Past Winners

Ana Victoria Lynch

American Politics: "Andrew Jackson: The Departmentalist Executive"

Isabella Alvarez

Comparative Politics: "Tradeoffs Between Public Safety and Human Rights: A Comparative Study of U.S. and El Salvador Punitive Policy and Incarceration"

Griffin Warren

International Relations: "Weapons and Warnings: The Moral Logic of the U.S. Sanctions and Arms Sales as Tools of Ethical Foreign Policy"

Madden Hart

Political Philosophy: "On Utopia and the Nature of Justice: A Letter from Socrates to Glaucon"

Christian Barnard

Sustainability & Environmental Justice: "Market Mechanisms: An Analysis of the Inflation Reduction Act’s Energy Tax Credits"

Emily Rainbolt

American Politics: "Mischaracterizing Prayer, Reconstructing Doctrine: Kennedy v. Bremerton and the Erosion of the Establishment Clause"

Sam Hallstrom

Comparative Politics: "Fatahland, the Lebanese Civil War, and Operation Peace for Galilee: The Influence of Palestinian Crisis on Lebanon and Israel’s Security Strategy"

Clara Helm

International Relations: “A Way Out: The US-Israel Relationship and the Possibility of Reorienting Core Commitments and Leveraging New Strategies"

Sara Galeb-Roskopp

Political Philosophy: "Faith Misjudged: A Rejection of Nietzsche's Doctrine"

Jade Reischauer

Sustainability & Environmental Justice: "The Clean Water Act of 1972"

Litzy Zaldivar

Sustainability & Environmental Justice: "Addressing Ocean Pollution in the Asian Pacific Region"

Josie Collier

American Politics: "A Constitutional Analysis of Women’s Right to Reproductive Health Care in Prison: Rights to Privacy, Equal Protection and Prohibition of Cruel & Unusual Punishment"

Imaan Qureshi

Comparative Politics: "Power in the House of Saud"

Alexandra Del Biaggio

International Relations: “Marxism and Hegemonic Post-Globalization Capitalism: Examination of U.S Aid in Africa"

Imaan Qureshi

Political Philosophy: "Unveiling the Ascetic Ideal: Nietzsche's Critique of Guilt, Control, and the Human Condition"

Graciela Soria

Political Philosophy: "The Three Deadly Truths, Twelve Years Later"

Sara Galeb-Roskopp

Sustainability & Environmental Justice: "Unraveling the Environmental Impacts of the Afghanistan Conflict"

Andrew Johnson

American Politics: “Religious Liberty and the Roberts Court"

Melanie Corral

American Politics: "Eisenhower’s Impact on Executive Power: Examining the Expansion of Executive Privilege and Covert Operations"

Donna Taheri

Comparative Politics: “The Case of Identity Politics in Catalonia and Spain"

Michaela Gallo

International Relations: “The Environment: A Pawn in U.S. Foreign Policy"

Maile Hee-Seon Belnap

AQM: “Asian American Economic Disparity and Political Polarization"

Quinn Gilman

Political Philosophy: "Comparing Alfredo Rocco and Nietzsche"

Naomi Watson

Sustainability and Environmental Justice: “The Richmond, CA Chevron Oil Refinery and the Transition to Sustainable Energy: An Application of Historical Institutionalism"

Lilly Evans-Riera

American Politics: “Analysis of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program"

Mariella Beaurpere

Comparative Politics: “Women in Afghanistan”

Estefany Meza

International Relations: “US-Mexico Relations and Modern Capitalism"

Katie Sanders

AQM: “An Exploration of What Affects Americans’ Attitudes about Abortion"

Sofia Russell

Political Philosophy: "Opposite Ends of the Spectrum: Using Locke's Letter on Toleration to assess Nietzsche's Religion Chapter"

Michaela Gallo

Sustainability & Environmental Justice: “Implementing Green Wall Technology"

Benjamin Grundy

American Politics: “From Neutral to Partisan: The Evolution of Originalism”

Haley Howard

American Politics: “Reimagining Criminal Justice Reform with Excarceration” 

Katherine Popeo

Comparative Politics: “The Reunification of Germany”

Maria Gregg

International Relations: “Uncle Sam is an Irishman: Irish American Cosmopolitanism and U.S. Foreign Policy in Ireland” 

Naomi Watson

AQM: “Female Representation in Government” 

Sydney Freeman

Political Philosophy: “Foucault and Tolentino on Social Divisiveness”

Maria Parker

Political Philosophy: “Mandragola: Compromising Machiavellian Dichotomies of Goods”

Ava Gleicher

Sustainability & Environmental Justice: “Idealist Environmentalism”

Robbie Nunes

American Politics: "The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: A Public Solution to a Healthcare Problem" 

Chang Woo (Hansung) Lee

Comparative Politics: "The Legacy of Praetoriansm: Guatemala's Fialure to Reform a Consolidated Democracy"

Lydia Dadd

AQM: "The Determinants of Individuals' Environmental Concern"  

Tanvi Antoo

Political Philosophy: "Ideology and Transcendence" 

Avery Rissling

Political Philosophy: "MeToo, Humane Vitae, and the Will to Power"

Audrey Danciger

American Politics: "A Warning Sign: What Kavanaugh Taught Us about the Supreme Court Confirmation Process"

Steven Marten

Comparative Politics: "The Legacy of Praetorianism: Guatemala's Failure to Reform a Consolidated Democracy"

Nick Nagy

International Relations: "The Influence of Islam in Iranian Foreign Policy"

Mackenzie Tobin

AQM: "The Mystery of Political Participation in America Explained"

Madison House-Tuck

Political Philosophy: "The Montage: Beyond What Meets the Eye"

Hassan Said

Political Philosophy: "An Examination of Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil, The Gay Science, and The Antichrist"

Christine Abrahamians

American Politics: "The First Amendment Jurisprudence of Justice Antonin Scalia."

Paul Becker

Comparative Politics: “Group Rights, Repression, and Assimilation: The Role of Changing Institutions in the Destruction of the Volga German Identity.”

Katherine Meyer

Applied Quantitative Methods: "Confidence in the Police: A Cross-National Study of Africa."

Aly Motzel

International Relations: "Consequences of a Welcoming State: The Rise of the Radical Right-Wing in Refugee Era Germany."

Anand Purohit

Political Philosophy: "History Doesn't Repeat Itself, But It Rhymes: How Rap Escaped the Modernist's Trap."

Tyler Downing

"That Damn Cowboy: Roosevelt's Precedent of a Powerful Presidency."

Alexandra Hoffmann

"Predicting Pro-Environmental Activity: An Exploration of Variation in Support for the Environmental Agenda."

Jake Belding

"Taking the Road Less Traveled by Sustainable Development: Prospects for One Belt, One Road."

Julia Wood

"David Foster Wallace's This Is Water: A Philosophy of the Future?"

Yesenia Veamatahau

"Nietzsche's Three C's: Creature, Creator, and Cruelty."

Ashley Pascale

Comparative: "The Longevity of Post-Asian Financial Crisis Economic Reforms in South Korea's Developmental State"

William Swanson

International Relations: "The Trans-Pacific Partnership and Investor State Dispute Settlement"

Ryan Khojasteh

American: "Does Originalism Work: Assessing the Practicality of this Constitutional Interpretive Theory"

Sean Werkema

American: "Ron Wyden: A Study of Interest Group Influencne on Legislative Action"

Ashraf Hammad

AQM: "Opposition to Affirmative Action: Racism or Reasonable Objection?"

Daniel "Roscoe" Escobar

Political Philosophy: "The Bonobo, the Fox, and the Lion: A Machiavellian Criticism of Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil"

Andrew McCarty

Political Philosophy: "Preludes to a Philosophy of the Future: Nietsche's Condemnations and Challenges in Beyond Good and Evil and On the Genealogy of Morality"

Ramsey Fisher

Ineffective Assistance of COunsel: The Causes and Remedies of a Constitutional Problem

Randall Scarlett

Camp David Accords: Structuring Communication and Building Trust in Negotiations of International Conflicts.

Luke Koslosky

The Implemtation of the Dayton Peace Accords and its Lasting Failure

Daniel Hunt

All Company is Bad Company: A Nietzscheian Analysis of Costa Bradatan's Wistom of the Exile

William Portnof

Political Participation and Group Membership: Brothers-in-Arms?

Jake Beldling

Urban Development Policy and Sustainable Growth