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Koczak Wins 2022 Outstanding Paper Award
April 20, 2022
Katherine Koczak’s paper, “The B.J.P. in India: Backsliding Justified by Polarization,” has won the 2022 Outstanding Paper Award in Political Science and International Relations. Katherine’s paper critically analyzes the recent erosion of democracy and human rights in India. She examines how Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party led a populist and authoritarian movement that “has capitalized on the country’s formative rifts and weaponized polarization.”
Katherine will graduate with a major in International Relations and minors in Spanish and International Business. She has been a Cook Leadership Academy Fellow and will study abroad this summer in Málaga, Spain. Katherine’s interests in democratization and human rights were sharpened through an internship with the International Institute of Metro Detroit’s legal department, where she worked with immigrants and refugees. She plans to attend law school in the fall of 2023. Congratulations to Katherine!