Freshman Seminar Writing Awards
In the Spring
of 1996, the College of Arts and Sciences began awarding prizes to the
most outstanding papers written in Freshman Seminars. Papers are nominated
by Freshman Seminar faculty and are judged by a committee comprising Writing
Program faculty and student tutors from The Writing Place. The goal of
this awards program is to recognize and reward outstanding student writing
and to encourage students' efforts to improve their writing.
In that same
spirit, the Freshman Seminar Writing Awards Committee is publishing the
winning papers online. We see publication of these papers as a way to
honor the winning students and as an excellent resource for others--both
for students, who can consult them to get a clear picture of the qualities
of an outstanding paper, and for faculty, who can use them to help teach
writing concepts. Many of the
winning papers, listed below, are accompanied by the instructor's description
of the assignment and commentary on the paper's strengths. Each of the
papers can be downloaded as a PDF file and read with Adobe's Acrobat Reader.
If you do not already have a copy of Acrobat Reader, you can download
it from the Adobe web site.
Northwestern students, faculty, and staff can also download it from the
Northwestern Library web
site.
Access
to the papers themselves is restricted to members of the Northwestern
community. The papers are readable only on the computer; they are not
able to be printed out. All papers remain the property of their authors,
who retain all rights.
2006-07 Winners
Jocelyn Huang, “A’zhou”
Professor Ellen Wright, How Language Works
Katie Ranney, “Misunderstanding Madaaris”
Professor Elizabeth Hurd, The Middle East in International Relations
Madeline Weinstein, “Monuments to Every Moment: The Poetry of Elizabeth Bishop”
Professor Paul Breslin, Modern Poetry
Honorable Mention
Nicholas Briggs, “The Legitimation of Structural Violence: A Case Study in the Citizen-Rights Structure and the American State of Exception”
Professor William Murphy, Anthropology of Violence
Kasia Kadela, “The Rise and Fall of a Reputation: Herbert Hoover”
Professor Gary Fine, Scandals and Reputations
Ted Lin, “Gasoline Prices”
Professor Lynne Kiesling, Economics of Energy
Jessica Robinson, “Immigration and the American Dream”
Professor Victor M. Espinosa, Immigration and the American Dream after September 11
2005-06 Winners
Evan Gray, “The Aircraft Manufacturing Wars”
Professor Robert Gallamore, Lanes, Trains, and Planes
Jonathan Kollath, “The Multiplicity of Identity”
Professors Jonathan Adler and Elizabeth Matthews, Identity from the Mind and the Brain
Robert Krenn, “The Right Choice”
Professor Robert Gordon, Did Economics Win the Two World Wars?
(not available for download)
James Sumers, “The Need for Linguistic Proficiency in Commercial Aviation”
Professor Rae Moses, World Englishes
Honorable Mention
Sonya Tao, “African American Vernacular English”
Professor Rae Moses, World Englishes
Lauren Perry, “Blaxploitation Then and Now”
Professor Tobin Miller Shearer, Racing through the Movies
Daniel Bohl, “The Estate Tax: Reform vs. Repeal”
Professor Leon Moses, Taking Sides
2004-05 Winners
Kaitlin Ainsworth, "Cosmopolitan and a Rainy Afternoon"
Professor Edith Skom, Analyzing Popular Writing
Alexandra Arney, "The Influence of New Light Theology on the American Revolution"
Professor Christopher Hodson, Revolutionary America
Dan Frydman, "History and Propaganda: The Legitimization of the Rwandan Genocide"
Professor William Murphy, Anthropology of Violence
Kristie Mann, "Character Through Contrast"
Professor Ellen Wright, How Language Works
Honorable Mention
Alexandra Arney, "The Effect of the Black Death on the Peasant Classes in England"
Professor Jessica Roussanov, The Black Death
Victoria Furstenau, "The Suffering Continues: HIV/AIDS and Women in Rwanda"
Professor Kearsley Stewart, Global Perspectives on HIV/AIDS
2003-04 Winners
Eric
Cannon, "Title
IX: A Study of Gender Equality in Sports"
Professor
Barbara Shwom, How to Become an Expert in Roughly 10 Weeks
Thomas
J. N. Rooke, "My
Moral Code and the Impact of Evolutionary Psychology"
Professor
William Irons, Evolutionary Morality
Jessica
Stamler, "Scandals
and Reputations: Andrew Johnson"
Professor
Gary Fine, Scandals and Reptutations
Rebecca
Resnik, "The
New Fur: Conflict Diamonds in Africa"
Professor
Tyler Colman, Politics of Consumer Goods
Honorable Mention
Kira
Romansky, "The
Flapper and Her Critics"
Professor
Gary Fine, Scandals and Reputations
2002-03 Winners
Katherine
Bosch, "Linguistic
and Cultural Barriers to AIDS Education in East Africa"
Professor
Rae Moses, African Voices, African American Ways of Talking
Laura
Hughes, "Species
Account: Taxus brevifolia"
Professor
J.S. Walsh, Understanding biodiversity
Dorothy
Kronick, "The
Struggle to Improve and Equalize Teacher Quality"
Professor
Henry Binford, Antipoverty Crusades
Alexander
P. Leung, "The
Battle of Britain: A Fable Applied"
Professor
Robert J. Gordon, Did Economics Win the Two World Wars?
Honorable Mention
Andrew
Austin, "The
New York City Subway System"
Professor
Robert Gallamore, Lanes, Trains, and Planes
Dorothy
Kronick, "'A
piteous smile on the lips of the superior race': Causes and Effects of
External and Internal Racisim"
Professor
Michael Hanchard, Comparing Racial and Ethnic Relations
2001-02 Winners
Jane
Meng, "Failure
and Secrecy: The Chinese Government and the Management of the AIDS Epidemic"
Professor Kearsley Stewart, HIV/AIDS in Global Perspective
Hannah
Phinney, "To
Dance"
Professor Frances Paden, Autobiography and Culture
Quinn
Stephens, "Hear
Me Roar: Gender in MacBeth"
Professor Wendy Wall, Shakespeare: Text and Film
Autumn
Swinford,“Jailhouse
Rock or Prison Blues?: An Analysis of Industry’s Effect on Today’s
American Prison Labor System”
Professor Michael Kennedy, The Crossroads of Biomedical and Research
Ethics
Honorable Mention
Claire
Arctander,, "Look, See, Show: The Gaze of Sophie Calle's Suite Venitienne"
Professor Christine Froula, Growing Up Women
Riley
Smyth, "A
Reversal of Thought: The Impact of Mandeville’s Travels"
Professor Sean Field, Crusaders, Missionaries, and Merchants
James
Wagner, “Prophecy
Girl: A Kantian Analysis of Duty in Buffy the Vampire Slayer”
Professor John McCumber, Meanings of Freedom
2000-01 Winners
Emily
Hagenmaier, "Performing
Feminity"
Professor Christine Froula, Growing Up Women
Bret
Harper, "I
Don't Get It"
Professor Seth Jacobs, Vietnam: America’s War at Home and Abroad
Karen
Russell,
"Age-Old Myths and Advertising: Why Women Are Still 'Household Slaves'"
Professor Edith Skom, Analyzing Popular Writing
Janet
Wei, "Preserving
Academic Freedom: The UC Berkeley-Novartis Alliance"
Professor Michael Kennedy, The Crossroads of Biomedical and Research
Ethics
Honorable Mention
Stacie
Chea,, "What
Role Did the News Media Play in the Voting Rights Campaign at Selma?"
Professor Christopher Manning, Introduction to Black Civil Rights Activism
Christopher
Goetz, "The Role of Evolutionary Science in the Victorian Crisis
of Faith"
Professor T. W. Heyck,, Victorian Crisis of Faith: Science, Religion,
and Society in Nineteenth-Century Britain
1999-2000 Winners
Jessica
Duncan, "From
Domination to Sadism: Sex and War in Dr. Strangelove"
Professor Chris Gaul, Dark Humor in American Fiction and Film
Amit
Khandelwal, "Chaos
in Monetary Policy"
Professor Venkat Chandrasekhar, Chaos and Complexity
Annika
Mann, "Space
vs. Place in the Tragedies Antony and Cleopatra and King Lear"
Professor Lawrence Evans, Shakespeare and Tragedy
Brendan
T. Mullen,
"The German Atomic Bomb: Its Failure and Possible Implications”
Professor R. J. Gordon, Did Economics Win the Two World Wars?
Paul
Metzger, "The
Mereological Theory"
Professor Robert Colter, Stuff and Things
1998-99 Winners
Chad
Bell, "Gunter
Grass's The Tin Drum: The Western Cacophony, or the Day Oskar's Drum Fell
Silent"
Professor Liebell, Politics and the Novel
Clare
Diefenbach, "A
Close Look at Aeneas's Second Speech"
Professor Elizabeth Vandiver, The Language of Virgil
Ranjit
Hakim, "A
Luta Continua: From Reconciliation to Transformation"
Professor Michael Tetelman, Twentieth Century South Africa
Honorable Mentions
Neela
Kale, "A
Place at the Welcome Table: African Americans and Roman Catholicism in
the Late Twentieth Century"
Professor Wallace Best, African-American Literature in Historical Perspective
Nikole
K. Magala, "The
Eternal Nemesis"
Professor Donna Jurdy, Death of the Dinosaurs
Sarah
Salomon, "Con
Leaders: Military, Economic, and Ideological Leadership in Prisons"
Professor Tim Earle, How Chiefs Come to Power
Brian
Williams, "Illusions
in Shakespeare: Masks and Morality"
Professor Tim Rosendale, Shakespeare, Power, History
1997-98 Winners
Jamie
Aarons, "Investing
in Health: Economic Issues of U.S. Healthcare Policy"
Professor Burton Weisbrod, Economics of Health Policy
Laurie
Eisengart, "Odor
and Word Recall"
Professor Janet Pierrehumbert, Experimentation in Cognitive Science
Brent
Fisher, "Schopenhauer's
Failed Argument against Kant's Categorical Imperative"
Professor Adrian Slobin, The Death of God
Anu
Sawkar, "Fragile X Syndrome"
Professor Robert King, Genetics and Evolution
Note: large file
Christine
Scippa, "Theatrical
Devices"
Professor Beth Charlebois, How Hollywood Reads Literary Classics
Honorable Mentions
Christopher
G. Argyris, "A
Great Awakening: Britain and Film in the Twentieth Century"
Professor Lynn Schibeci, History on Film
Margaret
Aushwitz, "Advising
a Pregnant Teenager"
Professor Albert Farbman, Reproductive Technology
1996-97 Winners
Matthew
D. Anderson, "Toward
Judicial Legitimacy"
Professor Axel Mueller, What is Democracy?
Jennifer
Rogers, "The
Role of Drought in the Fall of Classic Mayan Civilization"
Professor Craig Bina, Geological Impacts on Civilization
Jennifer
Tan, "Weaving
and Reading, Silence and Speech"
Professor Susannah Gottlieb, Native Speakers: Contemporary Asian American
Literature
Honorable Mentions
Eric
Chiou, "Weaving
a Quiet Vision,"
Professor Susannah Gottlieb, Native Speakers: Contemporary Asian American
Literature
Jamie
Stearns, "G6PD
Mutations and Malaria Resistance"
Professor Robert King, Genetics and Evolution
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