Czar Alexei Sepe, a 2021 Boston College graduate who majored in political science and history, has turned his senior thesis into a book, From Beirut to Belfast: How Power-Sharing Arrangements affect Ethnic Tensions in Post-Conflict Societies. Sepe uses Northern Ireland and Lebanon to illustrate a theory of sites of social interaction (SSI) and strategies of social cohesion in power-sharing institutions. Sepe writes that SSIs and cohesion strategies that increase tensions will cause power-sharing failure in the long run, and vice versa. He contends that there is a causal link between power-sharing and ethnic tensions in divided societies, through mechanisms of SSIs and cohesion strategies. For this work, Sepe won the University’s Donald S. Carlisle Award for academic excellence in political science. Sepe studied in Beirut via BC’s Omar A. Aggad Travel and Research Fellowship. He also studied abroad in Ireland. His thesis advisor was Political Science Associate Professor Peter Krause.