2026 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.
Phoebe Dolesh
A Modest Heart:
AdDRESSing the Issue
Modesty, from a Christian perspective, is not a list of clothing rules meant to control behavior, but a virtue rooted in the heart, a posture of humility and self-control that seeks to honor God rather than draw attention to oneself, and that naturally expresses itself in the way we think, act, speak, and dress. Understanding modesty rightly requires the acknowledgement that culture overvalues attention; an understanding of the Scriptural perspectives on humility, stewardship, and identity as image bearers of God; and that true modesty is lived out practically, not through legalism or fear, but through love for God and concern for others in a way that applies to both women and men. VIDEO RECORDING
Ryan Nee
To the Praise of His Glory: Right Worship
The modern day Protestant church has fallen short of what the Bible commands worship to be largely because it has been shaped by man’s standards. Man’s standards have become the prescription and measuring stick for worship, prioritizing man over God. In addition, worship in Protestant churches often focuses on performance-based worship rather than God, which pleases both the human “performer” and his “audience.” Lastly, many churches fall short of what God deserves because people design and use worship as a sort of therapy, a way to “feel good.” VIDEO RECORDING
Julia Thompson
Redefining Womanhood:
How Feminism Conflicts with God’s Design
Driven by a volatile temperament and a deep-seated bitterness, one woman began to write, her pen fueled by the conviction that the roles of wife and mother were chains to be broken. Her efforts launched what many women see as the manifesto for “freedom.” While feminism emerged to address genuine injustices, its foundational rejection of divine order systematically dismantles biblical femininity, the role of the wife, and the calling of motherhood. Such distortions do not merely affect the individual, but fundamentally reshape the family and culture in ways that contradict God’s design. VIDEO RECORDING
Jack williams
A Call to Christian Courage
In a world of cowardice and selfishness, Christians can use their God-given courage to live with hope, fulfilling God’s purpose and plan no matter what the cost. We live courageously not for our own benefit, but to emulate our Savior and bring God the glory. Christians can know that Christian courage is different from worldly courage; God-given courage helps Christians to courageously set their minds on things above, aligning our wills with His; and Christian courage is to be carried out by fulfilling God’s plans through our actions. VIDEO RECORDING
Kaija Calderhead
Revolutionary Mathematics
A proper understanding of mathematics fulfills our longings as humans created in the image of God. Though there is not a direct causal relationship between the French Revolution and modern mathematics, an understanding of the fuller ideological impact of the French Revolution allows the everyman further insight into Western Society’s loss of mathematical curiosity and the abdication of the field of math to the worldly alone. Math’s transcendent nature, which can be examined through Edmund Burke’s tenets of healthy government in his Reflections on the Revolution in France, is capable, in part, of fulfilling man’s longings for community, permanence, and consistency through change. VIDEO RECORDING
Walter Zhakunets
Just Justice: Godly Retribution
By setting the retributive theory—that punishment is justified and necessary— and the restorative theory—that focuses on repairing harm and rehabilitation—as polar extremes, it may appear as though justice and mercy must be in opposition. However, biblically we know that nothing can be further from the truth. God is both merciful and just. On a spectrum of “justice,” biblical justice can be found dead center. On one pole of the spectrum, there is the restorative theory of justice, which does in fact ignore retribution. On the other side of the spectrum, there is radical sentencing and extreme punishments given by the state. An examination of biblical justice, it can be argued that God ordained the state to exact proportional retributive justice against crimes or offenses. Biblical, philosophical, and historical perspectives support this claim. VIDEO RECORDING
Anna Prugh
Not My Will but Yours:
The High Calling of Submission
There are many instances of abusive authority in the world, so modern culture preaches that authority in and of itself is a form of oppression. Americans often view submission as slavery, as a form of control. Christians, however, must submit to the hierarchy of authority that God has made for their good. They must look to and model Jesus, who perfectly submitted to the Father; second, they must surrender their wills to God’s authority; and third, Christians must model God’s order of authority in marriage. VIDEO RECORDING
Molly Kuyper
In Remembrance of Me:
Man’s Memory for God’s Glory
The brain’s functions are numerous. It has sense, imagination, passions, reasoning, choice, and memory. All of these faculties have been affected by the fall; however, memory continues to be distorted as culture is saturated by the use of smart phones and counterfeit ways to “remember.” However, because the saved man lives in both temporal and eternal time, God’s gift of memory can be used as a tool that equips man to know and live in light of the things of eternity. Through memory, Christians can come to understand the eternal God, become further sanctified, and cultivate community with man and believers throughout time. VIDEO RECORDING
liberty Kirkland
Private Choice and Public Funds:
A Constitutional Defense of School Choice
State-funded voucher programs for private education, such as Edchoice, are constitutional. Voucher programs are defensible because the idea of separation of church and state has been misinterpreted, and does not universally prohibit religious institutions from receiving public tax dollars; secular and anti-Christian beliefs are pushed onto students in public schools, which defies laws about maintaining religious neutrality; and voucher programs are necessary to uphold American statutes which defend parents’ religious freedoms and rights to direct their children’s education. VIDEO RECORDING
Franklin Rogers
The Soldier’s Cure
The Soldier’s Cure is the next installment in WCA’s project theses. It is an original novel about a broken and beaten man trying to save his planet from warfare and disease by traveling to a fantastical version of his world to find an answer. The book deals with the themes and ideas of grappling with guilt and grief, the importance of being loved, and what the meaning of heroism really is. In this presentation, the author will go over his journey as a writer, everything that went into making The Soldier’s Cure into a reality, and what may be to come. VIDEO RECORDING