Princeton University senior Sam Harshbarger has been awarded a Rhodes Scholarship for graduate study at the University of Oxford.
Harshbarger, of Cranbury, New Jersey, is concentrating in history and is also pursuing three minors: in history and the practice of diplomacy; Near Eastern studies; and Russian, East European and Eurasian studies. At Oxford, he will pursue an MPhil in history.
He is a member of the Behrman Undergraduate Society of Fellows, a group of juniors and seniors who are committed to the study of humanistic inquiry. He is also a student fellow of the Center for International Security Studies and an undergraduate fellow of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions.
“Sam is a once-in-a-generation academic talent,” said Natasha Wheatley, assistant professor of history, who met Harshbarger when he took her “History of International Order” course in spring 2021. “His exceptional academic work is fueled by a boundless curiosity, an expansive humanist ethos and deep moral engagement in the contemporary world.”
In spring 2021, Harshbarger took ”International News: Reporting on Rising Nationalism in Europe,” a course in the Humanities Council’s Program in Journalism, taught by NPR’s then-Athens correspondent Joanna Kakissis. While making an audio feature on the politics of Syrian refugees in Turkey for an assignment, he began to consider a career in journalism and think tank research.
