Each year, we have the privilege of witnessing our senior thesis writers tackle some of the most pressing and complex issues facing our world. This year, our students have truly distinguished themselves—not only through the creativity and rigor of their research, but also through a fantastic array of prizes and honors.
We are thrilled to celebrate our 20 award-winning concentrators and their remarkable achievements, which speak to both their academic excellence and the strength of our intellectual community.
David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS) Maxwell Prize on Brazil
- Eduardo Vasconcelos Goyanna Filho: Gold, Greed, and Governance: the Capture of Local Governments by Illegal Gold Mining in the Amazon Rainforest
- Luísa Shida: Radio Silent: Assessing Electoral Performance and Media Control in the Brazilian Military Dictatorship (1964-1985)
Eric Firth Prize
- Ethan Jasny: The Rights of the Dead: How the Precision of National Constitutions Shapes Institutional Stability and Change
- Katalina Toth: Power to the Individual, Knowledge to the Public: A Foucauldian Reconsideration of Indigenous Self-Determination in Canada
Gerda Richards Crosby Prize in Government (1954)
- Michael Zhao: Words Speak as Loudly as Actions: Deep Learning Methods for Stance-Based Ideal Points From Congressional Speeches
Harry and Cecile Starr Prize in Jewish Studies
- Meredith Zielonka: Fractured but Fortified: Harnessing Ideological and Ethnic Division for Resilient Peacebuilding in Israel/Palestine
James Gordon Bennett Prize
- Conner Huey: The Progressive Paradox: How the Democratic Party Won Rural Western Washington, 1976-2024
- Danny Laughary: The Neutral Ethic and the Spirit of Bureaucracy
- Emory Paul: ‘Homeless, Not Helpless’: How Homeless Unions Transform the Local Political Life of the Unhoused
- Mateo Velarde-Berrios: A Shapeshifting Reality: The Influence of AI-Generated Political Disinformation on Affective Polarization in the United States
Philo Sherman Bennett Prize
- Oluchi Amadife: REIMAGINING FRENCH UNIVERSALISM: Le prix littéraire de la Porte Dorée and Migrant Recognition
- Addie Esposito: The Berlin Wall Still Cuts Through the Bundestag: East/West Divides on Personal and National Identity Among German Parliamentarians
- Zaki Lakhani: ‘We Do Not Negotiate with Terrorists’…Until We Have To: Investigating the Influence of U.S. Administrations’ Political Ideology on Hostage Negotiation Outcomes
Thomas T. Hoopes Prize
- Joyce Chen: China’s Socialization in the UN Security Council: The Case of the North Korean Nuclear Issue
- Kate de Groote: Beliefs, Behavior, and the Bench: Judicial Ideology and Voting Behavior on State Supreme Courts, 1995–2023
- Samir Duggasani: Social Media Soldiers: Influencers as Brokers in the Contemporary Indian Political Machine
- Alexander Hughes: ‘Under Sacred Ties’: Lincoln’s First Inaugural and the Colonial Origins of the Union
- Isabelle King: Collateral Damage in Third-Party Interventions: Mixed-Methods Evidence from Mali
- Victoria Li: Abortion after Dobbs: A Causal Inference Approach to Changes in Abortion and Fertility
- Anna MacLennan: They Aren’t Eating the Dogs: An Analysis of Anti- Immigrant Misinformation and Strategies for Countering It.
- Michael Zhao: Words Speak as Loudly as Actions: Deep Learning Methods for Stance-Based Ideal Points from Congressional Speeches
Congratulations to all of this year’s honorees—you embody the very best of our academic community. We can’t wait to see what you do next!