News
Bryce Hecht Presents Research at MPSA
April 13, 2018
Political Science major Bryce Hecht recently attended the Midwest Political Science Association conference in Chicago to present his research paper, "'All Autocratic Regimes Come to an End?' Explaining Regime Stability in Russia." He wrote the paper for PLS 339 Democracy and the Authoritarian Challenge in the fall semester, and presented his poster alongside other excellent undergraduate students' research posters.
In Bryce's words, "I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of the MPSA conference. On Thursday, the day before I was scheduled to present, I attended several panels on topics related to my research interests in comparative authoritarianism and post-Soviet politics. It was very exciting to listen to some of my favorite scholars present their research. Additionally, attending the panels deepened my appreciation for the nuts and bolts of the research and peer review processes.
I presented my research on Friday morning, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much attention the posters in my session—The Changing Nature and Effects of Authoritarianism in the 21st Century—received. I left my session with several ideas for how to refine my research both conceptually and methodologically."
What advice does Bryce have for other PLS students? "I would strongly encourage my fellow political science students—especially those interested in attending graduate school—to consider presenting their research at this conference or a similar one."
Bryce also presented this research at the Pi Sigma Alpha conference in Washington, D.C. and more recently at GVSU's Student Scholars Day.