CWP alum, Stephanie Char, wins Nuno P. Monteiro Best Dissertation Award for 2026

The Best Dissertation Award, named for Nuno P. Monteiro, is given for the best dissertation in International Relations Theory. All dissertations completed within the previous two calendar years are eligible for consideration. 

The 2026 winner of the award is Stephanie Char, Columbia University for her dissertation entitled:  “Scaring the Monkey by Killing the Chicken: Effectiveness of Countercriticism Coercion by China.”

https://apsanet.org/membership/organized-sections/organized-section-awards/past-awards/section-53/

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Williams College. My research interests span economic and military coercion, international institutions, and human rights. I study China’s foreign relations, with regional expertise in East and Southeast Asia.

I was previously a postdoctoral fellow at the Columbia-Harvard China and the World Program and Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University and a Hans J. Morgenthau Fellow at the Notre Dame International Security Center. My research has been funded by Columbia University’s Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy, and Columbia Experimental Laboratory in the Social Sciences. I received my Ph.D. in Political Science at Columbia University and B.A. from the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. 

Photo Credit: https://apsanet.org/membership/organized-sections/organized-section-awards/past-awards/section-53/