Erin Bartels
College Scholar of Political Science: Cum Laude
Exploring the Use of Forecasting Models in Predicting the Presidential Nominee: The 2020 Democratic Primary
Thesis Advisor: Andrew Dowdle
Hailey Collett
Departmental Scholar of Political Science: Magna Cum Laude
The Expert Knowledge Gap: an Analysis of Expert Knowledge, News Media, and Public Discourse in Public Policy
Thesis Advisor: William Schreckhise
Anna Cunningham
College Scholar of Political Science: Magna Cum Laude
Southern Realignment: A Closer Look at Changes in Party Control
Thesis Advisor: Janine Parry
“Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final.”-Ranier Maria Rilke. College is a time full of celebration and disappointment; laughter and tears. But if there’s anything that I could share about my time here, it’s that I would not trade any of my experience for the world. As I reminisce on my four years in the Fulbright Honors Program, I am reminded most of the people that have supported me, encouraged me, and uplifted me through good times and bad. I do not think of tears shed or disappointments. I only think of the good and of the people who stood by me when times were tough. I will forever miss the feeling I had knowing I would see these precious friends and mentors day in and day out.
Jordan Farris
Departmental Scholar of Political Science: Magna Cum Laude
Race, Police Violence, and Justice
Thesis Advisor: Xavier Medina Vidal
“I am a person who believes in asking questions, in not conforming for the sake of conforming. I am deeply dissatisfied – about so many things, about injustice, about the way the world works – and in some ways, my dissatisfaction drives my storytelling.” – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Samuel Harper
College Scholar of Political Science: Magna Cum Laude
The Effect of Signing Ballot Petitions on Turnout
Thesis Advisor: Janine Parry
“Everyone grows by slow degrees.” -John Wesley. It’s been my experience that many honors students, myself included, expect themselves to be immediate experts and are disappointed when we find out we try for the first time and fail. The best thing I’ve ever been taught is that learning a skill is incremental, something I think is well summarized by the quote.
Mackenzie Hill
College Scholar of Political Science: Cum Laude
A Public’s Reaction to Obergefell v. Hodges (2015): An Analysis of State Level Legislation as Signs of Subsequent Opposition
Thesis Advisor: Angie Maxwell
The best advice I received as an undergraduate was although grades and academics seem like the end all part of my college experience, that I should also take time to enjoy myself, really live in the present, and appreciate what was happening right before me.
Addison Horsey
College Scholar of Political Science: Magna Cum Laude
The Misinterpretation of the Gender Gap by the Media, 1980-1984
Thesis Advisor: Angie Maxwell
Erin Rambo
College Scholar of Political Science: Magna Cum Laude
Women’s Underrepresentation and Underfunding in the U.S. House: The Fight for Open Seats
Thesis Advisor: Karen Sebold
Kate Rideout
College Scholar of Political Science: Cum Laude
How Breakable is the Political Glass Ceiling? An Examination of the Impact of the Equal Rights Amendment in the Election of Women to the United States House of Representatives
Thesis Advisor: Angie Maxwell
Kianna Sarvestani
Departmental Scholar of Political Science: Magna Cum Laude
The Effect Voter Disenfranchisement Has on Jury Source List
Thesis Advisor: Xavier Medina Vidal
Esmerelda Verdin Gomez
College Scholar of Political Science: Summa Cum Laude
What Are You? An Examination of Multiracial Latinos and Linked Fate
Thesis Advisor: Xavier Medina Vidal
Take advantage of all that the Honors College has to offer- from mentorship to free food to special classes. You’ll meet some pretty great people and have some new experiences.
Ashley Wicks
Departmental Scholar of Political Science: Cum Laude
In God We Trust: The Use of the Word God in Republican Presidential Speeches
Thesis Advisor: Angie Maxwell
Take advantage of every opportunity given! They will all come in handy at one time or another.
Conner Rainey
Departmental Scholar of Political Science: Cum Laude
Reshaping the Local Food systems in France and England through the Revitalization of Organic Farms
Thesis Advisor: Jared Phillips
