Students have the opportunity to work with award-winning faculty on theses and professional projects that examine a variety of subjects.
Emily Ellis (’23 M.A.)
Ellis produced a podcast and website that dives into how over 130 trespass cattle complaints have been filed with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) by the Center for Biological Diversity in the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area (SPRNCA) . Watch her defense on Youtube here. (Professional Project)
Denise Meeks (’23 M.A.)
WATER: A website about our precious resource
Meeks coded this website from the ground up. WATER is a library of everything there is to know about water. (Professional Projection)
Luke Wink Moran (’23 M.A.)
Moran's magazine article investigates the rise of #booktok and its affect on the book publishing industry.
Vanessa Lucero (’23 M.A.)
Ecuadorians en Nueva York: Keeping La Cultura Viva
Lucero is a bilingual journalism program graduate. Her multimedia project covers the Ecuadorian community in New York City. (Professional Project)
Jake O'Rourke (’23 M.A.)
PFAS: The Subsurface Contaminators
O'Rourke created a multimedia project about the scientific and bodily impact of PFAS contamination in Tucson, AZ. Find his documentary at the link above. (Professional Project)
Shawn Burrage (’23 M.A.)
CRITICAL RACE THEORY IN IOWA: AN ANALYSIS OF THE DES MOINES REGISTER'S COVERAGE.
Watch Burrage's thesis defense on Youtube by clicking the play button on the right.
Ashley Morales (’23 M.A.)
"The main objective of this final project is to inform others on mental health illness based on my psychology background, experience of being a behavioral technician, and a journalism student," according to Morales' website. (Professional Project)
Mar Ruiz Barraza (’23 M.A.)
LA FRONTERA Y SUS OJAZOS NEGROS: Una Mirada Hacia la Vida y Cultura Fronteriza
Barraza is a bilingual journalism program graduate. She said her project was meant to highlight the positive aspects of life at the US/Mexico border through touch, site, smell, taste and hearing.
Paula Diaz (’23 M.A.)
Migrantes Desaparecidos/Missing Migrants
Diaz is a bilingual journalism program graduate. Diaz's website is a guide for families who have a loved one missing at the US/Mexico border. (Professional project)
Andrea Morabito (’23 M.A.)
LICENSING OF JOURNALISTS: ‘L’ORDINE DEI GIORNALISTI ITALIANO’, A HISTORICAL REVIEW AND COMPARISON
Watch Andrea's thesis defense by clicking the YouTube play button on the right. (Thesis)
Kynzie Watahomigie (’22 M.A.)
#ilovemydog: the versatility of social media in the online dog community
A collection of essays about the versatility of social media in the online dog community. Watahomigie's essays cover rescue organizations, dog influencers and the communities that develop around the topic of dogs on social media. (Thesis)
Emma Brocato (’22 M.A.)
A Different Burn: a collection of stories about the fire regimes of Southern Arizona
A collection of three long form stories about the Southern Arizona fire regimes (Professional project). Her work was published in the AZ Luminaria. Read her article here.
Peiyu Lin (’21 M.A.)
International Front: Hong Kong 2020
A documentary on how overseas Hong Kong activists in Taipei, Houston and Seattle promoted the democracy of Hong Kong. (Professional project)
Alexandra Pere (’21 M.A.)
A podcast series that looks into the psychedelic revival movement in Southern Arizona. (Professional project)
Sofia Revilak (’21 M.A.)
A Critical Discourse Analysis of Media Coverage of the 2018 Central American Migrant Caravans by US and Mexican News Media Outlets. (Thesis)
Conor Villines (’21 M.A.)
Framing Californian Development, Environmentalism and Recreation, 1965-1978. (Thesis)
Samantha Bishop (’20 M.A.)
Heroines: Stories of Tucson Female Entrepreneurs
In 2019, Tucson's percentage of women-owned businesses was 38.6, higher than the national average. (Professional project)
Katelyn Caldwell (’20 M.A.)
An Analysis of Journalists’ Perceptions of Mass Shooting Coverage and the Impact it has on their Professional Work and Personal Lives. (Thesis)
Nick Smallwood (’20 M.A.)
Saving the Last of the Mount Graham Red Squirrels
Smallwood captured rare footage of the squirrel for his documentary film. (Professional project)
Alisa Ivanitskaya (’20 M.A.)
A project about food security in Arizona. (Professional project)
Nina Kolodij (’20 M.A.)
Science communication from every angle. (Professional project)
Meridith O'Neil (’20 M.A.)
A podcast that looks at belonging and nostalgia through food. (Professional project)
Justin Wylie (’20 M.A.)
A podcast that focuses on the local and global challenges African-American student-athletes face in society. (Professional project)
Justin Sayers (’19 M.A.)
Could an increasingly politically diverse Arizona remain a Republican stronghold? (Professional project)
Lauren Trench (’19 M.A.)
Ironwood Forest National Monument
Named for its dense population of ironwood trees, the monument is home to more than 674 diverse species, including the last indigenous population of bighorn sheep in southern Arizona. However, the monument faces threats. (Professional project)
Jasmine Demers (’19 M.A.)
A family’s multigenerational battle with Huntington’s Disease.” (Professional project)
Natalia Navarro (’18 M.A.)
Why America? A Citizenship Podcast
A collection of immigration and citizenship stories from new and soon-to-be U.S. citizens. (Professional project)
Mikayla Mace (’17 M.A.)
Newspaper Coverage of Mars in the United States and the United Kingdom 2011-2016
From the Apollo moon shots to human exploration of Mars, each successive era of spaceflight has been framed in a logical progression from concept to completion that resonates with the values of the times. (Thesis)
