The first semester of the Senior Independent Study project, in which each student engages in creative and independent research guided by a faculty mentor and which culminates in a thesis and an oral examination in the second semester.
- Profesor: Michael Bush
- Profesor: Qimin Huang
- Profesor: Rob Kelvey
- Profesor: Cynthia Lester
- Profesor: Colby Long
- Profesor: Jake Murphy
- Co-teacher: Pam Pierce