components of labeling distract and devalue God’s prized creation. First, intellectual ability must be viewed in light of who God is. Second, labels need to be considered from the perspective of the nature and purpose of man and his responsibility before God. Lastly, a person’s intellectual prowess must be considered as just one trait in a member of the body of believers.
Recorded Thesis
Margaret Murtha
Imitating the Great Physician: Being Christ’s Hands in the Medical Field
The medical field, like all else, has been tainted by sin. Modern medicine’s foundation is that of agnosticism, evolution, and humanism. The gospel brings light to the dark medical field as Christian medical practitioners imitate the good and Great Physician. Imitating Jesus’ example of prayer, compassion, and servanthood, proclaims His love and truth to a sick world and a medical field in need of healing.
Recorded Thesis
james fartro
Havens for Humanity
After decades of neglect American cities have deviated from being havens of human flourishing and community. They have instead been replaced by cities that do not represent civic virtue, are poorly run and have crumbling infrastructure. Cities are now polluted by the light of ‘convenience’ and short term gain over long term sustained growth and community. This has led to Americans losing their physical identity. For this reason, city centers, once the celebrated host of human flourishing, must be revitalized so that the idea of ¨place¨ can contribute in a meaningful way to American citizens´ individual flourishing.
Recorded Thesis
maria cottenden
The Great Commission: Devotion to Which Kingdom?
The Great Commission is a command that all born again Christians are aware of, but some may consider it to be a suggestion, and don’t take the actions necessary to rightly fulfill this calling. In order for it to be taken seriously the good news of the gospel needs to go beyond the walls of the church and into the rest of the corrupted world. It is evident that today in America, Christians have a tendency of fearing man more than God, loving themselves more than God, and wanting to build the kingdom of America rather than that of God. In order to better fulfill the call of the Great Commission these Christians in America must live their lives prioritizing the kingdom of God rather than the kingdom of man.
Recorded Thesis
alceo pierre
Sacred Union: The Marriage of Jesus and His Beloved Church
The transcendent God has planned from the beginning for his son to live in perfect communion with humanity. In order for humans to grasp this plan of communion, God has given them the institution of marriage, a manifestation of how Christ relates to his redeemed people. In Christian marriage as revealed through scriptures, Christ and the Church’s communion is communicated to us in three ways. Christ and the Church are pictured as betrothed, Christ and the Church are revealed as a bride and groom preparing for marriage, and Christ and the Church as revealed as the husband and wife who will live together in harmony and communion forever.
Recorded Thesis
isabell lash
Truth in Pagan Works: A Bridge Between Athens and Jerusalem
The Early Church Father, Tertullian, is famously quoted as saying, “What indeed has Athens to do with Jerusalem?” In this thesis, I will find an answer to his question. The pagan writers of Ancient Greece and Rome wrote myths and philosophy but they did not have the truth of the Gospel. However, Christians can still glean Truth, Beauty, and Goodness from their works. Even in his fallen state, man is still an Image-bearer of God and has an innate yearning for the Divine and for a Saviour. Their desire for truth is evident in their myths and reading them allows us to better understand both man and God better.
Recorded Thesis
Brandon Biederman
Modern Life: Fall of the Family
In a world designed for order, the order that traditional marriage provides in modern society has been lost through the abandonment of God’s design for the family. This occurred in modern society through several means, but the most significant of them include political movements, legislation with public policy, and public education.
Recorded Thesis
Jonathan Hindall
The Rise of a Fallen Popular Culture: High Culture Abandoned
As America found itself entering the modern era, people left behind high culture, which was substituted with popular culture. Artists created things with little effort and produced products that pleased the masses. Subjective truth replaced objective truth; goodness and beauty were abandoned for entertainment; and art became the object of consumption, not the embodiment of truth, goodness, and beauty.
Recorded Thesis
stella rogers
Biblical Beauty; Turning Away From Worldly Standards
In today’s culture we find ourselves in a battle. Society pressures people to attain perfection by society’s standards alone. Christ followers, however, are called to a different and higher standard, that is mocked and rejected by today’s culture. Instead of looking at society’s twisted beauty standards Christians are to be image bearers, looking towards our King. Instead of being a slave to the mirror, Christians are to be slaves to Christ, looking to Him as our standard. Instead of chasing after quick fixes to find perfection in our face and bodies, Christians are called to be content in what we have been granted by God.
Recorded Thesis
Lysandra Santos
A Den of Thieves: American Consumerist “Christians”
Americans are completely lost in consumerism, and it has bled into christian churches. The world continues to reshape the local church and distort doctrine. Today’s local church has started looking less like a house of worship and more like the marketplace that Jesus warned us against during his earthly ministry. Consumerist Christians have wrongly emphasized three main consumerist perspectives of the church: the product, which is the building, programs, sermon, worship, and doctrine; the shopper, who is the church visitor or member; and the advertising, which is primarily done by the pastors, elders, and deacons.
Recorded Thesis
aaron nicholas
Truth and Technology; Informational Truth Crisis through Artificial Intelligence
Modern society is rapidly approaching the precipice of informational chaos. In an era during which truth is deliberately distorted and society willingly embraces deception, Christians face an enduring struggle. The rise of Artificial Intelligence further complicates this battle, posing a threat to the preservation and understanding of truth and knowledge. We can address this issue by addressing what artificial intelligence is and its capacity for distortion of truth, by looking at how AI has already begun to create lies, and what dangers the future of AI holds.
Recorded Thesis
senior
schedule
Monday, April 22
8:45 | Nathaniel Taylor
9:25 | Emmanuel Lewis
10:05 | Margaret Murtha
12:50 | James Fartro
1:30 Maria Cotttenden
2:10 | Alceo Pierre
Tuesday, April 23
8:45 | Isabell Lash
9:30 | Brandon Biederman
10:15 | Jonathan Hindall
12:10 | Stella Rogers
12:55 | Lysandra Santos
1:40 | Aaron Nicholas