Celebrating Student Researchers: The 2024 Rackoff and Schuchard Winners

by Shanna Early, Instruction Archivist

Congratulations to all students who submitted research projects for consideration for the 2024 Schuchard and Rackoff Undergraduate Research Prizes. The submissions this year show the efficacy of undergraduate humanities education at Emory, and we are thrilled that we get to be a part of it.  

Schuchard Prize 

Named for Goodrich C. White Professor Emeritus of English Ronald Schuchard, The Schuchard Prize is awarded annually to the best paper, project, or honor’s thesis using archival research that originated in a class offered by Emory’s Department of English. 

 The first-place winner of the Schuchard Prize this year is senior English and Creative writing major Oli Turner. Her paper, “Performing the AIDS Epidemic: From Warren to Higher Ground, Southern Playwright Rebecca Ranson Tells Stories of the Queer South,” was written for Dr Hannah Griggs’s Southern Literature class and features research from the Rebecca Ranson Papers. The judges were impressed by how archival research drove the project and by Turner’s passion for the subject. Of her experience learning in the Rose Library, Turner writes, 

“I combed through only a fraction of the boxes in the collection, finding manuscripts of Ranson’s plays, correspondence with friends and audience members, newspaper articles, and even lawsuits. The story was practically jumping out of the boxes fully-formed. And this story isn’t even on the internet. . . . I was able to research Ranson’s life solely because of the work of the archivists at the Rose Library who have stewarded and processed this collection. I am so grateful to every librarian who patiently pointed me toward the right boxes and showed me the ropes on the 10th floor of Woodruff Library.” 

Turner plans to continue researching Ranson’s papers for creative writing projects. 

Congratulations Oli! 

  

 Zoe Bailey is the runner-up for the Schuchard Prize. Her essay, “Empathizing with the Inspiration: A Case Study of the Drafting Process of Carol Ann Duffy’s ‘Recognition,’” was written for Professor Nathan Suhr-Sytsma’s Introduction to Poetry class. The judges were impressed by Bailey’s use of drafts and a clipping from the Carol Ann Duffy Papers to produce an excellent analysis of the poem “Recognition.” 

“I was enraptured by Carol Ann Duffy’s “Recognition” from the first read, so when I discovered I would get to examine its drafts in the Rose Library, I was thrilled with the opportunity. I was nervous about the assignment at first as it felt like uncharted territory, but I was excited to see what English research looked like. . . . One notable shift that is present between drafts is changing the characterization of the woman when she bumps into the mirror, making many shifts such as from “wild-eyed woman” to “dowdy matron” used at the end of the poem. . . . I wanted my grasp on Duffy’s intentions and internal processes to be as authentic as possible, so that was my main guiding force in implementing the strategies I chose to use.” 

Bailey is a sophomore Anthropology & Human Biology and Neuroscience & Behavioral Biology major, and we hope to see her back in the Rose Library to examine some of the historic science journals and medical texts we have in our rare book collection. Congratulations Zoe! 

  

 The judges also elected to award an honorable mention to Joseph Tang, whose project is especially impressive for a first-year student. Created for Professor Geraldine Higgins’s First Year Flourishing Seminar, Imagining Ireland, Tang’s project “The Sound of Teoswa” combines image in an artist’s book and sound in a podcast to meditate on imperialism and language. The judges were especially impressed by the depth of thought and creativity in this moving piece, which was inspired by a draft of Seamus Heaney’s poem “Broagh” from the Seamus Heaney Papers. Of his experience in the Rose Library, Tang writes, 

“My Freshman Irish Literature Seminar (ENG190) was my first introduction to the wonderful Irish Archive at Emory’s Rose Library. The physicality of the rare scripts, posters, and books there was astonishing. Engaging physically with these texts and materials offered a tangible connection to the past. Among these, the maps and posters issued by authorities, the handwritten script of Translations, and Seamus Heaney’s poem Broagh in his own script, all narrate a poignant narrative of the fate of the indigenous Irish language under English hegemony.” 

Keep it up, Joseph! We’re excited to see what you do during your Emory career, and we hope to see you in the Rose Library again this year! 

The Alan Rackoff Prize 

Emory alum Dr. Wayne Rackoff initiated this research prize, named for his late brother who was also an Emory alum. This prize is awarded each academic year for the best paper, project, or honor’s thesis using primary source material, excluding work submitted to classes in the Department of English.  

 The first-place winner of the 2024 Rackoff Prize is newly-minted Emory graduate and Sociology and Integrated Visual Arts major, Klara Nitsche. Nitsche’s project, “‘If you could use un-punk colors that’s even more punk rock.’ : An Analysis of Materiality, Community Symbols, and Self-Presentation in Atlanta’s Hardcore Punk Scene,” was produced as an honors thesis in the Department of Sociology. Professor Timothy Dowd served as advisor for the project, and Professors Tracy Scott and Dana Haugaard rounded out the committee. Nitsche’s project makes use of one of the Rose Library’s coolest collections, the Atlanta Punk Rock Collection, examining how the concert posters in the collection “navigated rules of visual communication and representations of self within the bounds of Do-It-Yourself (DIY) material practices.” Of her research, Nitsche writes, 

 “I have always been drawn to materials bearing proof of others’ touch. As an artist and sociologist I am constantly tracing narratives communicated through visual, physical, and organizational structures. . . .Engaging with the physical materials offered in Emory’s Stuart A. Rose Library and exploring their variety of collections has centered archives in not just my research project but also my future academic endeavors. I hope to continue my work with archives in my graduate studies and broaden my personal research in material culture studies to include digital landscapes.” 

Having completed her degree here at Emory, Nitsche plans to continue studying in Colorado: “Much of my undergraduate work revolved around the study of physical materials in social contexts, particularly in theories of visual culture and material qualities as a measure of cultural analysis. Since my undergraduate interests were largely rooted in the analysis of tangible materials (paper, cloth, etc.) I’ve decided to spend the next two years of my academic career educating myself on the less tangible material of digitality. By attending CU Boulder’s ATLAS Institute in their Creative Technologies program, I will learn the structural coding and design that is responsible for upholding much of our digital landscape as well as direct my own creative projects to experiment new approaches towards conducting material culture research. I hope to expand my knowledge of materiality to encompass all types of materials and continue researching their effect in shaping culture!”  

Congratulations, Klara! We already miss seeing you during your regular appointments at the Rose, and we wish you all the best in graduate school! 

  

 The runner-up for the Rackoff Prize this year is senior Music and Philosophy, Politics, and Law double major Julia Nagel. Her essay, “Analysis of John Hill Hewitt’s Music on Confederate Sentiments During the Civil War,” was written for Professor Laura Emmery’s Archival Documents Analysis class and explores the major themes in Hewitt’s music by carefully examining materials in the John Hill Hewitt Papers. Explaining how archival materials shaped her research, Nagel writes, 

“I started my process looking at online resources through the Emory Library’s databases, but after I discovered that the Emory Rose Library has a John Hill Hewitt Collection, I was inspired to explore the primary sources contained within the archives. I discovered, and was amazed by, the wide variety of materials in the Collection. Not only did it contain manuscripts for his musical works ranging from operas to ballads, but the Collection also gave me access to view Hewitt’s notebooks, correspondence, and poetry.”  

Congratulations Julia!