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SPA Undergraduate Research Symposium

The 17th Annual SPA Undergraduate Research Symposium (UGRS) provided a forum for undergraduate students to present their original scholarly and creative work before colleagues, friends, and faculty. Held on Wednesday April 23rd, students presented their original research on topics including “Immigrant Identities and Cultural Conformity: Analyzing Levels of Acculturation Between Immigrant Students at ĢƵ”, “A Tale of Four Cities: Policing the 2020 Black Lives Matter Mass Demonstrations across America”, “Election Violence Persistence and Onset: Ivory Coast as a Case Study”, and “Elections Dates Don’t Change for Storms: The Effect of Weather on Voter Turnout.”

The following presentations won the Best of Award for their session. Session: Political Rights and Political Activism in the US Kuhu Badgi, she/her Faculty Mentor: Prof. Cowell-Meyers Title: The U.S. Privacy Gap: A Comparative Analysis of California's Data Privacy Law and Massachusetts' Approach

Session: Comparative Politics: Racism, Xenophobia, and Violence Vincent Hanrahan, he/him Faculty Mentors: Profs. Cowell-Meyers, Davies, &, Zeitzoff Title: A New Era of Bad Relations in Northern Ireland: A Neighborhood-Level Quantitative Analysis of Socioeconomic Deprivation and Sectarian Identity’s Impact on Racist Incident & Hate Crime Rates

Session: Policing and The Courts Willem Ells, he/him Faculty Mentors: Profs. Cowell-Meyers & Miller Title: Deference Denied? The Solicitor General’s Declining Win Rate and the Supreme Court’s Shifting Views on Executive Authority

Session: Voters, Candidates, and Money in US Politics Andrew LaBerge, he/him Faculty Mentors: Profs. Cowell-Meyers & Vogel Title: The True Cost of Seeking Public Office