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CS 5396 - Senior Thesis

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Ana Girard is a Ph.D. student in the RASC/a: Rhetorics of Art, Space, and Culture program at Southern Methodist University. She received her M.A. in Art History from the University of Houston. She graduated with honors and double majored in Art History and Spanish at the University of Houston. Girard has held the Samuel H. Kress post-graduate interpretive fellowship and two curatorial fellowships at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and the Menil Collection. She has also served as a short-term research assistant to past mentors and private collectors. Girard’s primary research focus is the visual and material culture of the Early Modern Hispanic World, particularly emphasizing transatlantic histories, religious art and indigenous participation in the global Renaissance-Baroque. Girard is interested in intersections between European, Viceregal, and pre-Hispanic artisanship and worldmaking. She is passionate about artworks and artifacts that have traveled across cultural, aesthetic and religious boundaries.

Arvin Maghsoudlou

Arvin Maghsoudlou is a doctoral candidate in the RASC/a: Rhetorics of Art, Space and Culture program in Art History at Southern Methodist University and a 2021-22 Andrew W. Mellon fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Arvin comes from Iran, where he received an undergraduate degree from the University of Tehran and a master's degree in Islamic Archaeology from the University of Mazandaran. He specializes in the art of late antique western Asia and the Iranian world, particularly during the Sasanian and early Islamic periods. With an emphasis on materiality and object agency, Arvin's dissertation investigates the transcultural reception of Sasanian silver vessels across Eurasia and their long-term impact on the aesthetic sensibilities of the later periods. Maghsoudlou's research has received multiple awards and recognitions, including the Fellowship in History of Art and Visual Culture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Institution Fellowship at the National Museum of Asian Art, and the Alessandra Comini International Fellowship for Art History Studies.

Chloe Smith

Chloe Smith is a first year in the RASC/a: Rhetorics of Art, Space and Culture M.A. program in Art history. In 2020, she received a B.A. in art history and a B.A. in studio art with a concentration in Printmaking from Louisiana State University. As an Undergraduate her work was exhibited in It’s a Print Thing at Nichols College in 2021, Layers at LSU in 2022 and has her work presented at the LSU Discover Day in 2021 and 2022. Her current research interests include contemporary American printmaking within the sphere of contemporary Native American Artists.

Christine Burger

Christine Burger is a Ph.D. student in the RASC/a: Rhetorics of Art, Space and Culture program in art history at SMU. She received her B.A. in art history from University of Zurich in Switzerland and her M.A. in both Arts and Culture and Media Studies from Leiden University.

Before coming to SMU, Burger worked for eight years in museums in Switzerland and in Texas. She was an Assistant Curator at Fondation Beyeler in Basel, where she worked on exhibitions such Jean Dubuffet. Metamorphoses of Landscape (2015), Balthus (2018), and The Young Picasso. Blue and Rose Period (2019). Most recently, she was the Curatorial Research Assistant for European Art at the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA), where she supported the Senior Curator of European Art with Cubism in Color: The Still Lifes of Juan Gris (2021) and Van Gogh and the Olive Groves (2021). She also curated the exhibition Picassos Muses: Between Inspiration and Obsession (2023) at the DMA. Additionally, Burger also works on independent curatorial projects and is a co-founder of the Basel-based networking group for female-identifying art workers FAM. She has been published in exhibition catalogues on Jean Dubuffet, Balthus, Picasso and Juan Gris.

In her research, Burger is interested in a global approach to modern and contemporary art, the archive, as well as death and mourning.

Emma Woods is a first-year student in the art history’s RASC/a: Rhetorics of Art, Space and Culture M.A. program. She graduated summa cum laude with her B.A. in religious studies and a minor in Jewish studies from Southern Methodist University in 2019. As an undergraduate, she had an internship at the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum during their institutional transition and studied language in France, art history in Spain, and human rights in California. Her research concentrates on intersectional feminism in contemporary art with particular interest in domesticity and domiciles, collectives and collaboration, and nontraditional art media.

Erin Wilson

Erin Wilson is a Ph.D. student in the RASC/a: Rhetorics of Art, Space and Culture program in art history at SMU. She received her M.A. in art history from the University of South Florida and her B.S. in arts administration from the University of Tampa. In her master’s thesis, An Alternative Ancien Régime? Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun in Russia, Wilson examined the artist’s professional experiences as a French émigré. An article based on this research titled “Drafting an Image of Success: The Russian Patronage of Émigré Élisabeth Louise Vigée Lebrun” is forthcoming.

Recently, Wilson served as Associate Curator at the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, FL. While there she developed numerous exhibitions, including Explore the Vaults: Images Private and Public, c. 1500-1800 (2022-2023) and Defining Lines, the Prints and Drawings of Maxime Lalanne (2022) . Her research interests remain centered on French painting of the long eighteenth century.

Gabriela Paiva de Toledo

Gabriela Paiva de Toledo: Gabriela Paiva de Toledo is a Ph.D. student in the RASC/a: Rhetorics of Art, Space, and Culture at Southern Methodist University. She received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Campinas (Brazil), in History with an Art History minor, in 2015, and her Master of Arts degree in Art History from the same institution in 2017. Her current research focuses on the relations between ecology and Contemporary Art produced in and about Brazil. She is a member of the Curatorial Minds Lab, a project of the SMU Pollock Gallery and Hawn Gallery. She is currently (2021-2022) a curatorial fellow at The Warehouse, Dallas, assisting in the organization of the exhibition "Tender Objects: Emotion and Sensation after Minimalism," and acting as liaison between The Warehouse and the SMU art history department. Contact information: [email protected] .

Jean Marie Christensen

Jean Marie Christensen is a doctoral candidate in the RASC/a: Rhetorics of Art, Space and Culture Ph.D. program in art history at SMU. She received her B.A. in history with an art history minor from Oklahoma State University in 2015 and her M.A. in European history from The University of Tulsa in 2017. Her research examines Tudor and Stuart portraiture through the theories of the king's two bodies and the body politic to analyze the construction of authority through the representation of the royal body. Her research also focuses on ideas of body image, family and dynasty, and the monarch’s place within court culture in early modern Britain. [email protected]

Jennifer Laffick

Kelsey Rozema

Kelsey Rozema is a PhD student in the RASC/a: Rhetorics of Art, Space and Culture Ph.D. Program in Art History. She received her masters in art history from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. She is interested in the displays of both agency and oppression in eighteenth-century Spanish portraiture.

Laura Martin

Laura Martin is a Ph.D. student in Art History at SMU, studying the art of the early modern Hispanic world. She received her master’s degree in art history at SMU in 2023, and before that worked as a secondary history teacher. Martin's research interests center on religious art in Spain and Latin America. Her research explores how religious images served as conduits for the divine, taking seriously their power within the early modern imaginary. Her work also investigates how early modern conceptions of gender-impacted faith and how those ideas translated into visual rhetoric.

Libby Bush is a first-year M.A. student in the RASC/a: Rhetorics of Art, Space and Culture program. She received her B.A. from Baylor University with honors in 2023. She recently completed an undergraduate thesis discussing religious imagery in Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome and Early Christianity. During her time as an undergraduate, she interned at the Nasher Sculpture Center and Laura Rathe Fine Art in the Dallas Design District. Her current research interests include religion and cultural exchange in the Ancient Near East. 

Lin Zhang is a first-year M.A. student in the Art History program. She received her B.A. in Fine Art from Hubei Minzu University in 2014 and her first M.A. in Art History from the University of Sussex in 2021. Zhang’s M.A. thesis focused on the relationship between documentary photography and power and its political ideology expression through the lens. Her current research concentrates on Asia contemporary art, particularly the relationship between archival art, family albums, individual and collective memory, and identity.

Lindsey Reynolds

Lindsey Reynolds is a Ph.D. student in the RASC/a: Rhetorics of Art, Space and Culture program in art history at SMU. She received her B.A. in art history, with a certificate in museum studies, from The University of Texas at Austin in 2018 and her M.A. in art history from the University of Houston in 2021. Her M.A. thesis examined a selection of contemporary artists of Latin American and Middle Eastern descent who remediate archival resources in their work to recontextualize their national and cultural histories. Reynolds has held fellowship positions at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Blaffer Art Museum at the University of Houston; and FotoFest, Houston. Prior to her graduate studies, she worked at the Texas Commission on the Arts as a program assistant. Her current research interests focus on modern and contemporary art from Latin America, the Middle East, and their diasporas, emphasizing its relationship to global art markets. 

Maria Bastos-Stanek

Maria Bastos-Stanek is a Ph.D. student of Latin American art. Bastos-Stanek earned her B.A. in the history of art and architecture from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and M.A. in the history of art and architecture from Tufts University. She specializes in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Brazilian art and visual culture. Her research focuses on the connections between art and the history of science and technology, the culture of war, and political and economic philosophy.

Natalia Lopez

Natalia Lopez is an M.A. student in the RASC/a: Rhetorics of Art, Space and Culture program. She received her B.S. in Integrative Studies from the University of North Texas, focusing on topics in sociology, art history and communications. Her research interests include the visual culture in Latin America during the twentieth century. 

R. Arvid Nelsen

Arvid Nelsen is a Ph.D. student in the RASC/a: Rhetorics of Art, Space and Culture in Art History. He received his B.A. in Greek and Latin from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities and M.A.s in classics and in library and information studies from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Nelsen is currently the rare books and manuscripts librarian at SMU’s Bridwell Library, having come to Dallas from the University of Minnesota, where he served as curator and archivist for the Charles Babbage Institute. He is a former E. Ph. Goldschmidt Fellow at Rare Book School and former section chair of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries. Nelsen is the author of “Race and Computing: The Problem of Sources, the Potential of Prosopography, and the Lesson of Ebony Magazine” ( IEEE Annals of the History of Computing , v. 39, no. 1, Jan-Mar 2017) and “Concern for the ‘Disadvantaged’: ACM’s Role in Training and Education for Communities of Color (1958-1975)” (in Communities of Computing: Computer Science and Society in the ACM, New York: Morgan & Claypool, 2017). His interests include the intersection of art, technology, and society; global modernism; and modernism in print.

Rebecca Dunnegan

Rebecca Dunnegan is a Ph.D. student in the RASC/a: Rhetorics of Art, Space and Culture program in art history at SMU. She received her B.A. in art history fromColgate University. A former intern in Education at the Kimbell Art Museum in 2017,she is glad to return to the Dallas-Fort Worth area.Before beginning graduate study at SMU, Dunnegan worked as a Curatorial Assistantat The Frick Collection in New York. While there, she undertook research on a widerange of subjects in European art history. She is interested in late eighteenth-through early nineteenth-century French art, particularly painting, porcelain, andother decorative arts. She plans to focus on political transitions and representationsof imperial power

Sophia Salinas

Sophia Salinas (she/her) is an art history Ph.D. student in Southern Methodist University’s RASC/a: Rhetorics of Art, Space and Culture program. She received her B.A. in art history and B.B.A. in general business from SMU. Her senior honors thesis, Cyber Touch: The Body and Transgression in Cyberfeminist Art Practices , examines feminist theories of embodiment and technology in relation to the digital interactive art of VNS Matrix, Prema Murthy, Linda Dement, and Shu Lea Cheang, arguing that Cyberfeminist art advanced the concept of “cyber touch” or touch which transcends the digital barrier. Her research interests include feminist and queer art, digital and time-based media art, and transnational artists. Salinas is the curator of On—n—On: Ciara Elle Bryant in Conversation with Octavia Butler (2022). During her senior year she served as the 2020-2021 AAMD Undergraduate Intern in Museum Education at the Meadows Museum. In 2023, Salinas served as a Havner Curatorial Intern for the Crystal Bridges Museum of Art, working with both the Arts Management Department and the Contemporary Curatorial team to facilitate the conservation, loan and display of the permanent collection. Since 2022, Salinas has served as an Exhibition Intern at The Warehouse in Dallas, TX, assisting in the research and didactics for For What It’s Worth: Value Systems in Art since 1960 (February 2 - June 29, 2024).

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C) Senior Thesis

I am interested in supervising senior theses. The senior thesis, which takes two terms to complete (Term 1: Proposal 30%; Term 2: Thesis and Oral Defence 70%) gives students an excellent insight into how to conduct an independent research project. I thoroughly recommend it to those who aim for a postgraduate degree because the senior thesis will provide you with useful generic skills how to conduct a two-term research project and will also give you an idea whether you enjoy the research process. I welcome any topics broadly falling into the fields of history, international politics, Southeast Asian Studies, but I am open to research projects in related fields.

Procedure : Students are advised to approach faculty members at least six weeks before BOSS 1 to secure the faculty’s agreement to supervise them. Two weeks before BOSS 1, the completed application form needs to be submitted to the School of Social Sciences admin office for approval.

Read about how a Senior Thesis helped recent alumna Rashimah Binte Raja to get straight into a Business Ph.D. programme at NUS, thus bypassing the Masters level (page 22 of the 2nd issue of Socscistan ; you may also access the page directly here ) .

Senior Thesis supervised so far :

Trisha Suresh Chandiramani (2007-08), Southern ‘Thailand: State Interference and Violence’

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Q. Where can I find a dissertation or thesis online?

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Answered By: Fondren Research Services Last Updated: Nov 30, 2021     Views: 2097

The database " Dissertations and Theses " will allow you to search for full-text dissertations online.

In addition to dissertations and theses written at SMU, you can find documents from institutions around the world. Dissertations or theses written from 1997 forward are available full-text.

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Q. How can I find senior thesis from SMU?

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Answered By: Vincent Ong Last Updated: Aug 10, 2017     Views: 800

Type “singapore management university senior thesis” using the Library Search.

If the thesis is available in PDF, the catalogue record will show “Full text available”. If the thesis is available in Print only, the record will show ”Available at LI KA SHING LIBRARY Temp Thesis At Service Desk”, please approach the Services Desk for assistance.

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The Department of Physics

At southern methodist university.

• S MU Homepage
• Other Links:
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• Undergraduate Research Reports (protected)
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• "Using Ohm's Law to Calibrate a Picoammeter to 0.4 Pico-ampere Precision," J. Hashem, T. Liu, Z. Liang and J. Ye, submitted to American Journ. of Phys. (2010)
• "A General Search for Stars with Rapid Optical Variations: Test Fields," E. Fagg, J. Park, K. Pearson and R. Kehoe, Journ. of Undergrad. Res. in Phys., Vol. 22 (2009)
• "Radio Astronomy and the Galactic Rotation Curve," K. Varghese, senior thesis (2008)
• "Analysis of Higgs Boson Backgrounds," R. Nordsell, senior thesis, SMU-HEP-05-04 preprint (2006)

Undergraduate Research

We strongly encourage undergraduate students to engage in research projects to supplement their curriculum. There are many benefits to the student. Real-world experience confronting and solving genuinely new problems provides an excellent preparation for life after SMU. Introduction to some of the techniques and state-of-the-art technologies used in a research environment prepares a student for a variety of career paths. Projects leading to publication bring a valuable distinction to a student's resume in today's competitive world. Pursuing an undergraduate research project reinforces material gleaned from coursework and may provide valuable feedback on the kind of career a student favors. And lastly, SMU's undergraduate research program provides several very interesting projects in particle physics, applied physics, astrophysics and physics pedagogy.

Theoretical Physics Fundamental Particles Applied Physics Astrophysics Physics Pedagogy How Undergraduate Research Works

Theoretical Physics:

The study of modern physics are not possible without sophosticated calculation techniques. These techniques often have a very general structure, but then are quite useful in specific fields of research, such as particle physics. One of our projects involving such techniques explores the efficiency of various methods for integration of mathematical functions depending on a large number of real variables. Fast and accurate algorithms for multi-dimensional integration are essential for many applications in high-energy physics and other scientific areas. In this effort, notions essential for the completion of this project are introduced on the example of the well-known Battleship game. The concept of Monte-Carlo sampling and integration is explained. Then the relevance of these notions is explored in the context of realistic multi-dimensional integration calculations. More details can be obtained at here or contact Prof. Pavel Nadolsky.

Fundamental Particles:

The majority of the visible matter in the universe is composed of subatomic protons and neutrons, which are in turn comprised of quarks. Although quarks were hypothesized over 40 years ago, there remains considerable mystery about what determines the properties of these particles. One of the key questions concerns the origin of their mass. One quark, discovered in 1995 and named 'top', has such unusual properties that it is currently viewed to hold important clues to this important question. Precisely measuring this quark's mass appears to tell us quite a bit about the way in which mass is 'created' at the level of fundamental physics. Using data from the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron accelerator, SMU physicists work to measure the top quark mass. The ability to measure this mass well rests primarily with how well the energies of the 'daughter' particles it decays to can be measured in the detector. Undergraduate Brad Stanley participated in this research by measuring this energy 'resolution' for daughter particles called neutrinos. The basic methodology for the top mass measurement is complete, and undergraduates can contribute by studying how to apply it to the increasing data sample from D0. Students with basic statistics or C++ programming experience are especially encouraged to apply. More information can be found here or contact Prof. Bob Kehoe.

Evidence supports the idea that a majority of the matter in the universe is in the form of a yet unseen component, termed dark matter. "Dark scalars' are proposed particles that may allow interactions between dark matter and normal matter. Undergraduate Landon Banister is currently engaged in undergraduate research on the BaBar Experiment, supported by the SMU URA program. He is searching for dark scalars by developing an event selection for dark scalar candidates in the BaBar dataset, and will also develop a means to extract any signature of dark scalars from the data. He presented his progress to the BaBar Collaboration at the April BaBar Physics Workshop in Cincinnati, OH. More information can be obtained here or by contacting Prof. Steve Sekula.

Applied Physics:

Our experimental high energy program provides other bases for research of applied techniques. For instance, undergraduate Matthew Rispoli is currently engaged in undergraduate research utilizing the BaBar Experiment, supported by the SMU URA program. He is developing new data-driven methods for imaging the BaBar Experiment. Beginning with hands-on study of photon conversions, and moving now to nuclear and atomic processes which can help pinpoint the location of material in the experiment, Matthew's work is an ongoing effort to innovate and create new imaging techniques. He presented his work at the April BaBar Physics Workshop in Cincinnati, OH. More information can be obtained by contacting Prof. Steve Sekula.

Astrophysics:

Physics pedagogy:.

Development of novel tools to improve instruction in the physics classroom can also be pursued by SMU undergraduates. In the Spring of 2008, physics major Ken Ueda built Chua's circuit to demonstrate chaos in the classroom. The project is a robust operational amplifier realization of Chua's circuit which relies on an effective negative resistor for its necessary non-linearity. This circuit is designed to be built with readily available electronics components. Ken ordered the parts, constructed the circuit, and packaged it in a compact self-contained battery-powered enclosure for use as a classroom demonstration with an oscilloscope. Ken's original contribution was to add an audio amplifier chip, a speaker, and a volume control potentiometer so that an audience could hear the repeated period doubling characteristic of chaos while viewing the same phenomenon on the oscilloscope. The chaotic region where the oscilloscope trace is a fractal strange attractor sounds much like the autobaud noise from a FAX machine. In the midst of the chaos, the defining period-three is both strikingly visible and audible. In the Summer of 2008, Ken participated in the eighth annual week-long Quarknet Workshop held at SMU Physics and sponsored by the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory for twenty local high school science teachers. The "make and take" project was the chaos circuit with sound that Ken redesigned. Ken assisted the teachers with the construction of their own circuits. Ken continues his efforts this year with development of course demonstrations to model a nuclear chain reaction and debug a vacuum cannon. More information resides here or contact Dr. Randy Scalise.

How Undergraduate Research Works:

Each project involves the student working closely with a Physics faculty advisor to choose the topic and conduct the research. At the end of the project, the student will write a brief description of the results of their research. In general, the research is designed to fit comfortably into a normal schedule for a full-time student, approximately 5 to 10 hours per week. Two modes of research are possible. The Undergraduate Research Associate Program (URAP) involves work on a semester-by-semester basis and a stipend is made available to the student. Alternatively, physics majors can pursue work in multiple semesters toward a senior thesis. Interested students should contact the Physics faculty member in whose project they are interested, or the Undergraduate Research Coordinator ( Prof. Kehoe : [email protected], (214) 768-1793).

Dissertation / Thesis Research and Writing: Home

• 1. Proposal, Lit Search, and Benchmark
• 2. Literature Review
• 3. Research Methodology
• 4. Writing & Citing
• 5. Oral defense
• Submit your thesis to SMU IRIS

This guide points to resources that are helpful in researching and writing master's theses or doctoral dissertations. 

This guide is maintained by Pin Pin.

Singapore Management University Dissertations and Theses

SMU Dissertations and Theses:

• Complete list of SMU Dissertations and Theses
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SMU Doctoral Programmes dissertations:

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Croft's craft on the court leads to SMU Division 1 commitment

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Flour Bluff Lady Hornets have one of the top volleyball players in the Coastal Bend on their roster, senior Margaret 'Maggie' Croft.

"It's just like a thrill," Croft said. "You work so hard off the court mentally and physically. There's so much that prepares you for a game and for that moment. It's just like when everything is right, the setter connection is right, like that's so much work. It's just an overwhelming feeling."

Croft announced her commitment to Southern Methodist University and head coach Sam Erger over the summer.

"I felt both wanted and needed," Once I got on campus for a visit and a camp in June I just knew it was perfect. The environment, the team, the coaches and just their work ethic. That was just awesome. It was so easy after I got to see everybody."

Croft started playing volleyball at 9-years-old at St. James. The 5-foot-11 middle blocker has competed on Flour Bluff's varsity roster for four years, and so far she's tallied over 1,500 kills.

"Just leadership and just her energy drives our team, so when anything good she's energetic," Kara Wallace, Flour Bluff volleyball 16-year head coach, said. "Our team seems to just thrive on it. They rally around her."

Croft's craft on the court is dedicated to her footwork and fast arm swing. A work ethic that her younger sister Kate admires.

"It's like amazing. like you can feel it through your body," Kate Croft said. "It's just like to know you're on the same team and for me to know that's my sister is just a rewarding feeling for me and I'm sure everyone else on the court and the bench."

Less than a month into her senior season Maggie already has 188 kills, the 18th most in the nation according to MaxPreps. Committing to SMU is not only a great opportunity, but it opens the door for others.

"That's one of the most exciting things for me actually," Croft said. "The Coastal Bend, South Texas in general, I feel like is very under recruited."

"We've been able to shed light on all of the teams in this area and even more south of us," Wallace said. "It's been a really awesome experience."

Croft is a multisport athlete. She battles in the paint on the basketball court and is a jumper and runner for track and field.

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Seeking advice from SMU Psych seniors

Hi current or past SMU psychology students. I’m currently stuck choosing between SMU and NTU for psychology and I’m really desperate for some advice on which is better in terms of curriculum, future employability, school environment and life. Thank you so much in advance 🙏🏽

~edit~ Copied from the messages a senior sent!

honestly i didn't apply to NTU psychology, but i do know of some differences:

i think NTU uses a lecture tutorial system (same as NUS) — this means that you listen to a lecture every week (maybe an hour?), and have a tutorial class like once every 1 or 2 weeks. SMU uses a tutorial system, where every week you have a class that lasts 3 hours, class size is about 40 per class!

NTU has more brain imaging facilities (fMRI stuff) and more faculty interested in things like brains and neurons. SMU is much more social psych focused (e.g., motivation, emotions, psychology of families, psychology of close relationships).

SMU has LESS psychology modules i think. This is honestly one of the bigger limitations of SMU psych program, BUT it can be managed. for example, in SMU, you can go on local AND foreign exchange. i decided to take different psych mods when I was on exchange! (i took abnormal psych in NUS, a module that SMU doesn't offer; SMU also doesn't offer clinical psych).

SMU doesn't have a honors thesis requirement. in NTU and NUS, to get first class honors (or honors in general, I'm not too sure), you NEED to do a senior thesis. there is no such requirement in SMU!

the greatest benefit of SMU's program, especially for people unsure if they want to do psych for a living in the future, is that you can always declare a second major in business. most of my SMU friends who have graduated in psych are not actually psychologists, but they work in things like HR, communications, marketing, etc. In SMU, you just need to score an average of a 3.4 GPA to qualify having a double major. You can also just decide that in Y2, no need to declare immediately in Y1 (unlike NUS, and NTU too i think). so this is very helpful for people who want to study psych, but are not fully sure they want to only limit themselves to psych jobs in the future!

if you're interested in graduate school, i think SMU is better, because we have a fast-track masters program ( link )

it is research based, so its best for researchers (rather than clinicians). but its cool because (1) it's free and you get a stipend (for most masters program, you have to pay $$), and (2) it takes one additional year only (i.e., in 5 years, you graduate with a bachelors AND a masters), while most masters program would be 2 years stand alone (i.e., 4 years + 2 year = 6 years, for masters after a bachelors)

the FTMP is good for (1) people who want to do research, OR (2) people who want to do PhD/ further studies after masters!

im not sure about the clinical psych/ social work scene at NTU, but i think it might be better than SMU since clinical is not our strong suit ~

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Astrakhan Oblast, Russia

The capital city of Astrakhan oblast: Astrakhan .

Astrakhan Oblast - Overview

Astrakhan Oblast is a federal subject of Russia, part of the Southern Federal District, situated in the Caspian Lowlands where the Volga River flows into the Caspian Sea. Astrakhan is the capital city of the region.

The population of Astrakhan Oblast is about 989,400 (2022), the area - 49,024 sq. km.

Astrakhan oblast flag

Astrakhan oblast coat of arms.

Astrakhan oblast map, Russia

Astrakhan oblast latest news and posts from our blog:.

4 March, 2020 / Astrakhan - one of the oldest cities in southern Russia .

18 May, 2019 / Colorful summer sunset in the Volga River delta .

4 April, 2019 / Cities of Russia at Night - the Views from Space .

11 May, 2017 / Astrakhan Kremlin after the Restoration .

13 December, 2016 / Astrakhan - the view from above .

More posts..

History of Astrakhan Oblast

In ancient times, the territory of the Astrakhan region was crossed by trade routes of the Persians and the Arabs. In the 8th-10th centuries, the territory belonged to the Khazar Khanate. There is a hypothesis that Itil, the capital of the Khazar Khanate, was located on this territory. It was destroyed by Prince Svyatoslav in 965.

Later, Polovtsy settled on this land. In the first half of the 13th century, the Mongol-Tatars came to the area. After them, Tatars of the Astrakhan Khanate and Kazakhs became the main population of the region.

In 1556, during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, the Astrakhan Khanate was annexed to the Russian state and ceased to exist. Astrakhan krai became the southeastern military outpost of Russia. In particular, in 1569, the Turks unsuccessfully besieged the fortress of Astrakhan.

In the 17th century, trade, fishing and salt industries developed in the region. In the middle of the 17th century, the uprising of Stepan Razin took place on the territory of Astrakhan region. In 1722, near the mouth of the Kutum River, a shipyard called the Astrakhan Admiralty was built. In the 1730s-1740s, the processing of silk and cotton began here.

Astrakhan Oblast was created in 1943. The region gained its current borders in 1957.

Steppe landscapes of Astrakhan Oblast

Astrakhan Oblast scenery

Author: Dvornikov Mikhail

Steppe road in the Astrakhan region

Astrakhan Oblast - Features

Astrakhan Oblast is located in the south-east of the East European Plain within the Caspian Lowlands. It is an area of deserts and semi-deserts. Astrakhan oblast borders on the Volgograd region in the north, the Republic of Kalmykia in the west and Kazakhstan in the east.

It is located on the border between Europe and Asia, the Volga River gives access to five seas. The main cities of the region are Astrakhan (518,700), Akhtubinsk (35,500), Znamensk (25,700), Harabali (17,100).

The climate of Astrakhan Oblast is continental, dry. Winters are with little snow, frequent thaws and unstable snow cover; summers are hot. January is the coldest month, the average temperature is minus 10-20 degrees Celsius. July is the hottest month - the average temperature is plus 35-45 degrees Celsius.

According to the 2010 census, the ethnic composition of the local population is the following: Russians (67.6%), Kazakhs (16.3%) and Tatars (6.6%). Orthodox Christianity is the main religion. However, Muslims also make up a significant group of the population (more than 20%). Historically, this province was a place where Kazakhs and Tatars settled. The largest Kazakh community in Russia lives in the Astrakhan region.

Astrakhan Oblast views

Paved road in Astrakhan Oblast

Author: V.Kildushov

Camels in Astrakhan Oblast

Author: Viktor Grigoriev

The Volga-Don Shipping Canal in Astrakhan Oblast

Author: Kudanov Pavel

Astrakhan Oblast - Economy

Natural resources of the region include natural gas, oil, salt, gypsum.

The industrial complex of Astrakhan, the economic center of the region, includes shipbuilding, pulp and paper industry, fish processing industry. The leading industries are fuel industry, mechanical engineering, power engineering, food industry. Astrakhan gas condensate field, the largest in the European part of Russia, is located in the area. Astrakhan Gas Processing Plant produces gas for cars, diesel and boiler fuel.

Agricultural lands make up more than 3.4 million hectares - the cultivation of tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, courgettes, cucumbers, carrots, beets, onions, cabbage, watermelons. Rice is traditionally grown along the Volga. The leading branch of livestock is sheep breeding.

The region stretches for over 400 km in the form of a narrow stripe on both sides of the Volga-Akhtubinsk flood-lands. Flooded for a long time, the territory of the delta serves as spawning-ground for such fish as sturgeon, stellate sturgeon, white sturgeon and others.

Astrakhan oblast of Russia photos

Pictures of astrakhan oblast.

Lenin Monument in Astrakhan Oblast

Bridge in Astrakhan Oblast

Author: Anatoliy Martyshkin

Church in Astrakhan Oblast

Limanskiy Khurul - the only active Buddhist temple in Astrakhan Oblast

Limanskiy Khurul in Astrakhan Oblast

Author: Moskaluk Vitaly

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