Emma's economics department thesis explored the effect that Tony awards have on the consumer demand for Broadway shows.

Reed community members can read Emma's thesis, “'It's All About the Green': The Tony Award's Effect on Broadway Show Demand” online in the Electronic Theses Archive:
https://rdc.reed.edu/i/2ec90330-430a-417d-ad4b-b724611a5c60

Explore more interviews with Reed College alumni on our website:
reed.edu/burnyourdraft

#70: Value of a Tony with Emma Bramson '23, Economics

Amelie started out in the biology department at Reed because she wanted to study bacteria and living things, but then she got a chance to start learning from the biochemists on the faculty. They helped her build the bridge from chemistry to life, which led her to switch her major from biology to biochemistry and molecular biology.

Amelie was also the second student producer for Burn Your Draft, working with us from 2021–22, and it was a delight to get to talk to her.

Reed community members can read Amelie's thesis, “MntR: The Mastermind of Manganese Ion Homeostasis” online in the Electronic Theses Archive:
https://rdc.reed.edu/i/9e05e465-0d21-4fb0-9de1-e6d4d2bf1349

Explore more interviews with Reed College alumni on our website:
reed.edu/burnyourdraft

#71: Bags of Chemistry with Amelie Andreas '24, Biochem and Molecular Biology

Arianna focused on the impacts of the closure of a Walmart in her hometown of Albuquerque for her thesis in the anthropology department. She also tells us about how Reed College's Anthropology Student Fund helped to support her research, and how her thesis adviser helped her re-work her initial thesis ideas using a concept from environmental anthropology.

Reed community members can read Arianna's thesis, “One Albuquerque? Crime, Security, and Dispossession in Albuquerque’s Sacrifice Zone” online in the Electronic Theses Archive:
https://rdc.reed.edu/i/ef189f1b-bd01-4124-a2fa-b3921222eea8

Explore more interviews with Reed College alumni on our website:
reed.edu/burnyourdraft

#72: A Vacant Walmart in Albuquerque with Arianna Aguirre '24, Anthropology

Morgan Thomas is a writer from the Gulf Coast. Their debut story collection, Manywhere, was published in 2022. Their work has appeared in The Paris Review, The Atlantic, American Short Fiction, and elsewhere. They were the recipient of Lambda Literary’s Judith Markowitz Award for Exceptional New LGBTQ+ Writers and have also received support from MacDowell, the Southern Studies Fellowship, and the Shearing Fellowship. Their second book is forthcoming next summer.

Morgan Thomas

In this episode, we hear from Henry, an English major whose thesis journey took a few unexpected turns: from exploring Pacific Northwest regionalism to diving deep into the world of literary naturalism. Henry unpacks how authors Jack London and Frank Norris challenged historian Frederick Jackson Turner’s “frontier myth,” reimagining the American frontier not as a vanished landscape but as an evolving cultural, economic, and imaginative force.

Tune in to hear about survival narratives, Social Darwinist ideas, and what happens when you have to scrap half your thesis to start again (spoiler: it’s not fun, but it’s worth it). Henry reflects on the highs and frustrations of the Reed thesis process, the art of negotiating with an advisor, and the unexpected joy of discovering how to make seemingly unrelated ideas work together.

Reed community members can read Henry’s thesis, “Naturalist Afterlives of the Frontier Myth” online in the Electronic Thesis Archive: https://rdc.reed.edu/i/917eb624-f94d-453a-9638-4975c6123d5f

Explore more interviews with Reed College alumni on our website:
reed.edu/burnyourdraft

#73: Afterlives of the American Frontier Myth with Henry Kendrick '24, English

Halloween 🎃 at the department (MA)
deconstructed club 💿 and slutpop 💄 
💋💋💋

SCARING THE BROS 👻  halloween 2025 at the department (MA)

Cynthia Cruz is the author of eight collections of poems, two collections of critical essays, and one novella. Two new collections of poems are forthcoming: Sweet Repetition in 2025 from the University of Chicago Press and Twilight with Four Way Books in 2026. Cruz is the recipient of fellowships from Yaddo and the MacDowell Colony, as well as a Hodder Fellowship from Princeton University and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Her recent collection of poems, Hotel Oblivion, was a finalist for the Kingsley Tufts Award and the winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award. Cruz earned a BA in English literature at Mills College, an MFA in poetry at Sarah Lawrence College, an MFA in art writing at the School of Visual Arts, an MA in German language and literature at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, and is currently pursuing a PhD at the European Graduate School, where her research focuses on Hegel and madness.

Cynthia Cruz

In today’s episode, our producer Ace sits down with Claire, an English major with a creative writing concentration, to discuss weird fiction, the Reed library—and what may or may not lie beneath it—and the complexities of being a college student in the modern era. The elevator pitch of Claire’s creative writing thesis? Imagine a college that eats people, complete with a student reporter chasing the truth, a dash of ritual sacrifice, and a healthy helping of moral ambiguity.

You won’t want to miss Ace and Claire’s conversation about how literary subgenres can critique capitalism, the difficulty of self-imposed deadlines, the importance of romanticizing one’s life, and the idea that sometimes you have to be the one to go looking for the answers that they don’t want you to find.

Reed community members can read Claire’s thesis, “To Reap What is Sown” online in the Electronic Thesis Archive: https://rdc.reed.edu/i/38514f29-e0e5-4d9e-b436-2f8b007d4665

Explore more interviews with Reed College alumni on our website:
reed.edu/burnyourdraft

#74: Writing the Weird with Claire Navratil ‘25, English

In this episode, we hear from Hannah, a sociology major whose thesis journey crossed disciplines but always circled back to climate change. Her project draws on eighteen interviews with oyster farmers working along Maine's coastline—one of the fastest-warming in the world.

Starting with a question about gender divides between different fishing methods, Hannah found herself pulled toward climate justice and the ways aquaculture communities adapt through strong networks, shared knowledge, and community-driven problem-solving. Tune in for insights into interdisciplinary research, the behind-the-scenes of an interview-heavy project, the tangible impacts a Reed thesis can have, and of course what Hannah really thinks about oysters.

Reed community members can read Hannah's thesis, “Climate Change Adaptation Strategies in Maine Oyster Aquaculture” online in the Electronic Thesis Archive:
https://rdc.reed.edu/i/9e08adc0-f53b-489e-bd35-12cb21d7dae1

Explore more interviews with Reed College alumni on our website:
reed.edu/burnyourdraft

#75: Aquaculture Adaptations with Hannah Goodman ’24, Sociology

Is history repeating itself? Today we will hear from Soha on China’s Belt and Road Initiative (which is often described as the 21st century silk road), and its effect on foreign investment in sub-saharan Africa.

Reed community members can read Soha's thesis online in the Electronic Theses Archive: https://rdc.reed.edu/c/etheses/s/r?_pp=20&query=soha%20ahmed&s=cba1d9f104c81a09b4c2739df6299fa52165a034&p=1&pp=1

#4: China's New Silk Road with Soha Ahmed '20, Economics

“Burn Your Draft” is a podcast exploring the year-long senior thesis experience at Reed College, an independent liberal arts and sciences college in Portland, Oregon. Each episode showcases a senior or recent graduate and interviews them about their thesis: what is it, why did they do it, and what comes next. This podcast is a joint production of Reed students, staff, and alumni, and was made possible by a gift from Seth Paskin '90. New episodes released every other week during the academic year. Episodes may contain explicit language and may deal with sensitive topics. The views, information, or opinions expressed on this podcast are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily represent those of Reed College.