{"id":61,"date":"2014-09-09T16:13:23","date_gmt":"2014-09-09T20:13:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/international-studies\/?page_id=61"},"modified":"2026-06-15T16:34:01","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T20:34:01","slug":"senior-thesis","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/internationalstudies\/undergraduate\/senior-thesis\/","title":{"rendered":"Senior Thesis and Departmental Honors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Senior Thesis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A senior thesis is an extended original research project written under the supervision of a faculty adviser during the student\u2019s senior year. Thesis projects are best suited for students who have an interest in exploring a specific question and\/or a field of knowledge beyond their previous course work. Students may complete a senior thesis regardless of GPA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-pb-accordion-item c-accordion__item js-accordion-item no-js\" data-initially-open=\"false\" data-click-to-close=\"true\" data-auto-close=\"true\" data-scroll=\"false\" data-scroll-offset=\"0\"><h2 id=\"at-610\" class=\"c-accordion__title js-accordion-controller\" role=\"button\">Steps to Complete a Senior Thesis<\/h2><div id=\"ac-610\" class=\"c-accordion__content\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Determine a topic of interest.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Find a faculty adviser who is willing to supervise the thesis. Students may choose a faculty adviser from any department affiliated with the International Studies Program, but the faculty adviser must be a full-time Homewood faculty member and not from another division of Johns Hopkins (e.g., SAIS, Bloomberg School of Public Health, etc.)  <strong><em>Please <\/em><\/strong><em><strong>Note: <\/strong>Both a topic of interest and faculty adviser should be solidified by the end of spring semester junior year. Failure to do so may make attempting a thesis impossible.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Register for an independent study with the faculty adviser&nbsp;(or other thesis course required by the faculty adviser&#8217;s home department) in the fall semester.  <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In the spring semester, if the faculty adviser feels that sufficient progress has been made, register for a second independent study with the faculty adviser and\/or other thesis course required by the faculty adviser&#8217;s home department.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>For students planning to graduate in December, <\/strong>the first independent study\/thesis course should be taken in the spring semester of junior year and the second independent study\/thesis course should be taken during the final semester of enrollment in the fall.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-pb-accordion-item c-accordion__item js-accordion-item no-js\" data-initially-open=\"false\" data-click-to-close=\"true\" data-auto-close=\"true\" data-scroll=\"false\" data-scroll-offset=\"0\"><h2 id=\"at-611\" class=\"c-accordion__title js-accordion-controller\" role=\"button\">General Thesis Guidelines<\/h2><div id=\"ac-611\" class=\"c-accordion__content\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The thesis should be a <strong>total of 6 credits<\/strong>, 3 credits in the fall and 3 credits in the spring, and both courses should be for a letter grade <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The courses can be independent studies, a departmental thesis course, capstone seminar, or independent research<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>International Studies follows the University standard that grades of C- or better will count for the thesis.&nbsp; <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Although the International Studies Program does not have a page length requirement, most theses in the program are between 50 and 100 pages.&nbsp; <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The most crucial aspect of the thesis is that <strong>the topic must be internationally-focused <\/strong>to be considered an international studies thesis. Failing this, the thesis will be ineligible for departmental honors and the Robert Tucker Prize for Best Thesis in International Studies.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The final draft of the thesis should be submitted to the faculty adviser by the last day of classes<\/strong> <strong>the semester the student intends to graduate.<\/strong> Not adhering to this deadline could preclude the thesis from being nominated for the Robert Tucker Prize.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Students enrolled in one of the <a href=\"http:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/internationalstudies\/undergraduate\/affiliated-major-minor-tracks\/\">double major tracks<\/a>&nbsp;are encouraged to follow the thesis guidelines for that track, which may differ from International Studies. Global Social Change and Development (sociology) students can find more information on the <a href=\"https:\/\/soc.jhu.edu\/undergraduate\/global-social-change-and-development\/\">Department of Sociology<\/a> web site. World Politics and Global Governance (political science) students should register for AS.190.498 Thesis Colloquium during the fall semester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Resources<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/guides.library.jhu.edu\/international-studies\">International Studies Research Guide<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-heritage-blue-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-heritage-blue-background-color has-background\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Robert Tucker Prize<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"499\" src=\"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/internationalstudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2026\/06\/Robert-Tucker.jpg\" alt=\"Robert W. Tucker\" class=\"wp-image-8742\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.2024155669872512;width:347px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/internationalstudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2026\/06\/Robert-Tucker.jpg 600w, https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/internationalstudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2026\/06\/Robert-Tucker-300x250.jpg 300w, https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/internationalstudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2026\/06\/Robert-Tucker-240x200.jpg 240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Robert Tucker Prize for the Most Distinguished Senior Thesis in International Studies<\/strong> honors the memory of the first director of the International Studies Program &#8211; <strong>Robert Warren Tucker<\/strong>, Professor Emeritus of American Foreign Policy at the Johns Hopkins University Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. Tucker received his B.S. from the United States Naval Academy in 1945 and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1949. He was co-editor of The National Interest from 1985 to 1990, and president of the Lehrman Institute from 1982 to 1987. He published essays in Foreign Affairs, World Policy Journal, The National Interest, Harpers, and The New Republic. His 1977 book <em>The Inequality of Nations<\/em> is a highly skeptical analysis of the Third World&#8217;s efforts to redistribute power and wealth in the international system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Note: <\/strong>Graduating seniors nominated for both the Robert Tucker Prize and the <a href=\"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/internationalstudies\/undergraduate\/pier-larson-prize\/\">Pier Larson Prize<\/a> cannot receive both awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-pb-accordion-item c-accordion__item js-accordion-item no-js\" data-initially-open=\"false\" data-click-to-close=\"true\" data-auto-close=\"true\" data-scroll=\"false\" data-scroll-offset=\"0\"><h2 id=\"at-612\" class=\"c-accordion__title js-accordion-controller\" role=\"button\">Past Winners<\/h2><div id=\"ac-612\" class=\"c-accordion__content\">\n<p><strong>2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Pranav Kaginele: &#8220;After the Unthinkable&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2025<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Oliver Gao: &#8220;Foregone Model or the Way Forward? Assessing Private Refugee Resettlement in the United States through the Welcome Corp&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2024<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Yunchong Ling: &#8220;Civil War as a Misnomer? &#8216;Endemic Violence&#8217; as a New Framework to Understand Political Conflicts&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2023<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Chris H. Park: &#8220;South Korea\u2019s Arms and Chips: Order-Shaping Capacity of the Global Pivotal State&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Daphne Tang: &#8220;Structural Resilience in the Eurozone: Sovereign Debt Crisis, COVID-19 Pandemic, and Energy Crisis&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2022<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Sophia Lipkin: &#8220;Genocide and its Causes: Analyzing Nigeria Through the Rwandan Framework&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hayne Park: &#8220;The Rise of Chinese Nationalism and its Impact on World Order&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2021<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Nicole Kiker: &#8220;Uneven Temporalities: Climate Inaction and Segregated Time&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Valerie Xu: &#8220;Finding Space for <em>Xingshaoshu <\/em>(LGB) College Students in China&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2020<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Anthony Boutros: \u201cContentious Citizenship: Gender, Hegemony, and the Fight to Have Rights in Lebanon\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sheng Zhang: \u201cThe Promised Land in China? The Largely Unknown Story of Efforts to Establish a Jewish Homeland in Yunnan Province during the Holocaust\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Ethan Greist: \u201cGovernance Ex Machina: The Chinese Communist Party\u2019s Social Credit System\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Kacie Wuthrich: \u201cTrafficking Along the Belt and Road: Potential Effects of Chinese Infrastructure Projects on Drug Smuggling in Central Asia\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2018<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Kristi Rhead: \u201cThe Art of&nbsp;<em>Vivre Ensemble<\/em>: Establishing Tolerance through Space and Practice in Marseille, France\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lisa Xiao: \u201cPrivate Sector Development in Rural China: Entrepreneurship in Multi-Ethnic Yunnan\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2017<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Flora Fan Fei: \u201cChina\u2019s Popular Sovereignty: Rethinking Nationalism, Sovereignty, and Chinese Foreign Policy\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Corey Payne: \u201cChaos and Class Struggle: The Limits of Inequality in the Long Twentieth Century\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2016<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>DeAnna Lee Pope: \u201cGoverning eMoney: On Bitcoin and Global Governance\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Olivia Seidman: \u201cSustainable Cities, Social Cohesion and Climate Change: A Brazilian Case Study\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2015<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Alexandre Mason-Sharma: \u201cFoundations of Order: The Police Role in Political Centralization and the Future of the State\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2014<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Gauri Wagle: \u201cAn Exploration of the Sovereign and the Sacred\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2013<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Archibald S. Henry: \u201cNational Identity Reconstruction and War Making in Post Genocide Rwanda\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2012<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Chris Mirasola: \u201cResolving Grievances in Rural China: A Local Analysis of Changing Perspectives on and Processes for Addressing Issues in the Countryside\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2011<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Claire Cravero: \u201cThe Crisis of the Republican Nomad: The Tziganes in Contemporary France\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2010<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Jake Meth: \u201cEvolution Through Revolution: The Story of Religious Nationalism\u2019s Expropriation of the Revolutionary Zionist Tradition\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2009<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Michael Goodwin: \u201cA Path to Nationhood? The Valesco State, Sendero Luminosos, and the Construction of the Peruvian Political Imaginary\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2008<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Jamen Tyler: \u201cMuslim Problem or Problem with Muslims? Perception and the Integration of Muslim Immigrants in Britain, Germany, and the Netherlands\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2007<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Sunyoung Park: \u201cThe \u2018Rational Brinkmanship\u2019 of North Korea: A Possible Overture to the Resolutions of the North Korean Nuclear Crisis\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Maytal Saltiel: \u201cA Child\u2019s Return: The Social Reintegration of Child Soldiers in Mozambique\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2006<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Sam Seunghyo Baek: \u201cToward the Democratization of North Korea: The Politics of Refugees\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Michelle Browne: \u201cBreaking the Cycle of Child Soldiers: An Analysis of How Sierra Leone Intends to Destroy the Cradles that Raised Child Soldiers\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2005<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Brooke Neuman: \u201cSplitting the Difference: An Assessment of Partition as a Solution to Conflict\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2004<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Rebecca Nelson: \u201cThe Art of Political Economy: Credit Rating Agencies and State Sovereignty\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2003<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Nicole Nucelli: \u201cA Europe of Patries or Nations? Ethnonationalism, France, Europe\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Suman Sureshababu: \u201cMicro-Finance in Africa: A Question of Sustainability\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2002<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Louisa McClintock: \u201cThe Legacies of Collaboration: The Presence of the Past in Modern-Day Germany and France\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2001<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Jessica Shapiro: \u201cPolitics of Humanitarianism\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Josephine Valencia: \u201cSpiritual Forces: Religious Pluralism in West Africa\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2000<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Pia Sha: \u201cJourney Over a Night: Transglobal Rave Culture at the Turn of the Millennium\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Shelley Fairweather: \u201cFood, Fun, and Foreign Affairs: The International Relations of American Popular Culture in Europe\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator aligncenter has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Departmental Honors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Departmental honors will be awarded to students who have a major GPA in the top 20% of the International Studies graduating class&nbsp;<strong>OR<\/strong>&nbsp;have a major GPA above a 3.7 and have written a senior thesis.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Senior Thesis A senior thesis is an extended original research project written under the supervision of a faculty adviser during the student\u2019s senior year. Thesis projects are best suited for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":7,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_ecp_custom_2":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-61","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/internationalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/61","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/internationalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/internationalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/internationalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/internationalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/internationalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/61\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8762,"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/internationalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/61\/revisions\/8762"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/internationalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/internationalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}