The Government Department is proud to celebrate eight of our talented undergraduates who have been awarded the 2025 Thomas T. Hoopes Prize, the most in the department’s history. The Hoopes Prize, one of Harvard College’s highest honors, recognizes exceptional scholarly work and research by undergraduates across disciplines for their senior theses.
This year’s Government student recipients are: Joyce Chen, Kate de Groote, Sammy Duggasani, Alex Hughes, Isabelle King, Victoria Li, Anna MacLennan, and Michael Zhao.
Joyce Chen, “China’s Socialization in the UN Security Council: The Case of the North Korean Nuclear Issue”
Adviser: Professor Alastair Johnston
“My thesis examined China’s engagement with North Korean nuclear norms in the UN Security Council (UNSC). I opened by retracing how—between May 1993 and March 2017—advocacy from China’s diplomatic, military, and expert communities persuaded top Chinese leaders to embrace UNSC nuclear norms on North Korea. Subsequently, I made the case that misperceptions from the broader U.S.-China security dilemma began cascading into the North Korean nuclear issue in March 2017; as support for North Korean nuclear norms eroded at every level of Beijing’s foreign policy apparatus, escalating Chinese obstructionism followed. I am deeply grateful to have had this opportunity to produce original international relations scholarship, and even more thankful for the incredible mentors I found in the Government Department along the way.”
Kate de Groote, “Beliefs, Behavior, and the Bench: Judicial Ideology and Voting Behavior on State Supreme Courts, 1995–2023”
Adviser: Dr. Gabriel Katsh
Samir Duggasani, “Social Media Soldiers: Influencers as Brokers in the Contemporary Indian Political Machine”
Adviser: Professor Feyaad Allie
“Taking my thesis from a few scribbled bullet points in a coffee shop in India to a cohesive piece of research has been immeasurably rewarding. I’m deeply grateful to my advisor, Prof. Feyaad Allie, for guiding me through fieldwork, data analysis, and writing. It’s an incredible honor to be nominated by him for the Hoopes Prize and to be considered alongside such powerful works of scholarship.”
Alexander Hughes, “ ‘Under Sacred Ties’: Lincoln’s First Inaugural and the Colonial Origins of the Union”
Adviser: Professor Daniel Carpenter
“I’m honored to receive the Hoopes for my work on Lincoln’s First Inaugural! I hope my thesis contributes to an increased appreciation for the ideal of Union for which our forefathers sacrificed.”
Isabelle King, “Collateral Damage in Third-Party Interventions: Mixed-Methods Evidence from Mali”
Adviser: Professor Christoph Mikulaschek
“I’m incredibly honored to have my thesis recognized by the Hoopes committee. I’m deeply grateful to the Weatherhead Center, my advisor Professor Mikulaschek, my readers, and especially the interviewees who generally shared their stories with me. My heart is with Mali and the Malian people. I’m excited to build on this research as I continue my studies after graduation.”
Victoria Li, “Abortion after Dobbs: A Causal Inference Approach to Changes in Abortion and Fertility”
Advisers: Mr. William Nickols and Professor Stephen Sachs
“I am very honored to have received the Hoopes prize! The issue of abortion has been on my heart for a while, and I appreciated the chance to explore the statistical and political landscape after Dobbs through this thesis. I am indebted to my many wonderful and shrewd advisors for this achievement.”
Anna MacLennan, “They Aren’t Eating the Dogs: An Analysis of Anti- Immigrant Misinformation and Strategies for Countering It.”
Adviser: Professor Taeku Lee
“My thesis was motivated by my own experiences with xenophobia and work with refugee communities. I combined web-scraping, content analysis, and a survey experiment to study online anti-immigrant narratives and possible interventions. This project challenged me in the best ways, and I’m so grateful to my advisor, grad student mentors, friends, and family for their incredible support. I’m thrilled to receive a Hoopes Prize, and I plan to use the money to support my humanitarian work with refugees in northern France this fall!”
Michael Zhao, “Words Speak as Loudly as Actions: Deep Learning Methods for Stance-Based Ideal Points from Congressional Speeches”
Adviser: Mr. António Câmara and Professor Ariel Procaccia
“My thesis developed a framework for analyzing text data to extract ideological positions, with a particular application to estimating legislators’ ideal points from their speeches using contextual embeddings and language models. I am deeply grateful to receive the Hoopes Prize, and also delighted by its recognition of the exciting frontier where political science and computational methods intersect – a space that has become increasingly important and tractable thanks to recent advances in machine learning. I’m especially grateful to my advisors, Ariel Procaccia (Computer Science) and António Câmara (Government), whose guidance, feedback, and availability for discussions were instrumental throughout this project. My sincere appreciation also extends to Karen Kaletka (Government) and Beth Musser (Computer Science) for their exceptional departmental support that made an interdisciplinary thesis possible.”
The Hoopes Prize is made possible through the estate of Thomas T. Hoopes, Class of 1919, an author and museum curator known for his scholarship on historical weaponry. His gift funds annual prizes of $5,000 to student winners and $2,000 to the faculty mentors who nominated and advised their work. In addition to uplifting outstanding research, the Hoopes Prize supports an “incidental objective”: to promote excellence in the art of teaching. We’re deeply grateful to the faculty and Ph.D. Candidates who mentored and championed these students’ projects.
Written projects are bound and displayed in Lamont Library for two years, standing as a lasting testament to each student’s scholarly excellence.
Congratulations Joyce, Kate, Sammy, Alex, Isabelle, Victoria, Anna, and Michael. Your work has not only set a new departmental milestone but continues to raise the standard for undergraduate research at Harvard.