Senior Josh Goetz was awarded 3rd place at the Denman Undergraduate Research Forum on March 8th, 2022. Goetz placed in the Domestic and International Relations category, with a paper titled "Analysis of a Novel Solution to the Israel-Palestine Conflict."

The Denman Undergraduate Research Forum is an annual event that "showcases research projects from the brightest undergraduates at Ohio State" (Office of Student Academic Success: Undergraduate Research and Creative Inquiry)

Students can share their research through poster and oral presentations, with faculty reviewers scoring the presentations for awards in 10 academic categories.

Goetz noted the topic for the paper stemmed from an interest in understanding more about resolving tensions in a multiethnic state. Goetz was able to use a meeting with Dr. Jennifer Mitzen to help transform his interest into a project.

"Dr. Mitzen had been the professor of my favorite political science class (Global Governance) during my freshman year, and she recommended that I try to turn my idea into an undergraduate thesis. I'm very grateful to her for doing this, as I hadn't even considered writing a thesis at that time, and might never have done so if not for her encouragement. I decided I would try it, and built upon my original idea until it was a full research project."

Goetz shared how he went through many modifications, but ended up with "...examining the validity of a novel solution to ethnic conflict and analyzing its potential application to the Israel-Palestine Conflict. The project is divided into three parts - a discussion of traditional ethnic conflict solutions and discussion of their flaws, an empirical analysis of post-WWII ethnic civil war resolutions, and an analysis of my novel solution. "

In asking Goetz about what he learned throughout this experience of conducting research, he stated that, "I've learned so much from the research process and would recommend it to any student considering graduate school or research in the future. I gained knowledge of the Middle East, learned how to apply statistical analysis to political science problems, and learned how to do a literature review; and that was just the beginning. I also learned the important skills of how to present research so that people will find it interesting and important, how to write an academic paper, how to work with a research advisor, and how to navigate the bureaucracy of academia to apply for funding and get credit for my research." 

Overall, Goetz expressed gratitude for placing in the Denman Undergraduate Research Forum and for the experience of conducting research.

 "Again, I'd like to thank Dr. Mitzen for all her help throughout the process-her guidance made all of it manageable, and her feedback greatly improved my project." 

Congratulations, Josh!