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University Honors Program

The mission of the University Honors Program is to bring together outstanding students of wide academic interests and challenge them through rigorous engagement in and contributions to a diverse community of scholars. Our distinctive curriculum promotes a broad liberal education that encourages students both to probe the most foundational questions of humanity and to apply their understanding to complex problems of the world today. Students enhance their course work with research and other experiential opportunities and work with our faculty and staff to achieve intellectual and personal development throughout their undergraduate years.

Components of the program include:

Seminar-style classes with 15 to 20 students that provide an opportunity to probe a variety of evolving issues and complex questions.

Students enroll in a series of unique courses, addressing questions and issues through cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary perspectives, drawing from the humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. In their senior year, students complete a senior thesis and participate in an Honors capstone experience both of which provide an opportunity to apply and reflect on what they have learned as undergraduates.

A shared academic experience is enhanced by the small size of the program, approximately 500 students. All first-year Honors students live in an Honors Living Learning community on the Mount Vernon campus. Upper-level Honors students have the option of living in an Honors residential community on the Foggy Bottom campus.

Programming includes off-campus activities with professors and staff including visits to local museums, day trips throughout the region, theater performances, and film screenings; discussions in the program's Club Room; student-faculty dinners; and guest speakers.

Small, discussion-driven Honors courses create a collaborative environment and strengthen relationships between students and faculty.

Supplemental to other advising at GW, Honors advisors assist students with academic, career, and personal planning.

Honors students have early registration during their second, third, and fourth semesters at GW.

Achievement in the Honors program is indicated on the student's transcript.

The University Honors Program serves approximately 500 selected students, or five percent of the undergraduate student body. Incoming students may apply to the Honors Program at the time they apply to the University. Current students who wish to apply to the University Honors Program must be in the second semester of their first year (rising sophomores). Admission is limited to approx. 15 exceptionally qualified applicants per year.

All Honors Program students participate in HONR 4199 Honors Capstone Experience  and complete an Honors Senior Thesis ( HONR 4198 ) or project through Honors or through their department. Some Honors courses meet certain general curriculum and elective requirements of the respective undergraduate schools. 

In order to remain in good standing, Honors Program students must enroll in at least 12 academic credits each semester and earn at least a 3.0 GPA by the end of their first year. After their first year, students must maintain a cumulative GPA that ensures it is mathematically possible to graduate with 3.0 or above. Successful participation in the program is recognized and recorded on a student’s official transcript.

UHP Core Faculty

Eyal Aviv, Assistant Professor of Honors and Religious Studies & International Affairs

Theodore Christov, Associate Professor of Honors, History, and International Affairs

Bethany Cobb Kung,  Associate Professor of Honors and Physics

LaTisha Hammond, Assistant Professor of Honors and Biology

Mark Ralkowski, Associate Professor of Honors and Philosophy

Elvira Maria Restrepo, Associate Professor of Honors and International Affairs

Joseph Trullinger, Assistant Professor of Honors and Philosophy

William Winstead, Assistant Professor of Honors and Political Science

Elizabeth Chacko,  Associate Provost of Academic Programs and the Mount Vernon Experience

Bethany Cobb Kung,  Director, University Honors Program

Eydie Costantino,  Assistant Director of Finance and Administration

Brianna Crayton,  Program Manager

Ben Faulkner,  Program Manager

Josh Mays,  Program Coordinator

Explanation of Course Numbers

• Courses in the 1000s are primarily introductory undergraduate courses
• Those in the 2000s to 4000s are upper-level undergraduate courses that also may be taken for graduate credit with permission and additional work assigned
• Those in the 6000s and 8000s are for master’s, doctoral, and professional-level students
• The 6000s are open to advanced undergraduate students with approval of the instructor and the dean or advising office

HONR 1015. Honors Seminar: UW 1020: Origins and Evolution of Modern Thought. 4 Credits.

Exploration of significant exemplars, milestones, and developments of human thought. Foundational and representative thinkers and texts from Western and Eastern traditions provide an indication of the diversity and complexity of attempts to articulate responses to universal questions, problems, and aspirations. Credit cannot be earned for this course and UW 1020 .

HONR 1016. Honors Seminar: Origins and Evolution of Modern Thought. 3 Credits.

Continuation of HONR 1015 . Key developments and trajectories in human thought and inquiry into modern times.

HONR 1033. Honors Seminar: Scientific Reasoning and Discovery. 4 Credits.

Using an inquiry-based approach, students learn to identify hidden regularities and patterns in nature that may indicate fundamental unifying principles and laws. The scientific method; evaluation of scientific information; limitations of the scientific process; development of a scientific hypothesis. Tools and methodologies of geology, chemistry, physics, biology, anthropology, and other disciplines.

HONR 1034. Honors Seminar: Scientific Reasoning and Discovery. 4 Credits.

Continuation of HONR 1033 . Using an inquiry-based approach, students learn to identify hidden regularities and patterns in nature that may indicate fundamental unifying principles and laws. The scientific method; evaluation of scientific information; limitations of the scientific process; development of a scientific hypothesis. Tools and methodologies of geology, chemistry, physics, biology, anthropology, and other disciplines.

HONR 1120. Introduction to Biomolecular Research. 2 Credits.

Research methods in the studies of proteins and DNA; exploration of faculty research to help prepare students for conducting their own research. Prerequisite or concurrent registration: BISC 1115 and BISC 1125 . Permission of the instructor is required. Laboratory fee.

HONR 2016. Enlightenment East and West. 4 Credits.

This course replaces HONR 1016 for students who enter the Honors Program as sophomores.

HONR 2043. Honors Microeconomics. 3 Credits.

An introductory microeconomics course that considers both the philosophical basis of economics as well as its methods and applications. Same as ECON 1011 .

HONR 2044. Honors Macroeconomics. 3 Credits.

An accelerated introductory macroeconomics course that includes the study of special topics. (Same as ECON 1012 )

HONR 2047. Self and Society Seminar. 3 Credits.

Understanding significant social and political phenomena by using the tools and modes of inquiry of the social and behavioral sciences; relationships among individuals, collectivities, families, and communities; interactions of psychological, social, political, economic, and historical forces at work in a given culture. May be repeated for credits provided the topic differs. See program for more details. Same As: HONR 2047W .

HONR 2047W. Self and Society Seminar. 3 Credits.

Understanding significant social and political phenomena by using the tools and modes of inquiry of the social and behavioral sciences; relationships among individuals, collectivities, families, and communities; interactions of psychological, social, political, economic, and historical forces at work in a given culture. Includes a significant engagement in writing as a form of critical inquiry and scholarly expression to satisfy the WID requirement. May be repeated for credits provided the topic differs. See program for more details. Same As: HONR 2047 .

HONR 2048. Self and Society Seminar. 3 Credits.

Understanding significant social and political phenomena through the use of social and behavioral sciences tools and modes of inquiry; relationships between individuals and among collectivities, families, and communities; interactions of psychological, social, political, economic, and historical forces at work in a given culture. May be repeated for credit provided the topic differs. See program for more details.

HONR 2048W. Self and Society Seminar. 3 Credits.

Understanding significant social and political phenomena through the use of social and behavioral sciences tools and modes of inquiry; relationships between individuals and among collectivities, families, and communities; interactions of psychological, social, political, economic, and historical forces at work in a given culture. Includes a significant engagement in writing as a form of critical inquiry and scholarly expression to satisfy the WID requirement. May be repeated for credit provided the topic differs. See program for more details. Same As: HONR 2048 .

HONR 2053. Arts and Humanities Seminar. 3 Credits.

Inter- or multi-disciplinary approaches to topics in the arts and humanities. Exploration of the relationship between literature, religion, art, film, photography, philosophy, or other humanistic fields of study. Topics vary by semester. May be repeated for credits provided the topic differs. See program for more details. Same As: HONR 2053W .

HONR 2053W. Arts and Humanities Seminar. 3 Credits.

Inter- or multi-disciplinary approaches to topics in the arts and humanities. Exploration of the relationship between literature, religion, art, film, photography, philosophy, or other humanistic fields of study. Topics vary by semester. May be repeated for credit provided the topic differs. See program for more details. Includes a significant engagement in writing as a form of critical inquiry and scholarly expression to satisfy the WID requirement. Same As: HONR 2053 .

HONR 2054. Arts and Humanities Seminar. 3 Credits.

In-depth exposure to an area of literature, art, film, philosophy, or other humanistic field of study, often placing the subject matter in cultural and historic contexts.Topics vary by semester. May be repeated for credits provided the topic differs. See program for more details. Credit cannot be earned for this course and HONR 2054W .

HONR 2054W. Arts and Humanities Seminar. 3 Credits.

In-depth exposure to an area of literature, art, film, philosophy, or other humanistic field of study, often placing the subject matter in cultural and historic contexts.Topics vary by semester. May be repeated for credit provided the topic differs. See program for more details. Includes a significant engagement in writing as a form of critical inquiry and scholarly expression to satisfy the WID requirement. Credit cannot be earned for this course and HONR 2054 .

HONR 2175. Honors Special Topics. 6 Credits.

Topics vary by semester. May be repeated for credit provided topic differs. See department for more details.

HONR 2182. Honors Internship. 4 Credits.

The Honors Program allows credit to Honors students for academic work that puts an internship in a broader scholastic context. Each student must have a GW faculty member oversee his or her project. The Honors internship faculty member determines the student's grade. May be repeated for credit.

HONR 2184. Honors Undergraduate Research. 4 Credits.

Independent or faculty-mentored research resulting in a significant written or other product. May be repeated for credit.

HONR 2185. Honors Research Assistantship. 4 Credits.

Students provide substantive assistance to a faculty member engaged in scholarly or scientific research. May be repeated for credit.

HONR 4198. Honors Senior Thesis. 3-4 Credits.

One- or two-semester thesis under faculty guidance. May be repeated for credit.

HONR 4199. Honors Capstone Experience. 1 Credit.

Students re-engage with core questions and issues related to the Honors Program curriculum, reflecting on their learning in relation to enduring questions and challenges of our world.

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The Moscow Helsinki Group 40th Anniversary

Flagship Russian human rights organization started monitoring abuses in 1976

Newly published documents show Soviet reversal of prison sentence against founder Yuri Orlov

Washington D.C., May 12, 2016  – The legendary Moscow Helsinki Group celebrates its 40 th  anniversary today, marking four decades since the day in 1976 when dissident physicist Yuri Orlov gathered a small group of activists in the apartment of academician Andrei Sakharov to establish what is now the oldest functioning human rights organization in Russia. The Moscow Helsinki Group became the inspiration for a wave of human rights activism throughout the Soviet Union and its empire, and despite repression in the Soviet years and severe pressure against civil society in today’s Russia, the Group continues its leadership role in monitoring individual cases of abuses by the authorities and advocating for universal rights.

To honor the anniversary, the National Security Archive today is publishing a series of Soviet-era Russian and American documents including for the first time in English the Soviet court’s fascinating reversal in 1990 of Yuri Orlov’s 1978 prison sentence for his dissident activities and writings. The original prosecution, under Article 70 of the Soviet criminal code which banned anti-Soviet agitation, had found that Orlov’s protest letters about human rights abuses were “slanderous fabrications defaming the Soviet government and social structure in order to undermine and weaken the Soviet state.” 

But in 1990, during the  glasnost  and  perestroika  period led by Soviet general secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, the Supreme Court of the Russian Soviet Republic annulled the 1978 verdict, finding that Orlov’s letters and activities “cannot be counted as anti-Soviet agitation” since “[t]hey express criticism addressed to particular state agencies and leaders… regarding the noncompliance with specific points of international agreements on human rights….” The court found that the previous verdict did not take “into account that criticism of the shortcomings existing in the country in the political, economic, cultural, and other spheres of public life does not constitute a crime….”

This vindication came years after the Soviet government under Gorbachev had pulled Orlov from internal exile (after 7 years in the labor camps) and sent him to the United States in 1986 as part of the resolution of a spy scandal and the preparations for the Reykjavik summit between Gorbachev and President Reagan. Today’s posting includes the brief summary of Orlov’s case prepared for Reagan’s national security adviser John Poindexter during those 1986 negotiations. Orlov, now 91 years old, is Professor of Physics and Government at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York (see the Archive’s previous publication of “The Orlov File,” including dozens of documents on his history as a dissident and as a distinguished physicist, and the video of his meeting with Reagan at the White House in 1986).

(Left) Yuri Orlov meeting with White House chief of staff Donald Regan, introduction by President Reagan, October 7, 1986 [Ronald Reagan Presidential Library] (Right) Arsenii Roginsky, Lyudmila Alexeyeva and Sergey Kovalev, 2011 (photo by Svetlana Savranskaya)

Leading the celebrations today in Moscow is the co-founder and president of the Moscow Helsinki Group, Lyudmila Alexeyeva, whose authoritative book  Soviet Dissent  (Wesleyan University Press, 1984) tells the story of the Group’s origins and the wide range of other human rights activism from which the Group sprang. (See “The Alexeyeva File,” published by the Archive on the occasion of her 85 th  birthday.)

Also in today’s posting is the extraordinary KGB assessment of human rights dissent at the time of the Moscow Helsinki Group’s founding. KGB chief Yuri Andropov presented this briefing to the Soviet Council of Ministers and to the Politburo in December 1975, giving precise numbers of political prisoners including those jailed for Article 70 “anti-Soviet agitation” and those against whom “prophylactic measures” had been taken.

Central Committee staffer Anatoly Chernyaev heard about the Andropov presentation and wrote in his diary his astonishment at the numbers and at the deceptions by the Soviet state going back to Khrushchev’s time. Chernyaev went on to become Gorbachev’s foreign policy adviser and leader of “new thinking” among officials, and subsequently donated his diary of the years 1972 through 1991 to the Archive.

The posting also includes the now-declassified CIA assessment of Soviet repression of human righters as of 1985, prepared for White House staffer Jack Matlock as the Reagan administration reached out to new Soviet leader Gorbachev.

Personal Archive of Yuri Orlov, courtesy of Sidney Orlov.

This resolution of the Presidium of the RSFSR Supreme Court reverses the ruling of the Moscow City Court and the subsequent ruling on appeal of its own Collegium on criminal cases of May and July 1978, which convicted Yuri Orlov under Article 70 of the RSFSR Criminal Code for anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda and sentenced him to 7 years of labor camps followed by 5 years of exile. The document goes through the incriminating evidence cited in the original Court decisions and finds that Orlov's actions do not constitute a crime under Article 70 because there was no criminal intent on his part to "undermine or weaken the Soviet state."

U.S. Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Dmitrii A. Volkogonov Papers, Reel 18, Container 28

Yuri Andropov gives the Politburo an alarming report on dissent in the USSR in connection with criticisms of Soviet human rights abuses by the French and Italian Communist parties. The main thrust of Andropov' report is how to keep the internal opposition in check in the aftermath of the signing of the Helsinki agreement and the following increase of international pressure on the USSR. He gives the number of political prisoners as 860; the number of people who received "prophylactic treatment" in 1971-74 as 63,108; and states that there are many more "hostile elements" in the country, and that "these people number in the hundreds of thousands." Andropov concludes that the authorities will have to continue to jail dissidents notwithstanding the foreign attention. This document sets the stage and provides a good preview of what would happen after the Moscow Helsinki Group (MHG) was founded in May 1976.

Anatoly S. Chernyaev Diary Manuscript, donated to the National Security Archive

In this diary entry, Chernyaev comments on Andropov's memo to the Politburo about dissent in the USSR. The purpose of this report, according to Chernyaev, was to justify to the Central Committee the continuous KGB policy of jailing dissidents notwithstanding protests from Western countries, including European communist parties.

The KGB informs the Politburo for the first time about the activities of the MHG six months after its founding. The report gives a brief history of the human rights movement in the USSR as seen from the KGB. Andropov names each founding member of the group and charges it with efforts to place in doubt Soviet sincerity in implementing the Helsinki Accords. The document also alleges MHG efforts to receive official recognition from the United States and reports on its connections with the American embassy.

After the initial period of monitoring, which did not include applying harsh measures, the KGB started to get serious about terminating the activities of the Moscow Helsinki Group. This report charges that the group is capable of inflicting serious damage to Soviet interests, that in recent months the group's members have stepped up their subversive activities, especially through the dissemination of samizdat documents (and particularly the MHG reports), undermining Soviet claims to be implementing the Helsinki Final Act. The Procuracy would later develop criminal charges designed to put an end to these activities.

Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Jack Matlock Collection, Box 24

This advance copy of the CIA assessment was sent to Jack Matlock, at the time the senior Soviet expert on the National Security Council. The report traces the history of Soviet dissent and repression in the previous 10 years, focusing on the activities of the Moscow Helsinki Group and nationalist groups. It notes the KGB's renewed effort under Andropov to silence dissent by inventing new, more sophisticated forms of repression and encouraging emigration. The report concludes that "by these and other measures open human rights activity and nationalist dissent have been effectively repressed."

Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Jack Matlock Collection, Box 22

This short background memo on Yuri Orlov describes his conviction and the current conditions of his exile, including his deteriorating health.

Soviet Dissent (Wesleyan University Press, 1984)

This account of the founding and the history of the Moscow Helsinki Group comes from a most authoritative source. Lyudmila Alexeyeva included it in her seminal analysis of dissent in the USSR. The chapter shows how the Moscow Helsinki Group became the model and connective tissue for all other human rights groups in the Soviet Union. At the time of writing, she had been forced into exile in the United States.

LOCAL ALERT: National Park Service clears DC’s RFK Stadium for demolition

GW University enters sixth day of Israel-Hamas war protests

Jessica Kronzer | [email protected]

April 30, 2024, 10:35 AM

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As final exams near and the war in Gaza rages on, Pro-Palestinian protesters at George Washington University in D.C. continued demonstrating for a sixth day on Tuesday.

The protests on the D.C. campus come as universities in Virginia and nationwide contend with encampments of pro-Palestinian protesters .

Protesters are demanding that universities divest from Israel. GWU demonstrators are also asking the school to remove a suspension against a pro-Palestinian student group.

Before dawn on Monday, GWU protesters tore down metal barriers around the encampment that were restricting them to the school’s University Yard. The demonstrators set up more than a dozen tents on H Street.

• Protesters take over Columbia University building in escalation of Israel-Hamas war demonstrations

The university said Sunday the group of about 200 protesters at the encampment include “professional organizers, activists, and university students” from across the D.C. area

A spokesperson with D.C. police told WTOP that the protests have remained peaceful. The department is monitoring the demonstrations on campus and on H Street.

No arrests have been made by D.C. police.

Final exams start next week at George Washington University. Graduation is slotted for May 19.

Arrests made at Virginia universities, JHU protests breaks down

The number of arrests at campuses nationwide is approaching 1,000.

Some universities have taken action to break up encampments. Late Monday, police in riot gear at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond clashed with protesters, deploying pepper spray and zip-ties to take them into custody.

Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears said both students and non-students were arrested. Earle-Sears said some protesters threw bottles “filled with unknown substances” at officers.

Meanwhile at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, 82 protesters have been arrested, including 52 college students.

The university said while protests remained “safe and peaceful” over the weekend, when demonstrators moved to expand the encampment the school asked them to disperse. The university said it warned protesters that if they didn’t leave, they could be charged with trespassing.

Elsewhere, a pro-Palestinian encampment at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, dissolved Tuesday morning after officials said they reached an agreement with student demonstrators.

According to news outlet WJZ , demonstrators initially planned not to leave the encampment until the university cut ties with Tel-Aviv University in Israel, where a two-year Master of Arts program partnership was established. However, a statement released by the school said both sides agreed to end the encampment, and students would be allowed to peacefully protest for a second day.

See WJZ’s report below.

The Associated Press, CNN and WTOP’s Matt Small and Ciara Wells contributed to this report.

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© 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

Jessica Kronzer graduated from James Madison University in May 2021 after studying media and politics. She enjoys covering politics, advocacy and compelling human-interest stories.

• @kronzer_news

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University Honors Program Blog

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Senior Thesis Info

All students in the University Honors Program must complete a Senior Thesis as part of their Honors curriculum. A Senior Thesis is, broadly, a substantial work of independent scholarship that culminates in a written product, presentation, or performance. The Senior Thesis project can come in many different forms; this is your opportunity to get creative and explore an idea or topic that interests you. Additionally, your Senior Thesis must be supervised by a full-time GW faculty member.

What kind of topic should I explore?

Think about some of the classes you’ve taken thus far. Was there any topic that sparked your interest? Was there something you touched on but didn’t fully cover? Think about classes you’ve haven’t taken. What courses would you have liked to take? What kinds of material would they have explored?

Does the topic have to be in my major?

Not at all. You can do a thesis on Art History even if you’re a Business major, or a Philosophy thesis as an engineer. In fact, this might be a time to discover more about a topic that you’ve always thought about but would never otherwise explore. On the other hand, perhaps you are going into graduate school for English Literature and you want to have a solid product of work to submit as part of your application. Or perhaps you just want to dive more deeply into the topics you’re already familiar with!

Ok, so I have a topic. How do I find a faculty member to supervise me?

Keep in mind that only full-time GW faculty members can supervise your project. Think about professors that know your work or with whom you’ve already formed a relationship. Have you done research with a faculty member? Is there a faculty member that studies something similar to what you want to research? Is there a faculty member you’d like to get to know more?

If you don’t know the professor too well, you will need to think about how you plan on approaching them. Keep in mind that even faculty that you are close with are not required to be your advisor! If you have questions about how to approach faculty or who to pick, it may be helpful to reach out to the undergraduate program chair in that department, ask fellow students about their experiences, or talk to Brianna or Ben.

How early should I start talking to potential advisors?

Definitely start before the semester you plan to work on the thesis, but the earlier the better. If you can, get the conversation started a year in advance! It never hurts to start having these discussions early on as they may lead you to other paths. Maybe one professor isn’t available to help you—but they know of a colleague who is. Maybe your potential advisor can start narrowing down ideas with you. At the end of the day, the last thing you want is to be scrambling during the Spring of your Senior year to figure out all these details!

Alright, I have a topic and an advisor. What now?

Next on the docket is working on an Honors Contract so you can be registered for HONR 4198 (our Senior Thesis course). . The Contract is an agreement between you and your advisor on the nature of the thesis work, the meeting schedule, deadlines, etc. The course doesn’t have a pre-established meeting time or topic, so the Honors Contract serves as the syllabus. Once we receive the Honors Contract materials, Brianna and Ben will be able to add HONR 4198 to your schedule. Based on the nature of the work, you and your advisor will decide if the course should count as 3 or 4 credits.

I’m already doing a thesis for my major though…do I need to do that and HONR 4198?

Nope! We know that many majors already have a thesis built into the curriculum. As long as the course involves substantial work similar to a thesis, it will fill your Honors Thesis requirement. If you choose this path, you will need to fill out the Senior Thesis Verification form (see below). In this form, you will list the course serving as the replacement for the Honors Thesis and have your faculty advisor sign, agreeing that the course is equivalent to the Honors Thesis. The replacement course must be 3 or 4 credits. If you have any questions on which courses qualify as an Honors Thesis, please reach out to Brianna or Ben (emails below).

My major has Special Honors. Does that count?

In short: if your major(s)’ Special Honors requirements include a thesis, it counts. If not, it doesn’t. Either way, you’re welcome to still pursue it! If you’re not sure of the requirements for Special Honors in your major, we recommend you reach out to your major advisor or school advising center. Once you have more information, be sure to follow up with Brianna or Ben to ensure that your thesis will count (as discussed above).

How many pages should my thesis be?

We don’t require a set page count. A thesis performing quantitative research in Microbiology will likely be shorter than one doing qualitative analysis in Religious Studies, for example. See below for a guide to proposed requirements for various disciplines.

I don’t see my question. Who should I ask?

Program Managers, Brianna Crayton ( [email protected] ) and Ben Faulkner ( [email protected] ) are happy to help answer your questions on the Honors requirements. For questions on In regards to aspects of your research, for example, a faculty member would be most helpful.

For more on Honors Thesis options: Check out this info packet .

Click here for suggested requirements broken down by various disciplines.

Click here to access the Senior Thesis Verification and Honors Contract forms.

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Department of History

2023-24 departmental prizes awarded.

As part of our History end-of-year reception festivities, we awarded the Kouguell, Butler, and Student Leadership Awards.

This year, we split the Kouguell Prize between two outstanding undergraduate senior thesis writers, Sarah Annis, for her thesis titled, “Murder Fines, Jurisdiction, and State Power in Anglo-Norman England,” and Zeqing Li for his thesis titled, “Xiao Xin’an and the Anti-Netherlands Movement: Gender and Nationalism in 1930s China.”

Sarah Annis wrote a thesis analyzing the murder fine in Medieval English pipe rolls using a mix of social, legal, and computational analysis. Her paper resituates the fine in post-conquest England while offering a new way of measuring the fiscal impact of the fine under the reign of Henry II. Even more, she offers a methodological toolkit that has implications beyond this subject and may potentially bring fresh insights across her field.

Zeqing Li’s thesis explored the sexual assault of a Chinese woman, setting the case in the context of changing ideas about gender in early 20 th c. China, and the ways both fomented a growing strain of nationalism centered around anti-Netherlands sentiment. If his methodology is more familiar, his paper brings to light a case and a dynamic that has been largely neglected in the field while the writing and his analysis is of a level of sophistication that we believe merits publication.

The Arthur Kouguell Memorial prize was established by the parents and friends of the late Arthur M. Kouguell ’73. The prize is awarded annually by the Department of History to the senior honors thesis that best represents Arthur Kouguell’s commitment to scholarly and humane values.

Similarly, we awarded the Butler Prize to two exceptional papers written by first-year graduate students Ben Barrett and Xueqian Zhang.

Ben Barrett’s paper entitled “Making Marseille ‘Federalist’: The Long Afterlife of the Revolt of 1793″ was deeply grounded in archival work. Barrett offers a “searching, sophisticated argument” to explain how a loyal Marseilliese Jacobin was labeled a counter-revolutionary in the years that followed the Revolution. In doing so, Barrett also makes a powerful and cogent intervention in the classic historiography of the Revolution arguing that its consequences have, for far too long, been measured by events in Paris leaving aside what happened in the rest of France. In crafting his paper, Ben admirably moves between close-readings of letters and trial records long overlooked, to then pan-out and engage larger questions and historiographical debates about the nature of political community, the aftermath of the French Revolution, and the experience of those far from the capital. In doing so, he has opened up a crucial trajectory for future work to reconsider temporal and geographic perspectives on the aftermath of the Revolution and for new interpretations of this pivotal moment in French history, whose effects reverberated far beyond the shores of France.

The committee has also chosen to recognize the exemplary paper written by Xueqian Zhang entitled “The Patriarch in Letters: Masculinity, Family Conflict, and Mythmaking in Late Qing China.” Zhang’s paper unfolds a twined story: one a personal narrative generated through letters exchanged among a prominent family in late Qing China, and another that tells a story of the creation of an ideal of the patriarch as it was reconceptualized throughout the late 19th and early 20th century. In her paper Zhang uncovers the story of Zeng Guofan and his family by surveying thousands of letters, analyzing their multiple reprintings, and considering the significance of later marginalia for what it said about the reception history of Goufan and his image as a patriarch. This was no small feat given that the letters were written in Classical Chinese. Moreover, Xueqian reads the letters through the lens of gender and feminist studies to critique and analyze the Confucian idea of “image politics” and the “ideal patriarch”. The result is a paper that is ambitious and carefully bounded, and that offers a new perspective on family history and gender history – especially attentive to its deliberate emphasis on, and interpretation of, masculinity.

The Butler Prize is awarded annually to the best paper written by a first-year student. Each year the chair of the department appoints a faculty committee to select the winner. Papers are normally nominated by faculty sponsors. The prize was established in 1957 by Dr. Alexander Butler, a graduate of the department.

This year the Department is also extremely pleased to present the History Graduate Leadership Award to Amrish Nair. Since arriving at Hopkins in the fall of 2021, Amrish has been a galvanizing and enthusiastic force. Last year he played a vital role in editing and rewriting the new Graduate Handbook and transitioning the program forward after the challenging years during and following Covid. This year Amrish has been a key linchpin in the department, leading in the Graduate Program and History more broadly. He has been an active co-president of the History Graduate Student Association at a pivotal period for graduate life with respect to the department and broader university policies. He has tirelessly served to organize workshops twice a month focused on a wide array of topics from writing to career diversity and more. All the while, Amrish has also coordinated the Euro Seminar for the second year in a row. In addition, he has served as a Stern Fellow through the Stern Center housed in Special Collections in the library and thus coordinated numerous functions and led several key presentations of manuscripts and social events. Finally, Amrish also served as the graduate coordinator of the department’s Graduate Recruitment events this year, hosting students on campus, organizing dinners and lunches, and working tirelessly with the DGS and Graduate Administrator to ensure an excellent visit, which he accomplished wonderfully. Indeed, Amirsh, your rigor as a scholar, your commitment to participating in nearly every seminar and workshop possible, as well as your optimism, care, and enthusiasm, are a model and inspiration for us all. The Department is extremely grateful to you, Amrish, for your exemplary leadership and for all that you have given your fellow students and colleagues.

Congratulations to Sarah, Zeqing, Ben, Xueqian, and Amrish!

Quién es Boricua? Senior thesis explores Puerto Rican identity, nationalism

Melanie valentin explores the connection of history and heritage — including her own.

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Who can be considered Puerto Rican? Do you need to be born or live on the island and speak its Spanish dialect fluently? Or is there a cultural bond that spans miles and generations?

Those are questions that Melanie Valentin wrestled with in her senior thesis, titled “Formation of Identity in Diasporic Puerto Rican Communities through the Nationalist Movement of the late 20th Century.” The questions hold particular weight for the Bronx native, a double major in history and sociology with a minor in Latin American and Caribbean Area Studies (LACAS).

“I want to dive into how the nationalist movement forms Puerto Rican identity and new versions of Puerto Rican identity among newer generations within New York City,” she explained. “I decided to do this thesis based on my own experience as a Puerto Rican individual.”

Valentin, who received the Bernardo Award for Excellence in the Humanities from Harpur College of Arts and Sciences, presented her research at a LACAS student research panel on April 17. Her advisor on the project was Sociology Professor Kelvin Santiago-Valles.

Valentin twice won the National Puerto Rican Parade Day Scholarship, which led her to consider the Puerto Rican experience more deeply. She didn’t realize her own mixed identity until the third grade; her father didn’t closely align with his own identity as a second-generation Puerto Rican in New York City and labeled himself a “Nuyorican,” she said.

Her research centers on the movement for Puerto Rican sovereignty, which aims to establish the island as an independent nation; Puerto Rico has been a U.S. territory since 1898, following the Spanish-American War. The independence movement has taken multiple forms since the 19th century under the aegis of different political organizations and leaders.

The movement helped set the standard for Puerto Rican identity, broadening it to include a wider range of potential supporters. This expanded identity isn’t limited to the island, those who speak Puerto Rican Spanish or have Taino ancestry, but includes multi-generational diaspora communities throughout the U.S. mainland.

“It’s challenging the idea of what a nation is,” Valentin explained. “Basically, Puerto Rico as a nation is defined by the people, the culture and the ethnicity. Even though I wasn’t born in Puerto Rico and my father wasn’t born in Puerto Rico, I still consider myself to be Puerto Rican because I have that lineage and that proximity to the culture.”

Her research, which spanned two semesters, took her to the archives at Hunter College’s Center for Puerto Rican Studies. Although challenging and time-consuming, the effort was worth it, she said.

“It gave me the freedom and creative liberty to pursue what interested me, as well as research experience beyond what I’ve experienced in my classes. It’s also helped me connect to my professors in a different way,” she said of the thesis experience. “I think this is something that can definitely carry over into my professional career.”

After Commencement, Valentin hopes to become a paralegal in a civil rights law firm while preparing for law school. In the long term, she plans to become a civil rights attorney and give back to her Bronx community.

“Melanie’s outstanding honors thesis was a historical summary of the 1960s-1970s heyday of Puerto Rican anti-colonial activism and community organizing in the U.S., but as seen through the personal/auto-ethnographic lens of someone from a much younger generation, trying to re-define the meanings and lived experience of Puerto Rican national identity,” Santiago-Valles said. “This bodes well for her forthcoming graduate work and socially committed professional career.”

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