Middle East Studies

Oona Cahill ’18 receives Brown University Distinguished Senior Thesis Prize

May 31, 2018

Oona-Cahill

Administered by the Office of the Dean of the College, the Brown University Distinguished Senior Thesis Prize recognizes exemplary senior thesis projects by undergraduates across the University. Oona Cahill, a concentrator in Middle East studies and history, is one of this year’s five recipients. Her thesis ‘The Power to Exclude: Rethinking the Role of the Merchant Class in the Construction of Kuwaiti Nationality,’ is described by the selection committee as an “excellent, ambitious, and well-written study of Kuwaiti national identity and the statelessness of the Bedoon jinsyya” and further “characterized by a well-focused research question, innovative argument, and excellent use of archival evidence.”