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Senior Thesis

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Through their Senior Thesis, majors learn to identify interesting economics questions, survey the existing academic literature and demonstrate command of theoretical, empirical, and/or experimental methods needed to critically analyze their chosen topic.

All seniors are encouraged to browse the Senior Thesis Database for examples of past work.

To see examples of papers that won Senior Thesis Prizes, see this article about the Class of ’22 student winners.

Senior Thesis Coordinator Professor Alessandro Lizzeri [email protected]

Key Resources for Seniors

Senior Thesis Handbook Senior Thesis At-a-Glance Senior Thesis Advisors and Their Advising Interests Senior Thesis Proposal/Advisor Request Form Senior Thesis Advisor Assignments Senior Thesis Grading Rubric Exit form: Senior Thesis Research Integrity Form Exit form: Senior Thesis Advisor Evaluation Exit form: Departmental Survey

Senior Prizes

At the end of senior year, the department awards several prizes to acknowledge the best Senior Thesis projects from each class. Available awards are listed below.

• John Glover Wilson Memorial Award: Awarded to the best thesis on international economics or politics.
• Walter C. Sauer ’28 Prize (joint eligibility with Politics, SPIA): Awarded to the student whose thesis or research project on any aspect of United States foreign trade is judged to be the most creative.
• The Griswold Center for Economic Policy Studies Prize: Awarded annually to the best five policy-relevant theses.
• Burton G. Malkiel ’64 Senior Thesis Prize in Finance: Awarded for the most outstanding thesis in the field of finance.
• Elizabeth Bogan Prize in Economics: Awarded for the best thesis in health, education, or welfare.
• Daniel L. Rubinfeld ’67 Prize in Empirical Economics: Awarded for the best thesis in empirical economics.
• Hugo Sonnenschein Prize in Economic Theory: Awarded for the best thesis on economic theory.
• Wolf Balleisen Memorial Prize: Awarded for the best thesis on an economics subject, written by an economics major.
• Halbert White ’72 Prize in Economics: Awarded to the most outstanding senior economics major, as evidenced by excellence in departmental coursework and creativity in the Junior Paper and Senior Thesis.

Honors and Awards

The Department of Politics recognizes exceptional undergraduate performance through a variety of prizes and awards. Information about those honors, as well as a list of recent recipients, are available below. See the honors calculation  page for information regarding the determination of highest honors, high honors, and honors.

Department Prizes

Caroline m. picard prize in politics.

Established in 1985 by her family in memory of Caroline M. Picard, Class of 1986. It is awarded annually to the junior(s) in the Department of Politics who, in the judgment of the faculty, present the most promising senior thesis project(s) which needs summer thesis support.

Lyman H. Atwater Prize in Politics

Established by the Class of 1883 as a memorial to the Reverend Lyman H. Atwater, D.D., LL.D., Professor of Political Science, 1869-1883. It is awarded to the senior who has written the best thesis on a subject in political science.

New York Herald Prize in Politics

Established by James Gordon Bennett. It is awarded to the senior who has presented the best thesis on a subject of contemporaneous interest in the domestic or foreign policy of the United States government.

Philo Sherman Bennett Prize in Politics

Established by Philo Sherman Bennett of New Haven, Conn. It is awarded to the junior or senior who has written the best essay discussing the principles of free government.

The John G. Buchanan Prize in Politics

Established by John G. Buchanan, Class of 1909, the John G. Buchanan Prize in Politics is awarded annually to the senior who has attained, during junior and senior years, the highest standing in the Department of Politics. In the event that more than one senior has attained the highest standing, the prize will be awarded to the individual who has the highest standing in Constitutional Interpretation.

Related Prize

The stephen whelan ’68 senior thesis prize.

Awarded by The James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions for the best senior thesis on a topic relating to the study of public or constitutional law.

Recent Recipients, Department Honors

Summa cum laude highest honors, 2023.

Abigail Yasmine Anthony

Benjamin Zev Gelman

Kennedy Elizabeth Mattes

Madeleine Offutt Polubinski

Dean Steinbeck Reiferson

Johnatan Reiss

MAGNA CUM LAUDE HIGH HONORS, 2023

Benjamin Wei Bograd

Kion Max Bruno

Hannah Araceli Diaz

Srishti Ghosh

Kathryn Grace Kuhlman

Riley Owen Martinez

Myles Jacob McKnight

Rooya Ahmana Rahin

Quang Le Trinh

Elliott Reuben Weil

CUM LAUDE HONORS, 2023

Eleanor Jane Bauer

Katherine Towne Gross-Whitaker

Ayeda Hamed

Adam Hoffman

Jemima Olaoluwabukunmi Williams

Tavarria Denise Zeigler

Recent Recipients, Senior Thesis Prizes

Below is a list of recent Alumni (Politics Classes of 2016 and beyond) who were awarded departmental prizes for distinction in their senior theses. To view these prize-winning senior theses by primary field, click on the linked titles which will take you to the Mudd Library Archives for the given document.

American Politics

Madeleine Offutt Polubinski '23 " One Person, How Many Votes? Race and Representation in Ranked-Choice Elections " - Herald Prize, Winner

Kennedy Elizabeth Mattes '23 " Objection, Faulty Assumption: A Partial Identification Approach to the Causal Study of Incarceration " - Atwater Prize, Co-Winner

Alexandra Metcalf Buzzini '22 " The Lost Liberal Ethic: Love and Toleration in the Political Thought of the New England Puritans " - Atwater Prize, Co-Winner / Whelan Prize, Winner   

Lehman Montgomery III '22 “ Navigating Masculinity Through Race and Sexuality: American Voters’ Candidate Evaluations of Black Men ” - Herald Prize, Winner   

Madeleine Marie Marr '21 "A Room of One's Own: Housing Activism and Intersectional Representation" - Herald Prize, Winner    

Risa Lynn Gelles-Watnick '21 "Speaking Stories to Power: An Analysis of Rhetorical Style and Identity in Jury Deliberations" - Bennett Prize, Winner     

Akhil Rajasekar ‘21 "Zero Cheers for Incorporation" -  Whelan Prize, Co-Winner

Nicolas Harfield Wilson ‘21 "A Neo-Scholastic Perspective on New Natural Law Theory and its Conception of the Common Good" -  Whelan Prize, Co-Winner

Tabitha Lynne Belshee '20 " Doing Right by Our Children: Understanding and Redressing President Trump's 'Zero-Tolerance Policy' " - Herald Prize, Winner

Thomas Andrew Koenig '20 " Forming a More Perfect Union: Past Successes, Present Failures, and Future Opportunities " - Whelan Prize, Co-Winner

Andrew Sheldon Brazer ‘19 “ The Antifederalist Irony: How the Bill of Rights Opened the Door to the Nationalization of Policy-Making via the Federal Judiciary ” -  Whelan Prize, Co-Winner Miriam Shana Friedman ‘19 “ The Identity of Power: An Analysis of the Internal Politics of the National Rifle Association” - Herald Prize, Co-Winner

Amanda Rose Glatt ‘19 “ Breaking the Silence: A Conjoint Analysis of Sexual Harassment Scandals in American Politics ” - Herald Prize, Co-Winner

Natalya Linglingay Rañeses Ritter ‘19 “ Stuck in the Middle with You: The Role of Law in the Racial and Political Classification of Filipinos in America” - Sherman Bennett Prize, Winner Layla Susan Varkey ‘19 “ The Park, The Bohemia, The University: A Historical and Theoretical Analysis of Displacements of African-American Communities in Manhattan ” - Atwater Prize, Co-Winner

Katherine Elizabeth Cion '18 " When Women Run: A Conjoint Analysis of Gender and Political Ambition " - Sherman Bennett Prize, Co-Winner

Alexander Reid Gottlieb '18 " Private Partisan, Public Moderate: Preference Falsification on Twitter " - Herald Prize, Co-Winner

Catherine Anne McDonough ‘18 " De-Facto Disenfranchisement? Examining the Effect of Pretrial Incarceration on Voter Turnout in Philadelphia " - Atwater Prize, Winner

Alexander Joshua Costin '17 " The Lochner Era in the Lower Courts " - Sherman Bennett Prize, Winner / Whelan Prize, Co-Winner

Owen Barrett Smitherman '17 " Executor and Aide: Appellate Mischief and the Dual Responsibility Model " - Whelan Prize, Co-Winner

Mitchell Paul Kilborn '16 “ Take the Money and Run? Public Campaign Financing and Representational Inequality in the United States ”  - Atwater Prize, Winner

Christine Casey Smith ’16 “ A God By Any Other Name: Synthesizing Nondiscrimination and Substantive Liberty of the Free Exercise Clause ” - Sherman Bennett Prize, Winner

Comparative Politics

Rooya Ahmana Rahin '23 “ The Power of Getting Perspective: A Study of Narrative Interventions and Point of View on Political Attitudes and Behavior Towards Refugees ” -Atwater Prize, Co-Winner

Rebecca Jean Han '22 “ Crouching Censors, Hidden Scenes: What Kinds of Foreign Films Are Allowed into China and Why? ” - Atwater Prize, Co-Winner

Roopa Shree Venkatraman '22 “ Oil or Islam?: Assessing Causes for Low Female Labor Force Participation in Benin and Nigeria ” - Sherman Bennett Prize, Winner

Sophie Shiao Li '21 "The Gulag For My Neighbour?: Factors Affecting the Punitiveness of Chinese Public Opinion Towards Crime" - Atwater Prize, Winner

Chun Xi Eliot Chen '20 " ' Tell China's Story Well': Media Manipulation and Trust in Xi's China " - Atwater Prize, Winner / Sherman Bennett Prize, Winner

Alexandra Markovich '17 " Why We Can't All Get Along: Interpersonal Conflict and Social Networks in Post-Euromaidan Ukraine " - Atwater Prize, Winner

International Relations

Eleanor Jane Bauer '23 " Hidden in Plain Sight: Investigating Sex Trafficking and Policy Responses in the U.S. Using Publicly Available Data Sources" - Sherman Bennett Prize, Winner

James Patrick Hintson '18 " Crossing the Line: When Neighbors Fight Rebels Across Borders "  - Herald Prize, Co-Winner

Tram-Anh Nguyen ’16 “ Chinese Outward Foreign Direct Investment in Asean: Profit-Driven Capital Flows or Economic Statecraft? ” - Herald Prize, Winner

Political Theory

Abigail Yasmine Anthony '23 " The Republic of Drunkards: The Political Pathogenesis of Addiction and Development of the Temperance Philosophy in America, From the Plymouth Colony to 1850 "  -Whelan Prize, Winner

Jacquelyn Olivia Thorbjornson ‘19  “ Doing God’s Work: Achieving Global Financial Justice in the Era of the Multinational Bank and a Global U.S. Federal Reserve ” - Atwater Prize, Co-Winner

Elly Ann Brown '18 " Politics in the Cave: Worldliness and Plurality in Plato, Augustine, and Arendt "  - Whelan Prize, Co-Winner

Mikhael Gerardus Smits '18 " The Stranger Is You: A Biblical Framework for a Common Way Forward in the American Migrant Membership Debate "  - Whelan Prize, Co-Winner

Colleen Grace Witt O'Gorman '17 " Lessons from Emily Doe: A Survivor-Centric Approach to Sexual Assault " - Herald Prize, Winner

Joshua Robert Zuckerman ’16  “ The Most Important Director of National Conduct: Security, Interest, and Identity in the The Federalist ” - Whelan Prize, Co-Winner

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Theses & Dissertations

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• Senior Thesis Submission Information for Students
• Senior Thesis Submission Information for Academic Departments

senior_thesis_stacks.jpg

The Princeton University Archives located within the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library is the official repository for Undergraduate Senior Theses, Master's Theses and Ph.D. Dissertations. Princeton University undergraduate senior theses range from 1924 to the present.

The following page includes all information for submission, searching & accessing copies of a Princeton University Undergraduate Senior Theses, Princeton University Ph.D. Dissertations or Master's Theses.

Searching for & Ordering a copy of a Princeton University Undergraduate Senior Theses

The Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library is the central repository for Princeton University undergraduate senior theses from 1924 to the present.

• Members of the University community with an active NetID can access digital theses in Dataspace when connected to any Princeton-networked computer (if you’re not on campus, please first connect to the campus network via the GlobalProtect or SonicWall desktop applications).
• Independent researchers who are not members of the University community (including Princeton alumni) should use DataSpace to browse senior theses. Please create a Special Collections Research Account prior to submitting the Senior Thesis Order Form. In some cases we will be unable to digitize the senior thesis due to an embargo that prohibits digital access. Copyright of the theses are held by the author.
• Senior Thesis Order Form

Searching for & Ordering a copy of a Princeton University Ph.D. Dissertation or Master's Theses

All researchers, prior to contacting Mudd Library, should search the following platforms for the dissertation they are in need of: 

For Princeton Ph.D. Dissertations from 2011 - present, please search and access via the Dataspace repository for Princeton University Doctoral Dissertations . These are accessible to everyone for free, regardless of Princeton University association.

To obtain Princeton Ph.D. Dissertations from 2010 and earlier, if you are associated with an institution that has a ProQuest Library Subscription, the dissertation may be available to download for free through the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global search .

If a circulating copy is available via the Princeton University Catalog , those within the United States and Canada who have access to a local Interlibrary Loan service (ILL ) or Borrow Direct can request physical delivery through their library. 

If you are not associated with an institution with a ProQuest Library Subscription, you can purchase the dissertation through ProQuest Dissertation Express .

For Master’s Theses search the Princeton University Library Catalog and contact Mudd Library to discuss digitization of the original.

If the dissertation is unavailable in any of the above platforms, please contact Mudd Library to discuss digitization of the original. Mudd Library is only able to digitize those that are out of copyright or unavailable via ProQuest. In some cases we will be unable to digitize the dissertation due to an embargo placed by the student that prohibits digital access. If this is the case, the dissertation can only be viewed in the Mudd Library Reading Room after placing a request via the Princeton University Catalog . Copyright of the dissertations are held by the author.

Princeton University Undergraduate Senior Theses, 1924-2023

Members of the princeton community wishing to view a senior thesis from 2014 and later while away from campus should follow the instructions outlined on the oit website for connecting to campus resources remotely..

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Jablin Dissertation Award – Call for Submissions, Applications Due June 15th, 2024

By Patricia Spillane

The Fredric M. Jablin Doctoral Dissertation Award, which I hope will interest your doctoral students. A description of the award and the application process can be found at http://jepson.richmond.edu/about/jablin-dissertation-award/index.html . 

Established in 1992, the Jepson School of Leadership Studies takes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of leadership. Jepson faculty members make significant contributions to their home disciplines as well as to the field of leadership studies. They come from leading doctoral programs in traditional academic disciplines such as religious studies, philosophy, and social psychology. 

This interdisciplinary approach to leadership is reflected in our recent selection of recipients for the Jablin Dissertation Award. Past winners earned their doctorates in such areas as political science at Yale University, history at Stanford, and religion at Princeton University.

  I hope that you will consider nominating one of your doctoral students for the award. I would be most willing to discuss the award with you or any potential recipients you may know. The deadline for applications is June 15, 2024 .

  If you have any questions or want to further discuss a potential candidate, you are more than welcome to reach out to Dean Peart ( [email protected] ) to discuss.

Officer who won Rookie of the Year award dies in car crash

PRINCETON, Texas (Gray News) – A Texas police officer who received numerous accolades including Rookie of the Year died in a car crash over the weekend.

The Princeton Police Department said Officer Nancy Dominguez was involved in an off-duty car accident Saturday evening and died at the hospital.

The department said Dominguez began her career with Princeton police in July 2022.

She received the Rookie of the Year award in 2022 and 2023, as well as the 2023 Citizen Commendation Award, the 2023 Life Saving Award, multiple Letters of Commendations from the department, and multiple RISE Awards.

Princeton police described Dominguez as “a dedicated public servant and cherished member of the Princeton community.”

Copyright 2024 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

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