UBC Political Science congratulates our award winners in undergraduate, graduate, and International Relations programs who were recognized at a special ceremony on May 26, 2022 in the Buchanan Penthouse.
Undergraduate Awards
Vaishnavi Panchanadam
Jean Laponce Prize for best Honours Thesis
and Political Science Gold Medal (Highest Graduating Average) and Department of Political Science Scholarship
Vaishnavi Panchanadam
Thesis Abstract
Much of the scholarship on the diffusion and implementation of global norms focuses on top-down incentives leading to the endorsement of such principles in affluent countries without a significant history of conflict. Vaishnavi Panchanadam’s thesis considers the case of the Women, Peace, and Security agenda and the role that civil society plays in the endorsement and implementation of these norms. The study uses both quantitative and qualitative methods and reveals that the effect of domestic civil society mobilization on the implementation of WPS norms is contingent on such factors as the gendered threat of conflict-related violence, and the capacity of these actors to leverage links with transnational advocacy networks.
Vaishnavi is a writer and podcast host for a global non-profit, Scarlet Udaan, which advocates for and alongside survivors of gender-based violence and aims to break the stigma surrounding conversations on the topic. She also regularly writes posts for Spheres of Influence – a non-profit digital publication dedicated to highlighting underreported stories in global affairs and amplifying marginalized voices.
A prize has been made available through an endowment established by friends and family in memory of Professor Jean Laponce to be awarded to an undergraduate honours student in the Department of Political Science who presents the best thesis. Professor Emeritus Jean Laponce joined UBC in 1956 as the university's first full-time political scientist. He directed the UBC political science honours program and left an indelible mark not only on the university, but also on the broader political science community. UBC awarded Professor Laponce with an honorary degree (LL.D. honoris causa) in recognition of his long service. The award is made on the recommendation of the Department of Political Science.
The Political Science Gold Medal is awarded to the most outstanding student in the graduating class in the Political Science B.A. Program and is made on the recommendation of the Department of Political Science.
Alexa Traboulay
Department of Political Science Scholarship
Alexa graduates with a remarkable average in her political science courses. She also completed a thesis that explores the combined effects of social media echo chambers and partisanship in shaping attitudes toward immigration. While previous research has explored how these two factors affect opinions separately, this thesis explores the interaction between the two and finds that social media echo chambers reduce opinion extremity among Republicans and increase extremity among Democrats.
Scholarships have been endowed by alumni and friends of the Department of Political Science for graduate or undergraduate students in the Department. The awards are made on the recommendation of the Department of Political Science.
Bingjun Tang
Arnold Webster Memorial Scholarship
Bingjun graduates with an honours degree and is among the students with the very highest average in their political science courses. Bingjun’s thesis explores how authoritarian regimes weigh the benefits and risks of a more educated population. He argues that authoritarian states with strong parties tend to spend more on education because they are more confident of their ability to constrain any increased demand for democracy brought on by improved education.
A scholarship has been endowed by Mrs. Daisy Webster in memory of her husband, Arnold A. Webster, B.A. '22, M.A. '28 who as a teacher and principal in the Vancouver Secondary School system also served on the UBC Senate and as a commissioner on the Vancouver Parks Board. He served as Leader of the Official Opposition in the B.C. Legislature and as a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons. The scholarship is made on the recommendation of the Department of Political Science to an outstanding student in that department.
Paolo Caguiat
Walter D. Young Prize
Paolo Caguiat
Paolo graduates with a very impressive overall average and was the outstanding student in Canadian politics courses.
As a memorial to Professor Walter D. Young, a distinguished teacher, scholar, alumnus, and participant in the university community, his friends and colleagues have endowed a prize to be awarded to the best student in Canadian politics. The award is made on the recommendation of the Department of Political Science.
Charlotte Alden
Stewart L. Chambers Memorial Prize (Essay Prize)
Charlotte Alden
Charlotte’s honours thesis challenges the notion that local media coverage tends to promote economic and population growth. Her analysis of 300 newspaper articles surrounding the Vancouver Olympics finds coverage of related development projects to be much more critical than an existing theory suggests. In particular, locally owned newspapers tended to be more critical. This paper makes a contribution to our understanding of the role that newspapers can play in urban development debates and processes.
A prize has been endowed in memory of Stewart L. Chambers, LL.B., M.C., a member of the university's first graduating class in Law, whose life-long avocation was Canadian politics. The prize is made on the recommendation of the Department of Political Science, to the undergraduate student submitting the best essay in a course on Canadian government and politics. The award may be withheld if no suitable essay is submitted.
Hailey Clarke
Goel Family Prize in Political Science
Hailey Clarke
Hailey is a member of our honours cohort, earned one of the highest overall averages, and wrote a thesis that examines how levels of economic inequality affect head of governments’ use of populist rhetoric. She finds that populist leaders are less likely to construct the economic ‘elite’ as the enemy of ‘the people’ in times of increased economic equality.
A prize has been made available annually through a gift from the Goel Family in memory of the victims of the Jewish Holocaust for an outstanding graduating undergraduate or graduate student in the Department of Political Science. The Prize is made on the recommendation of the Department of Political Science.
Miles Schaffrick
Hector Gordon Munro Scholarship in Political Science
Miles Schaffrick
Miles Schaffrick received this award in the summer of 2021 based on his exceptional performance overall and in political science courses during the first three years of his degree.
This award is given to an outstanding graduating student in the Political Science Major program (one of the highest overall GPAs).
Michelle Wei
William G. Black Memorial Prize (Best essay in Faculty of Arts on Canadian citizenship)
Michelle’s honours thesis challenges predominant perspectives on blockades led by Indigenous nations. While many perceive these to be an act of liberal civil disobedience, an alternate perspective views such actions as markers of sovereignty enacted by a population outside the “civic” of Canadian law. The thesis argues that the external application of the civil disobedience framework in these contexts constrains the emancipatory and decolonial potential of Indigenous blockades because it prescribes reformative goals to the blockade that redefine its criteria for success and, therefore, its outcomes. She explores these ideas with studies of the Clayoquot Sound blockades led by the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations and a Mowhak nation’s blockade at Kanehsatà:ke in the summer of 1990.
A $3,000 prize has been made available through an endowment established by the late Dr. William G. Black, B.A. 1922, who retired from the University in 1963 after many years of service. The prize is for the best essay on Canadian citizenship, and it is offered to students who are enrolled full-time at UBC and who do not already possess a graduate degree. The award is offered on a rotating basis on the recommendation of the departments of Sociology, History, and Political Science, in the Faculty of Arts, and in the Peter A. Allard School Law. The recommendation process will be administered by the Office of the Dean in the Faculty of Arts. In the case of graduate students, the recommendation is made in consultation with the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.
Danilo Angulo Molina
Carolyn Atwell Memorial Prize (Best essay on some aspect of political development)
Danilo wrote a thesis on the international criminal court. Specifically, he studies the first stage of ICC proceedings and argues that, because this preliminary examination stage involves high-cost operations and comprehensive reports, it serves as a credible commitment signal to perpetrators that the Court is willing to take further and serious actions for the pursuit of justice. Thus, perpetrators are more likely to scale down the intensity of atrocities in order to avoid the escalation to a formal investigation, avoid being tried at the Court in the Hague, and protect their legitimacy. A quantitative study spanning 15 years across 46 countries reports results consistent with this theory.
A prize has been endowed by friends to honour the memory of Carolyn Atwell, a UBC student in Honours Political Science who died in 1990. The prize is awarded on the recommendation of Department of Political Science to a student submitting the best essay on some aspect of political development in a political science course or a course designated by the International Relations Program Coordinating Committee as part of the major requirement for the B.A. in International Relations.
Eden Luymes
Kevin Wells Prize (Student who best combines academic achievement and community service)
Eden, a recent graduate of our honours program who is currently completing her MA demonstrated outstanding work in her Canadian politics graduate courses. She is also an active participant in climate change politics attending the recent COP26 as a youth delegate and receiving a prestigious appointment to the province’s BC Climate Solutions Council.
A prize has been endowed by friends to honour the memory of Kevin Wells, a UBC student in political science who died prematurely in 1981. The prize is awarded on the recommendation of the Department of Political Science to a student studying Canadian politics who best combines academic achievement and community service.
Andrew Ha
Robert Lorne Stanfield Prize in Political Science
Andrew Ha
Andrew graduates with an outstanding overall average for his degree and an equally impressive average in his political science courses.
A prize is awarded on the recommendation of the Department of Political Science to a student with an outstanding record in this field of study. This award has been endowed by individual donors on the occasion of Mr. Stanfield's first official visit to British Columbia as Leader of the Opposition.
International Relations Awards
Julian Lam
Gerald N. Savory Prize in International Relations
Julian Lam
Awarded annually to a graduating major in the International Relations Program, this prize is presented to a student with outstanding academic achievements who has also made strong contributions to International Relations activities on campus and in the community. Julian’s outstanding academic achievements are not only illustrated by his impeccable transcript, but also his designation as a Wesbrook Scholar and UBC Trek Scholar alongside many other academic accolades. He has already begun to develop a publication record, including a 2020 article in UBC’s undergraduate Journal of Political Science. He was also the Editor-in-Chief of UBC’s undergraduate Journal International Affairs. He was an active member of IRSA (the International Relations Student Association), having founded and lead IRSA’s Global Get Down podcast, acting as IRSA’s VP External Relations, then becoming IRSA’s President. The International Relations community offers our warmest congratulations to Julian for being selected as the winner of this award.
Graduate Prizes
Joshua Santeusanio
W.J. Stankiewicz Prize
Joshua Santeusanio
Joshua Santeusanio is a PhD student in political theory. His paper titled “Toleration for Accumulation’s Sake” William Penn, Liberal Individualism, and the Economics of Settler Colonialism shows how early settlers played out an important moment in the historical genesis of the capitalist mode of production. By bringing forward the material foundations of Penn’s political philosophy, the paper calls into question just how neutral concepts like “toleration” and “liberty of conscience” were. This paper argues that in Penn’s case equality and toleration may have also served a more functional purpose – namely, smoothing the barriers to the circulation of capital in colonial contexts.
W. J. Stankiewicz was a political philosopher with broad interests in the social sciences and published books on democracy, foreign policy, institutional change in Poland, ideologies and the importance of political theory. He was a professor at UBC from 1957 until his retirement in 1987. He died in 2006. In his honour, Professor Marketa Goetz-Stankiewicz established the W.J. Stankiewicz Memorial Graduate Prize in Political Theory to recognize outstanding work in the area of political theory by a graduate student in the Department of Political Science, awarded annually for the best article-length work in the area of political theory.
