History Undergraduate Writing Prize
Each Spring, the History Faculty solicits nominations for the History Undergraduate Writing Prizes, honoring excellence in historical research and writing. The three awards of $300 each honor MIT historians John W. Dower, Pauline Maier, and Bruce Mazlish.
Eligibility:
MIT undergraduate students and non-MIT students who have taken a 21H subject in the current academic year taught by an MIT History Faculty member may submit entries.
Requirements:
Submissions from non-21H subjects are not eligible unless the instructor has a joint appointment with the MIT History Faculty.
Papers should be roughly 10 pages or more, double-spaced.
All submissions must exclude your name, subject number, and subject title.
How to apply:
Send completed entry form and paper as a PDF file to ackatz@mit.edu.
Due date:
Friday, May 31, 2024 at 11:59pm, EST. No late entries accepted.
Evaluation Criteria:
A History Faculty committee will evaluate entries based on excellence in historical analysis, research, and writing.
Winners will be notified by email and their names will appear on the history website by Monday, June 17, 2024.
For more information, please contact Abbie Katz (ackatz@mit.edu).
Past History Undergraduate Writing Prize Winners:
2023
Kylee Carden ‘23
Title: Charles Blackman and the Activation of Lynching in Schley County, Georgia
Course: 21H.390 – Theories and Methods in the Study of History
Grady Thomas ‘24
Title: From Slaves to Hillbillies: A Racial History of the Banjo in the 18th and 19th Centuries
Class: 21H.390 – Theories and Methods in the Study of History
Alexis Zhou ‘26
Title: Charity and Inequality: Poor Relief in Bruges at the Turn of the Fifteenth Century
Class: 21H.134 – Medieval Economic History in Comparative Perspective
2022
Tobit Glenhaber ‘23
Title: Gold, Trusts, and Imperialism: The Populist’s Evolution of Thought on Intervention and Imperialism, 1896-1900
Course: 21H.213 – The War at Home: American Politics and Society in Wartime
Jacob Shapiro ‘23
Title: Religion, Step Aside!
Class: 21H.141 – Renaissance to Revolution: Europe 1300-1800
Felicia Xiao ‘25
Title: Home, Home, Home: Empire, Displacement, and Belonging for Japanese War Orphans Left Behind in China
Class: 21H.354 – World War II in Asia
2021
Chanita Tubthong ‘21
Title: “Mounting up to the Heavens”: Astronomical Events and Their Interpretations in the Carolingian Era
Course: 21H.THU – History Thesis
Emily Han ‘22
Title: A Brief History of Queer Asian Americans (audio file – use these slides to follow along)
Class: 21H.108 – Sexual and Gender Identies
Kathryn Tso ‘22
Title: It All Began with Malcom X
Class: 21H.390 – Theories and Methods in the Study of History