Students with an interest in biology or anthropology can write a paper with a focus on biological anthropology focus. Since the field deals with human adaptation and biological responses to stressors and variation, an interesting paper can entail a focus on adaptation to a variety of stimuli or the human adaptive response to war, poverty, slavery, imprisonment, space flight or parenthood.
Students with an interest in criminal justice or psychology can research the link between mental illness and crime. Many cases exist of individuals who, lacking the appropriate mental health treatment, while in the throes of hallucinations or psychosis, have committed alarming crimes. For an added focus on psychology, students can do research on the failings of a system that makes such occurrences possible or on the treatments available once such people become part of the criminal justice system .
The Slave Narrative Project, a federally funded project in which over 2,300 former U.S. slaves were interviewed by writers and journalists working for the Works Progress Administration, is an excellent focal point for a student of history. Either through documented text or audio recordings, history students can relive the slave experience through the words of actual slaves. They can compare and contrast the WPA's slave narratives against others that have existed, or explore accusations against the validity of the project and the relative lack of ease that ex-slaves had in speaking with white men about their experiences.
An individual with an interest in music or education can research the vast budget cuts that extracurricular activities have been subject to in recent years, particularly those linked to music, or the attitudes and beliefs that promote such budget cuts and predict the long-term effects of these cuts. The National Association for Music Education touts a number of benefits of music education, all of which can be divided into four categories: success in society, success in school and learning, success in developing intelligence and success in life. A senior research paper can tackle one of these virtues in depth.