2026 Undergraduate UCSB History Theses

Seminar Director: D. Blumenthal

Nicolette d’Ingillo, “The Relic Theft of Saint Nicholas, from Myra to Bari: Religious Patronage as Civic Promotion” (Undergraduate thesis, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2026). Mentor: D. Blumenthal

Alex Fischer, “The Power of the People: What History Teaches Us About Collective Action” (Undergraduate thesis, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2026). Mentor: P. Spickard

Violet Fowler, “Who put the ‘FUN’ in Fundamentals? Assessing the Factors Behind the Birth of the Edutainment Renaissance” (Undergraduate thesis, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2026). Mentor: L. Jacobson

Kayla Goodin, “Coachella and the Negotiation of Authenticity: Music, Culture and Commercialization in the Digital Age” (Undergraduate thesis, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2026). Mentor: L. Jacobson

Amanda Grissom, “Rights Without Obligation: Corporate Personhood and the Shifting Allocation of Responsibility in American Constitutional Law, 1873-2010” (Undergraduate thesis, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2026). Mentor: G. Perrone

Evan Ho, “A Dissection of the Nanyue Identity: Moving the Frontiers of the Southern Han Dynasty” (Undergraduate thesis, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2026). Mentor: A. Barbieri

Jenny Jiang, “Soil, Sovereignty, and Belonging: Land as the Legal Terrain of American Citizenship in the Nineteenth Century” (Undergraduate thesis, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2026). Mentor: G. Perrone

Enri Lala, “Killing in the Intelligence Age: Aspects of Weapons Technology Development Since the Gulf War” (Undergraduate thesis, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2026). Mentor: J. Lee

Vanessa Manakova, “From Frontier Violence to Cold War Crisis: Zhenbao/Damansky in Chinese, Soviet, and American Perspectives” (Undergraduate thesis, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2026). Mentor: A. Edgar

Grace Medecki, “Deportation as a Mechanism of Racial Discrimination and Social Control: Analyzing Effects of Border Patrol and INS from the 1920s to 2000s” (Undergraduate thesis, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2026). Mentor: V. Castillo-Muñoz

Paola Mota, “Beyond the Light of the Sun King: Court Clothing as Adornment, Femininity, and Agency” (Undergraduate thesis, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2026). Mentor: H. Bernstein

Caroline Perez, “Heroin in Vietnam: How the Federal Government Perceived and Addressed Heroin Use Among US Troops Fighting the Vietnam War” (Undergraduate thesis, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2026). Mentor: A. O’Connor

Carly Roitblat, “The Progressive Enslaver: A History of Repackaged Justifications for Forced Carceral Labor” (Undergraduate thesis, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2026). Mentor: G. Perrone

Jiana Williams, “The Trinity of Subjugation: The Creation of Racialized Stereotypes and Their Impact on Enslaved Black Girlhood in the Antebellum South” (Undergraduate thesis, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2026). Mentor: G. Perrone

Sophia Yu, “Beyond Loving: Asian American Intimacy, Immigration & Exclusion in Twentieth-Century Virginia” (Undergraduate thesis, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2026). Mentor: P. Spickard