Awards given to top thesis and dissertations

Since 1995, the Graduate College has awarded the Distinguished Thesis Award and the Distinguished Dissertation Award to students whose work, in the judgment of a committee of scholars, represents the finest in master’s- and doctoral-level scholarship, respectively, at BGSU.

This year’s Distinguished Thesis Award was presented to Amy Wachholtz of Newburgh, Ind., for her thesis entitled “Is Spirituality a Critical Ingredient of Meditation? Comparing the Effects of Spiritual Meditation, Secular Meditation, and Relaxation on Spiritual, Psychological, Cardiac and Pain Outcomes.” Her thesis has been submitted as BGSU’s nomination to the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools’ Distinguished Thesis Award competition.

Kenneth Pargament, psychology department and Wachholtz’s thesis adviser, commented that “she came to Bowling Green, drawing on her rich background, and established an innovative and important program of research, one that represents a ‘cutting edge’ for the field and one that has already garnered considerable national interest among researchers who focus on the mind-body connections.”

Wachholtz earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from DePauw University in 1997 and her master’s degree in psychology from BGSU in December 2002. She is pursuing her doctoral degree in psychology at the University.

Because of the excellent quality of the nominated studies, the Distinguished Dissertation Award Committee has awarded two applicants the Distinguished Dissertation Award. Michael Kimaid of Toledo and Jennifer Rudolph of Sunbury, Ohio, are the recipients of the 2003 Distinguished Dissertation Award.

Kimaid was selected for his dissertation entitled “West of the Line Extended: Cartography and Conflict in Post-Revolutionary North America.” He earned his doctoral degree in history last August from the University.

Scott Martin, a history faculty member and Kimaid’s dissertation adviser, commented that “A major strength of Michael’s dissertation is the prodigious amount of archival research on which it is based. Michael conducted a great deal of research on maps and cartography, exploring not only the documents themselves but the conditions and assumptions that guided their creation. His extensive archival work took him all over the United States, and to London and Barcelona…I have no doubt that the book that will result from his dissertation will make significant contributions to the history of cartography, 18th-century imperialism, and the early American republic.”

Rudolph was selected for her dissertation entitled “Pathways of Well-Being: Adolescent Girls and Their Sexual and Pregnancy Experiences.” She earned her doctoral degree in sociology in last August.

Monica Longmore, a sociology faculty member and adviser on Rudoph’s dissertation, stated that “…as Jennifer demonstrates in her thorough review of the literature, to date, past research has not adequately demonstrated whether girls who engage in sexual activity versus those who do not truly fare worse with respect to their social psychological well-being. What Jennifer does in her dissertation, which is one of her primary contributions to the sociology of adolescence, is to compare the social psychological well-being of adolescent girls who have different ‘degrees’ of sexual experience.”

Kimaid and Rudolph’s dissertations were selected from among five nominated. Other students nominated for the 2003 Distinguished Dissertation Award were Ginger Bihn, communication studies; Ilana Nash, American culture studies, and V. Jane Rosser, higher education administration.