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OWHL Scholars Program: Topic Ideas & Final Project

OWHL SCHOLARS PROGRAM

INTRODUCTION

All accepted OWHL Scholars will have four components to their research project:

  • an annotated bibliography; 

  • a final project proposal; 

  • a final project;

  • and a presentation.

Your final project can be in many different formats and we encourage you to be creative with your project! Scholarly work does not just have to be a paper!

Below is a list of previous topics and final projects, as well as additional suggestions to help get you started! If you have questions, please contact the Program Director, Ms. Torres Hoven.

PREVIOUS OWHL SCHOLAR TOPICS AND FINAL PRODUCTS

2025-2026 Papers and Final Projects: FORTHCOMING!

  • Come see the presentations live at our OWHL Scholars Symposium. Friday, February 20, 2026 starting at 5:00 PM.

2024-2025 Topics and Final Projects

  • Topic: Tickling Our Neurons: Inspired by Comedy, Informed by Science
    • OWHL Guide
  • Topic: The Sounds of Revolution and a Revolution of Sound: Classical Contemporary Music
    • Paper
  • Topic: Bridging the Echoes of Antiquity with the Modern: Digitally Reviving Ancient Greek at Phillips Academy
    • GPS-mapping website
  • Topic: Behind the Archives
    • Podcast series
  • Topic:  Gender Bias in Heart Health: A Call for Equitable Care
    • Paper

2023-2024 Topics and Final Projects

  • Topic: Turning Down the Heat: Turning up the Volume on Voices Fighting Against the Climate Crisis
    • Podcast series
  • Topic: Barrier to Acceptance (a deeper look at Konglish and Chinglish)
    • Mini-documentary
  • Roots of History (native plants)
    • Zine and art exhibit
  • Topic: From Archival to Revival: Shaping the Andover Experience through Scrapbooks
    • Scrapbook (personal and school wide one); workshop where people could make their own
  • Topic: Identifying Eating Disorder Correlations in Phillips Academy Students Using Machine Learning
    • Medical Research Poster
  • The Real Dangers of Deepfake Technology: How Should Americans Respond?
    • Paper
  • Topic: Tracing Health Disparities and Social Responses from the Black Death to the 1986 HIV/AIDS Epidemic through the Lens of the Spanish Flu
    • Paper
  • Topic: Navigating Confucian Traditions and Modern Realities: A Portrait of Contemporary South Korea
    • Paper
  • Topic: Phillips Academy Overseas: Faith in a Faraway Land
    • Paper

OTHER TOPICS TO EXPLORE

The OWHL Scholars Selection Committee is looking forward to reading a wide range of proposals that take an interdisciplinary approach to using the OWHL’s collections and resources. You should think big and creatively about your project. Below are just some suggestions to help you start brainstorming, but no topic is off limits! 

  • Take your project to the next level and build upon a recent paper, research project, or topic you explored in a previous course. Your final product could be a scholarly paper on this topic OR a podcast series, a children's book, an art exhibit, and more. Want to explore this idea more? Reach out to Ms. Torres Hoven!

  • Continue and further the work of the Behind the Archive Podcast; topics may include exploration of Andover’s complicated history with slavery, indigenous land, race, and/or religion, or other topics regarding our school history and how to better educate the school about our history. Want to explore this idea more? Reach out to Dr. Roberts!

  • The Archives and Special Collections has an extensive Map Collection! If you are interested in GIS and geospatial data, there is a project waiting for you! Not familiar with maps? Take a closer look at the other collections in our Archives and design a project around one of them! Want to explore this idea more? Reach out to Ms. Collins our Geographer-at-Large!

Don't see a topic listed that you are interested in? The OWHL team can support you! Want to workshop ideas around science, artificial intelligence, dance, politics, and more? Reach out to Mr. Curtis, Ms. Goss, M. Wallis and Dr. Hite! We are here for you!