Undergraduate Research

Undergraduate students interested in conducting original research should consider the political science honors program. During their senior year students in the honors program write a thesis on a topic of their choosing while being supervised by a political science faculty member.

2018-2019 Thesis Projects

Thesis Title Author (Student) Faculty Advisor
Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in UN Peacekeeping: An Intersectional Approach Nair Marie Banks III Samantha Frost
Territorial Claims and the Avoidance of War and Militarized Interstate Disputes

 

 Yixin Bao John Vasquez
Reexamining de facto power in Acemoglu & Robinson’s Autocratic Society: Differentiating Coercive Force from Collective Action Joshua Bi Avital Livny

The Electoral Effects of Religious Homogeneity

 Adam Camp Thomas Rudolph
Paying More for Politics: The Extent to Which Political Ideology Influences Spending Choices James Jones

Aleksander Ksiazkiewicz

Rising Temperatures and Inequality: Collective Action in a Changing World

 Rebecca Laurent

Robert Pahre and Daniel Miller

Rural Resentment and the Urban/Rural Divide:  An Empirical Test

 Zion C. Little Jake Bowers
Race and Redistricting: Does Gerrymandering affect Ethnic Representation? Peter C. Miller Brian Gaines
Women and The House: Transformative And Transactional Leadership Styles On The Path To The United States House Of Representatives Sara O'Malley Gisela Sin
The Ramifications of Social Media: Differentiating Truths from Falsities and Facts from Opinions Valerie Peterson Thomas Rudolph
"Not My Justice": Affective Polarization and the Legitimacy of the United States Supreme Court James Grant Semonin Jeffery Mondak
Trust in the European Union: Effect of Energy, Refugees, & Distance Colin A Staske Kostas Kourtikakis

Best Poster award winners: Rebecca Laurent and Valerie Peterson
Best Thesis award winner: Rebecca Laurent (Honorable Mentions: Adam Camp, Sara O'Malley, and Valerie Peterson)