Previous Winners

PREVIOUS WINNERS

CREES has honored the late Dr. Roy D. Laird, a longtime member of the REES and Political Science faculties, and Mrs. Betty Laird, whose support makes this prize possible, with a special display outside the main office. The plaque in the display bears the names of all previous winners of the Competition.

  • 2023 - Graduate Award: Mason Hussong (REES MA). "“How to Develop Central Asia into a Region Nondependent on China and Russia."
  • 2023 - Undergraduate Award: John Lubianetsky (Chinese language & literature, global & international studies, political science, and Russian, Eastern European & Eurasian studies). "Assimilation, Adaption, and Expansion: Folklore Transmission and Development in the Ukrainian Canadian Diaspora."
  • 2022 - Undergraduate Award: John Lubianetsky (Chinese language & literature, global & international studies, political science, and Russian, Eastern European & Eurasian studies). “The United States’ Role in Resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict: Transformation and Change in Caucasian Security.” 
  • 2022 - Undergraduate Award: Aylar Atadurdyyeva (Global & International Studies, Microbiology, and Political Science). “‘The Woman Question,’ Dostoevsky, and the Women of ‘Crime and Punishment.’”
  • 2021- Graduate Award: Alaina DeLeo (REES MA). “Not Your Kyrgyz Kelin: How Local Activists are Changing Opinions on Bride Kidnapping."
  • 2021 - Undergraduate Award: Aylar Atadurdyyeva (Global & International Studies, Microbiology, and Political Science). “Kosovo-Turkey Relations and the Ottoman Legacy."
  • 2020 - Graduate Award: Steven Mutz (Political Science Ph.D). "Back to a Future USSR: Worth the Cost?" [DOC]
  • 2020 - Undergraduate Award: Matti Dimmick (Anthropology/Slavic Languages and Literatures). "Putin’s Gendered Political Discourse" [DOC]
  • 2018— Graduate Award: John Stanko (REES MA). "The Relevancy Gambit: A Vision for the Future Evolutioin of the Russia-China Relationship." 
  • 2017 — Graduate Award: Alana Holland (History MA). "Not Our Nation."
  • 2016 – Graduate Award: Travis Toon (Global & International Studies MA). "Kosovo in Crisis: Caught between The Snake and the Zajednica."
  • 2016 — Undergraduate Award: Ashlie Koehn (BA Global & International Studies) "Imperial Style, Comrade Couture, and the New Frontier Russian Fashion."
  • 2015 — Graduate Award: John Biersack (Geography MA) "The Politics of Biometric Passports: Ukrainian Bodies and the Borders of Europe."
  • 2015 — Undergraduate Award: Mike Hemphill (BA Lingustics/Slavic Languages & Literatures) "Being Light Blue: The Reconciliation of Language & Culture."
  • 2014 — Graduate Award: Robert Jameson (History, Ph.D. Candidate), “Crimea as Kosovo and Sudetenland: The Peril of Historical Narratives in the 2014 Russo-Ukrainian Crisis.” 
  • 2014 — Undergraduate Award: Natalie Cristin Perry (BA Slavic Languages & Literatures/REES Co-Major), "Progress through Dispute: The Caspian Oil Power Struggle and Its Effects on Central Asian Cooperation"
  • 2013 — Vincent Artman (Geography, Ph.D. Candidate), "Post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan: Between Nationalism and Nation-State."
  • 2012 — Ruoxi Du (REES MA), "Anti-Chinese Sentiment in Russia: Threats of "Chinese Invasion" or Fears of Russian Xenophobia"
  • 2011 — Austin Charron (Geography), "The Sibiriak Movement and the Roots of Modern Siberian Regionalism." 
  • 2010 — Cody Brown (Political Science), "Comrades in Crime: The Rise of the Balkan Mafia in the Former Yugoslavia."
  • 2009 — Laura Dean (Political Science), "Implications of East European Sex tourism in a Neocolonial Context."
  • 2008 — Brett Chloupek (Geography, Ph.D. candidate) "Slovakia’s Gypsies: Centuries of Problems, Few New Solutions."
  • 2007 — Michelle Tran (REES BA) "Beyond Disney: The Poetry and Magic of Soviet Animation, 1962–1990.”
  • 2006 — Peter Tosco (REES MA) "An Impasse to Peace: A Look at the Continuing Deadlock in the Kurile Islands Dispute."
  • 2005 — Brooke Waldron (REES MA) "Serbian Orthodox Church."
  • 2004 — Adrian Erlinger (REES MA) "Shock Art and Orthodox Thugs: Politics and Contemporary Art in Russia."
  • 2003 — Lindsey Collier (BA Slavic/REES) "An International Dilemma: Russia vs. Chechnya."
  • 2002 — Patrick Crabb (REES), "New Opportunities: The Impact of the Pope's Visit to Ukraine."
  • 2001 — Uroš Petrović (Sociology), "There Goes Yugoslavism, Here Comes South Slavism."
  • 2000 — Matthew Schmidt (REES MA), "The Spiritual and Moral Costs of Transition in Russia."
  • 1999 — Paul Wanke (History), "Western Influence on post-Communist Russia."
  • 1998 — Jennifer Cook (REES MA), "Ecological and Health Aspects of the Transition Period."
  • 1997 — Sheri Deeter (REES MA), "Nationalism: Bane, Boom, or Blur?"
  • 1996 — R. Brannan Cass (REES MA), "The Russian Orthodox Church: A Time of Troubles."
  • 1995 — Paul Sutherland (REES MA), "United We Stand, Divided We Get Rich: The Woes of Alexander Isayevich."