06/23/2026
SENIOR SPOTLIGHT: John Rhoden ’26
How do sports intersect with history, identity, and international conflict? Senior John Rhoden spent the semester exploring exactly that for his fascinating senior capstone project. As a student-athlete who played soccer for Warren Wilson College for four years- and as someone who is partly Greek-Cypriot- John chose to investigate the political climate of Cyprus through the lens of the island's football (soccer) scene.
Cyprus has been a divided island in the Mediterranean since 1974, consisting of Greek Cypriot Southern Cyprus and Turkish Cypriot Northern Cyprus. To analyze how this division plays out today, John conducted a case study using:
-The official Instagram profiles of four historic, politically reputable football clubs.
-A purposive sampling of fan accounts.
The goal? To determine whether these clubs foster anti-peace opinions to sustain narratives of division, testing the hypothesis that humans have a psychological need for both allies and enemies. Utilizing International Relations theories like Soft Power, Enemy System Theory, Scapegoat Theory, and Ontological Security Theory, this research offers a compelling look at ethno-nationalism and historical geopolitical tension.
Congratulations to John on completing this deeply personal and uniquely framed capstone!