This Fall, five Faculty of Arts and Science students at Queen's University had their undergraduate research awarded and recognized in the 2026 Global Undergraduate Awards.
Congratulations to Leo Yang (BAH ’26) for receiving the top honour for his paper titled The Limits of Recognition: Artistic Superfluity and the Paris Salon in the 1860s. He won the Global Winner honour in the Art History and Theory category. Last year Yang was also recognized, earning a Global Undergraduate Highly Commended award.
Faculty of Arts and Science Coverage
The Global Undergraduate Awards is the world’s leading undergraduate awards program which recognizes top undergraduate work, shares this work with a global audience, and connects students across cultures and disciplines.
This year, 327 institutions participated with over 2,000 submissions in total.
Recognized Queen's students included:
Regional Winner (The Americas)
- Vaishnavi Suganthan (BAH ’26 (Political Studies), Minor in Sociology), Politics & International Relations Category. Title of submission: Colonial Legibility: Indigenous Misrecognition in Immigration and Asylum Systems.
- Also received a Highly Commended distinction for a second submission: “When Protection Becomes Politics: Framing, Impunity, and Tamil Mobilization in Sri Lanka.”
The highest performing Highly Commended Entrant in each Region is named a Regional Winner of their category. They are published and receive a certificate of recognition from Undergraduate Awards.
Highly Commended Students
- Zoey Rhone (BAH ’26 (Health Studies), Certificate in Law), History Category. Title of submission: The Role of Nazi Propaganda in Youth Indoctrination: Lessons from Jojo Rabbit.
- Aaron Smiley (MA ’27 (History, in progress); BAH ’26 (History)), History Category. Title of submission: You Have to Get What You Can in Wartime: A Study of Public Criticism Against British Wartime Nutritional Policy, 1939-1955.
- Caitlin Mastroieni (BAH ’27 (Political Studies), Minor in Global Development Studies), Politics & International Relations Category. Title of submission: The Commodification of Care: Medical Voluntourism and the Neoliberal Political Economy of Social Reproduction.
Entrants whose paper or project ranked in the top 10 per cent of submissions in their category, are shortlisted as Highly Commended Entrants. They are published and receive a certificate of recognition from Undergraduate Awards.
The Global Undergraduate Awards also noted there were eight Queen’s students in their new Rising Circle category (top 20 per cent of all applicants). These students, while narrowly missing an award, are considered, by the category judges as ones to watch for the upcoming year, showcasing their potential for further achievements in their final year of study.
Learn more about the Global Undergraduate Awards on their website.