Dean Hank Dobin Prize Winners

The Dean Hank Dobin Prize in Community-Engaged Independent Work is awarded to students whose outstanding thesis best engages a community audience, whether through extensive research, policy recommendations, or new information and analysis.  The prize is named after former Dean Dobin, who was instrumental to the creation of the Program for Community-Engaged Scholarship during his time at Princeton. Prizes are awarded on Class Day in May of each year.

The short reports below from the prize winners contain the most important conclusions of students’ research written in the style of an executive summary or policy brief.  Students describe the relevance of their work for a particular community or organization, implications of their research for current policies and practices or recommendations for strategic change.

2023

Short reports will be posted soon!

First Prize

Chloe Fox-Gitomer (Anthropology), Sharps Containers are Red, Tourniquets are Blue: Harm Reduction’s Abridged History and an Ethnography of Contemporary Programs

Second Prize

Gillian Hilscher (Molecular Biology), Gender-Affirming Medical Care: Longitudinal Effects on DNA Methylation and Psychological Well-Being in Transgender and Gender Diverse Youth

Third Prize

Nanette Beckley (School of Public and International Affairs), Community Violence and Postpartum Depression: Associations and Potential Intervention Strategies

 

2022

First Prize

Jessica Lambert (Anthropology), Defending Our Freedom: The US Military, Environmental Contamination, and Ongoing Native Land Theft in the Choctaw Nation

Defending Our Freedom, Jessica Lambert

Second Prize

Ashley Morales (School of Public and International Affairs), An Analysis of Cooperative Housing in New York City Housing Policy

An Analysis of NYC Cooperative Housing Policy, Ashley Morales

Third Prize

Joshua Babu (Molecular Biology), Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy for Transgender Youth: Telomere Homeostasis, Psychological Wellbeing, and Barriers to Research

Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy for Transgender Youth, Josh Babu

 

2021

First Prize

Lauren McGrath (Anthropology), Ethnographic Data Visualization as a Methodology to Visualize the Health Impacts of Structural Violence in Urban Philadelphia Communities

The Side Unseen by Lauren McGrath

 

Second Prize

Jonathan Wang (Molecular Biology), Examining Low-Barrier Buprenorphine Treatment during COVID-19 for Individuals Experiencing Housing Insecurity and Homelessness

Examining Low-Barrier Buprenorphine Treatment by Jonathan Wang 

 

Third Prize

Katherine Leggat-Barr (School for Public and International Affairs), Responding from a Fractured Foundation: An Analysis of the COVID-19 Response on the Navajo Nation, to Explain Observed Elevated COVID-19 Mortality Rates

Responding from a Fractured Foundation by Katherine Leggat-Barr

 

2020

First Prize

Rachel Kasdin (Sociology), The Crisis of Stigma: Young Adults’ Negotiation of Racism and Homelessness In Trenton’s Health Care System

The Crisis of Stigma, by Rachel Kasdin

 

Second Prize

Serena Alagappan (Comparative Literature), The Space Before Us

The Space Before Us, by Serena Alagappan

 

Third Prize

Vayne Ong (History), Springwood Avenue Rising: Race, Leisure, and Decline in the 1970 Asbury Park Uprising

Springwood Avenue Rising, by Vayne Ong

 

2019

First Prize

Madeline Gilson (Sociology), Fractured Families: A Qualitative Study of Deteriorating Kin Support Among Parents in the Child Welfare System

Fractured Families, by Madeline Gilson

 

Second Prize Co-Winners

Jordan Antebi (History), Citizen Participation Versus Urban Renewal, and the Struggle for Community In Trenton, New Jersey

Citizen Participation Versus Urban Renewal, by Jordan Antebi

 

Everett Elson (POL), Welfare's Silent Citizenry: An Interview-Based Study on Political Quiescence in the New Jersey Welfare System

Welfare's Silent Citizenry, by Everett Elson

 

2018

First Prize

Sophia Alvarez (Anthropology), When it Rains it Floods: An Ethnography of Infrastructure and Citizenship in New Orleans

When it Rains, It Floods, by Sophia Alvarez.pdf

 

Second Prize

Kelly McCabe (Spanish and Portuguese), Out of the Shadows: Opening Pathways to Domestic Violence Services for Latin American Immigrants in Mercer County

Out of the Shadows, by Kelly McCabe.pdf

 

Third Prize

Ariana Mirzada (Near Eastern Studies), Serving the Afghan Women of Diavata Camp: Considerations and Future Implications

Serving the Afghan Women of Diavata Camp, by Ariana Mirzada.pdf