Woodruff and Rose libraries reward undergraduate students for extraordinary research

From left: Jackie Veliz, Chris Batterman, Sam Galloway, Liza Gellerman, Nora Sullivan, Allison Lin, Catherine MacGregor, Hannah Christianson, Claudia Tung, and Zola Berger-Schmitz.

Fifteen Emory students received Undergraduate Research Awards from the Robert W. Woodruff Library and the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library for research they conducted in the Emory Libraries, or will travel to conduct at another library. The students were honored at a brunch and awards ceremony on May 7.

“Enabling research is a key component of what we do through the provision of resources,” said Emory Libraries University Librarian Yolanda Cooper. “Undergraduate research is a high-impact practice and inquiry-driven activity that improves student success and builds lifelong critical thinking, information literacy, and communication skills. It also encourages students to ask questions and seek knowledge not just from articles written by others, but through their own exploration and creativity.”

The Woodruff Library’s Elizabeth Long Atwood Undergraduate Research Award recognizes Emory College undergraduate students in all disciplines who use the Woodruff Library’s collections and research resources in their original papers, digital projects, or posters; and show evidence of critical analysis in their research skills (such as locating, selecting, evaluating, and synthesizing information).

• Chris Cháirez Batterman, class of 2019, music major, winner for “ ‘Ser como el aire libre’: Resistance and Ethnic Identity in the Music of Teatro Campesino During the Chicano Movement, 1960-1976.”
• Allison Lin, class of 2018, English major, winner for “On Masking and Unmasking: The Paradox of Censorship in Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray.’ ”
• Nora Sullivan, class of 2018, creative writing and political science double major, winner for “African American Attorneys and Hope: Symbolic Victory in Macon, Georgia.”
• Andrew Hoover, class of 2020, neuroscience and behavioral biology major, honorable mention for “William Arthur Shelton’s Journey to the Holy Lands and Beyond.”

The Bradley Currey Jr. Seminar Award is open to undergraduates in all years of the honors program in the Emory College of Arts and Sciences, or any upper level student who is conducting original research. Successful applicants attend two intensive instructional workshops that will train them to locate archival repositories, assess manuscript and special collections, plan their research, and properly handle rare materials. Students who successfully complete the training receive grants intended to help defray the costs of conducting original research in an archival repository.

The winners and their proposed titles for their research projects are:

• Liza Gellerman, class of 2018, history and Spanish double major, for “Framing the Nuremberg Einsatzgruppen Trial: An American Narrative.”
• Catherine MacGregor, class of 2019, music major, for “The Transformative Power of Practice: Yehudi Menuhin as Musician, Yogi, and Humanitarian.”
• Carly Moore, class of 2018, women’s, gender, and sexuality studies and philosophy double major, for “A Genealogy of Hysterical Mimicry.”
• Christell Roach, class of 2018, creative writing and African American studies double major, for “The Bridge is Blue: Mari Evans & Blues Poetry.”
• Zach Shuster, class of 2019, Jewish studies major, for “Rashi’s Influence on the Wycliffite Translation of the Psalms through Nicholas of Lyra.”

The Alan Rackoff Prize was established through the Betsy and Wayne Rackoff Fund and named in honor of Rackoff’s late brother, an Emory student in the class of 1973. Wayne Rackoff (75C), vice president of clinical oncology at Janssen Research & Development, was among the first generation of Emory students in English courses to have access to primary materials in what was then known as Special Collections (now the Rose Library). The experience made a lasting imprint on his intellectual life and led him to become a long-time supporter of the archival collections.

The prize is awarded to students for the best papers, projects, or honors theses written on the basis of primary source material related to a class or course of study in any academic department except the Department of English.

• Patsy Collins, class of 2019, dance and business double major, winner for her work and choreography, “Disinterested Cruelty,” informed by her research on the Rose Library’s Beats-related collections.
• Samuel Galloway, class of 2020, business major, winner for his paper “Welwyn Garden City: A Green Solution for Interwar Housing,” which drew heavily from the Rose Library’s Charles Palmer papers.
• Zola Berger-Schmitz, class of 2019, music and political science double major, honorable mention for her project “George Walker, Redefining 20th Century Music as a Black Composer: A Study Through Sketches and Correspondences.”

The Schuchard Prize was established through the Betsy and Wayne Rackoff Fund and named in honor of Wayne Rackoff’s archival mentor, Ronald Schuchard, Goodrich C. White Professor Emeritus of English. The Schuchard Prize is awarded to students for the best papers, projects, or honors theses created on the basis of primary source material related to a class or course of study in the Department of English only.

• Claudia Tung, class of 2020, business and psychology major, winner for her paper “Textual Transformation: Intertextuality in Medbh McGuckian’s Works.”
• Hannah Christianson, class of 2020, economics major, honorable mention for her paper “Alice Walker and Female Genital Mutilation.”
• Jackie Veliz, class of 2018, creative writing major, honorable mention for her research and work on the exhibition, “Stepping Out of Line: Exploring LGBTQ Activism.”