Emily Burns ’22, a Saint Anselm College senior politics and American studies double major, received the New Hampshire Institute of Politics’ Albert H. Gordon Summer Research Fellowship for the summer of 2021. Her research explored whether donations from private prisons affected immigration rhetoric from members of the United States Congress. Advised by international relations Professor Erik Cleven, Burns found that this topic was more of a partisan issue than she first thought.
“I knew that partisanship was an issue in Congress, but I didn’t expect to see that much of the conversation regarding immigration focused solely on blaming the other party, not on solving the crisis that the country is facing,” said Burns. She continued this research during the 2021-2022 academic year through her senior thesis, and hopes to continue this kind of political work regarding immigration or criminal justice in her future career.
“It’s important for voters to know why their chosen elected officials speak about an issue in a certain way,” said Burns. “It’s a commonly held belief that money drives politics, and I wanted to see if that was true in the case of private prisons and immigration.”
Burns presented her research at the Pi Sigma Alpha Virtual Conference on Sat., March 5. Pi Sigma Alpha is The National Political Science Honor Society, of which Burns is a member. The conference is a prestigious honor and great opportunity for undergraduate students across the country to present their research. Burns also has three more in-person conferences in the coming days: an undergraduate panel for the New England Political Science Association in Bretton Woods, an undergraduate poster session for the Midwest Political Science Association in Chicago, Ill., and Southern New Hampshire University’s Undergraduate Research Day.
“Presenting my research at the Pi Sigma Alpha conference was incredibly rewarding. Seeing the tangible results of all my hard work reassured me that my research was beneficial towards the field of political research.”
“I am really proud to have worked with Emily,” said Burns’ advisor Professor Cleven. “The interaction that faculty at Saint Anselm College have with students is one of the most rewarding things about teaching here.”
The Albert H. Gordon Summer Research Fellowship was created in honor of the late Albert H. Gordon for his contributions to the College. The fellowship is made available through a competitive process to students of all majors at the completion of their junior or senior year. Awardees perform research and writing tasks related to a project of their own design, with the oversight of a nominating faculty member. The fellowship is designed to enhance the recipient’s standing for admission to graduate or professional schools and encourage him or her toward a career in public affairs and public policy.
The Gordon Fellowship has and continues to be a fantastic opportunity for students like Burns because it provides them with an opportunity to get a head start on their research for their senior thesis as well as deepens their understanding of what they want to do following graduation. Burns highly recommends the fellowship to anyone considering applying, and says the first step is reaching out to the professor of their choice to express their interest. She also suggested speaking to students who have already completed the fellowship.