Emerging Scholars Lightning Rounds

Join us on for the 2026 Emerging Scholars Symposium Lightning Rounds. These dynamic, PechaKucha-style sessions will begin in the morning and conclude with the Graduate Student Happy Hour that evening.

Following the PechaKucha style, Lightning Rounds give each scholar five minutes to present, followed by five minutes of feedback or Q&A. This format’s structured framework helps emerging scholars practice concise, effective presentation skills and engage in discussion at the world’s largest political science meeting.

Saturday, September 5, 2026

Boston Marriott Copley Place, Simmons

Democratic Governance, Social Movements, and Criminal Justice

Graduate Student Research Lightning Round
8:00 – 9:30 a.m.
Boston Marriott Copley Place, Simmons

Session Participants

Effect of Affective Polarization on Pluralism and Political Tolerance
Siwon Yoon, Seoul National University

Gender-Based Disinformation and the 2024 US Elections
Anna Gaudet, University of Aberdeen

Portable Autocracy: Individual Leadership and Stability Maintenance in China
Miu Ying Lam, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Prison Legitimacy and Civic Belonging: How Imprisonment Shapes Trust in the State
Olivia Lombardo, Yale University

Street-Level Bureaucrats and Racial Identity: A Preliminary Exploration
Arielle Weaver, University of Washington

The Brutal Consent: Gubernatorial Political Orientation and Police Punitiveness
João Felipe Marques Barros da Silva, University of Brasilia


Emerging Undergraduate Research in American Politics

Undergraduate Student Research Lightning Round
10:00 – 11:30 a.m.
Boston Marriott Copley Place, Simmons

Session Participants

Community Health at Risk: Power, Governance, and Resistance
Zoe Solberg, Boston University

Congressional Careers and Changes in Legislative Activity for Black Members
Brian Ng, University of Virginia

Drowned Voices: Resource Bias and Unequal Representation in the NCAA
Christian D. Pereira, Bryant University

Obliged to Control Itself? Analyzing Legislative Cession and Democratic Erosion
Abigail Hahn, Georgetown University

Rocking the Boat: Interest Group Resource Endowments and Venue Selection
Danny Minh Ly, Swarthmore College

The Persistence of Reconstruction Education on Jim Crow Political Participation
Aser Brandon Rellon Sorongon, Swarthmore College

Emerging Research in International Relations, Power, and Norms

Graduate Student Research Lightning Round
12:00 – 1:30 p.m.
Boston Marriott Copley Place, Simmons

Session Participants

Aid for Influence: China’s Inducement-Based Economic Statecraft in UNESCO
Ruyi Liu, Harvard University

Coalitions in China Linked Mineral Finance through Co-Financing Networks
Oshin Pandey, AidData

Isolated Partners: Foreign Direct Investment among Sanctioned States
Hyunsoo Ha, Yonsei University; Joonseok Yang, Yonsei University

Muscular Dreams: Toward a Phenomenological Theory of Political Judgment
Marlon Waddell, University of Oxford

Towards a Theory of Women as Agents of Soft Power
Annalise Weedman, Indiana University

Using ML to Study Political Discourse Consistency in Diplomatic Forums
Sol Zoe Nottage, Northeastern University

Emerging Undergraduate Research in Comparative Politics

Undergraduate Student Research Lightning Round
2:00 – 3:30 p.m.
Boston Marriott Copley Place, Simmons

Session Participants

Adapting to Less: Cultural, Familial, and Market Responses to Welfare Cuts
Andreas Johnson, Biola University

A Socioeconomic Vicious Circle: RRP Success and Italy’s “Political Alienation”
Matteo Bollini, King’s College London

Beyond Debt Trap: Analysis of Chinese Investment and Elite Incentives in Kenya
Nayonikaa Singhaal, Alma College

Beyond Decentralization: Federal Robustness and Democracy under Stress
Megan Colleen Rehbehn, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Moral Cues and National Identity in Chinese History Textbooks, 1950–2020
Zhengpeng Zhao, Wuhan University; Shuting Xiao, Wuhan University; Ruijin Mao, Wuhan University; Lingxin Liu, Wuhan University

The Evolution of the Taliban’s Organization and Governance from 2001 to 2024
Regan Irene Slattery, University of Connecticut

The Path to Ruin? Impact of Polarization on Democratic Die
Ray Igbinedion, Meiji University

When Legal Resistance Constrains Backsliding: Mobilization in Hungary and Poland
Madeleine K. Dearie, Georgetown University

Technology, Environment, and Methodology

Graduate Student Research Lightning Round
4:00 – 5:30 p.m.
Boston Marriott Copley Place, Simmons

Session Participants

Changes in Disaster Trends Associated with Polycrisis: A Quantitative Analysis
Sienna Mark, Northeastern University; Margarida Soares Rodrigues, Northeastern University

Digital Governance and Institutionalizing Grassroots Deliberative Democracy
Feier Chen, Northwestern Polytechnical University

Intercontinental Rebellion: Europe-Asia Nuclear Transfers in the 1970s
John Flanagan, Johns Hopkins SAIS

Policy Support and Political Trust in China’s Resource Based Cities
Yinge Hu, Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)

Private Power, Public Risk: Democratic Accountability in Technology Trade
Annabelle Gouttebroze, University of Oxford

Rethinking Host-States-in-Waiting: Learning from Climate Refugee Visa Attempts
Sophia Tomany de Brito, University of California, Santa Barbara