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J. Welles Henderson '43 Senior Thesis Prize

Main Information Page

Program Overview
Awards and Announcements

Program Overview

Created by Federal Judge Arlin M. Adams in honor of his friend, J. Welles Henderson '43, this prize is awarded to the Princeton undergraduate senior who has written the most outstanding thesis on a law-related subject. An eligible thesis deals centrally with a question related to law, and may be from any discipline. Among the topics welcome for consideration are legal history, law and public policy, law and literature, legal philosophy, sociology of law, law and politics, legal anthropology, science and law, psychology of law, law and religion, law and art, as well as law and economics. The prize committee considers theses in international, comparative or American law, as well as theses primarily about the law of any country other than the US.

Awards and Announcements

2011 Co-winners

Hanna Jane Katz, Sociology, for her thesis, "Policing Adolescence: Personal Empowerment Among Youth Who are Stopped by the Police for Questioning"

Zayn Siddique, Woodrow Wilson School, for his thesis, "The Quiet Struggle: Judicial Independence and the Modern Middle East"

Previous Winners

2010 Co-winners

Mark Zaichen Jia, Woodrow Wilson School, for his thesis, "Legal Aid and the Rule of Law in the People's Republic of China"

Daniel Eric Rauch, Department of Politics, for his thesis, "The New Supermajority: Judicial Review, Supermajority Voting Rules and the United States Supreme Court"

Honorable Mention: Molly Jeanne Alarcon, Woodrow Wilson School, for her thesis, "Arc of Justice: The Representation of Women and Minorities in the American Judiciary"

2009 Winner

Andrew Paul Dixon, Department of Comparative Literature, for his thesis “Laws Before the Law, Laws Behind the Laws: Reflections on, Refractions of, Images of Law and Authority in Kafka”

Honorable Mention: Lucy Adeline Guarnera, Department of Psychology for her thesis, “Making the Crime Fit the Punishment: The Interplay of Punishment, Moral Outrage, and Legitimacy in the Context of Strict Liability Laws”

Honorable Mention: Jessica Lauren Frey, Department of Art and Archaeology, for her thesis, “Internationalism along the Nile: Egyptian Policy and Foreign Archaeology”

2008 Winner

Zachary Squire, Department of Classics, for his thesis "Property and Conception of the State in Cicero."
Summary

Honorable Mention: Jon di Cristina, Department of History, for his thesis, "Blood it Defileth the Land: Conservative Christianity and Capital Punishment in the United States."
Summary

2007 Winner

Elizabeth Skeen, Anthropology, for her thesis, "The Rape of a Trial: Jacob Zuma, AIDS, Conspiracy, and Tribalism in Neo-liberal Post-Apartheid South Africa." Her advisor was John Borneman.
Thesis

2006 Winners

Amaka Megwalu, Woodrow Wilson School, for her thesis "Looking Back, Moving Forward: The Gacaca Courts in Rwanda." Her advisor was Gary Bass.

Jeremy Golubcow-Teglasi, Religion, for his thesis "Truth, Power and Coherence: Holmes and the Theology of Law." His advisor was Eric Gregory.

Selection Process

Academic departments are invited to nominate excellent law-related theses for consideration. A faculty committee reads each submission and selects the winner. Winners receive a $1,000 prize and runners up receive a $250 prize and an honorable mention.