With some funding from the department, senior Political Science major, Elizabeth Frazier, presented a paper the Middle East Conference at the University of Arkansas. Her presentation was the result of research from a paper she wrote for an independent study on Nationalisms with Dr. David Romano. Her research covered the development of a Hashemite brand of nationalism in the construction of the Jordanian state. In her presentation, she covered the period leading up to the founding of the state as well as the initial identity construction under King Abdullah and King Hussein. She assessed that this initial founding resulted in the construction of a personal monarchy with an identity tied solely to the Hashemite regime.
She then addressed certain policies under the current King Abdullah II regime and their perpetuation of the personal monarchy and its implications on the stability of the state. After addressing the Palestinian-Jordanian demographic split and the 2011 Hirak movements in Jordan, she determined that Jordanian identity being tied to a personal monarchy is more dangerous to the stability of the regime and state than the traditional view of the demographic split.