Undergraduate Research in RC
Honors Thesis Spotlight: Madeline Scott
Interview by Elliot Froese
Madeline Scott is an English major with a concentration in technical writing and an avid interest in young adult literature. She credits Y’all Fest in Charleston, South Carolina with introducing her to the intersection of publishing and young adult writing. According to Scott, “there are some really great conversations happening right now about diversity and representation in literature, which I think is so important for young readers.” Some of the young adult novels she has enjoyed recently are The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson and Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim.
Scott chose to combine her passions for her senior thesis by doing a comparative analysis of the Big Four publishing companies, including both their publishing websites and the reading community websites they have established for young readers. Scott’s goal is “to figure out why these websites exist, why these communities exist and then why they don't exist for other categories.” She wants to know “what about young adult literature makes it so suited for these online reading communities.”
Madeline Scott is writing her honors thesis with Bethany Mannon, Elaine O'Quinn, and Bill Brewer
Recent Publications
Two of Peaches Hash’s former Honors RC 2001 students have been published in Aisthesis: The Interdisciplinary Honors Journal. Both of these articles originated from Dr. Hash’s multiwriting research assignment, which asks students to take readers on the journey of their process of researching, how they came to know information, and their constructive knowledge through creative methods.
Sarah Brown, an Exercise Science major within the Honors College, published “Alderozital Study Notes,” a commentary on animal testing designed as a research study: https://pubs.lib.umn.edu/index.php/aisthesis/article/view/3847/2898
Amelia Rhodes, a Management major within the Honors College, published “Are You Beautiful Enough?”, a commentary on social media’s influence on body image in the form of an internal monologue of a teenager: https://pubs.lib.umn.edu/index.php/aisthesis/article/view/3829/2897