Writing Prize Winners
Albert I. Dickerson, for many years Dean of Freshmen, took great interest in first-year composition. In his memory, a prize has been established which will be awarded annually to that student who writes an outstanding expository essay in a First-Year Seminar/Humanities 2, or in a Writing 5/Humanities 1 class, or in a Writing 2-3 class, as decided by a volunteer committee of Writing faculty from across the first-year courses.
Arthur Feinstein 1955 Memorial Fund First Year Excellence in Writing AwardThe First Year Excellence in Writing Award, made possible by the Arthur Feinstein 1955 Memorial Fund, is for "the best piece of writing by a first-year student in one of the first-year writing courses."
For more information about these prizes, please see our Prizes page.
2019
Albert I. Dickerson 1930 Freshman Writing Prize
- Writing 2-3 category: Tooryanand Seetohul, "Let them Speak Cake"
- Writing 5 / Humanities 1 category: Hayley Piper, "Indigenous Civilizations of Latin America in Animated Film: An Analysis of Cultural Representation in The Road to El Dorado and The Emperor’s New Groove"
- First-year Seminar / Humanities 2 category: Felicia Ann Ragucci, "Asserting a Feminist Humanity: Nora’s Deliberate Performance and Ultimate Rejection of her Gender Role in Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House"
Arthur Feinstein 1955 Memorial Fund First Year Excellence in Writing Award
- Emily Sun (Yu Xin Sun), "Untitled"
2018
Albert I. Dickerson 1930 Freshman Writing Prize
- Writing 2-3 Division: Autumn Dinh, "Adela Quested--The 'Wrong Sort' of Anglo Indian Woman"
Faculty: Colleen Lannon
- Writing 5 / Humanities 1 Division: Bennet Clark, "The Language of Experience of Religion in C.S. Lewis' Surprised by Joy"
Faculty: Cynthia Monroe
- First-year Seminar / Humanities 2 Division: Shreyas Agnihotri, "Crafting a Victim-Flcused Approach to America's Death Penalty"
Faculty: Jennifer Sargent
2017
Arthur Feinstein 1955 Memorial Fund First Year Excellence in Writing Award
- Alyssa Gao, "Determining the Existence of Interdisciplinary Individuals in the Field of Environmental Studies."
2016-17 Albert I. Dickerson Freshman Essay Prize
- First Year Seminar Division: Maya Frost-Belansky, "Consensual Pregnancy: The Moral Permissibility of Abortion."
Faculty: Ann Bumpus
- Writing 2-3 Division: Ama Kyerewaa, "Hanuman: A Great God in Hinduism, a Demonic Beast in Christianity."
Faculty: Colleen Lannon
- Writing 5 Division: Iris L. Wang, "Forgotten History and Erased Memories: Confronting Japanese World War II Atrocities."
Faculty: Julie Kalish
2016
Arthur Feinstein 1955 Memorial Fund First Year Excellence in Writing Award
- Jon Scott, “An XL Proposal with Larger Consequences"
Faculty: Andrea Kremer
Albert I. Dickerson 1930 Freshman Writing Prize
- First Year Seminar Division: Wendy Kang’ethe, “The Transcendent Nature of Beauty"
Faculty: Laurence Hooper’s Italian 7: Can Love Conquer Death? Poetry for the Departed Beloved in Dante and Petrarch
- Writing 2-3 Division: Caleb Smith, “The Evolution of Protagonist-Zombie Interactions in American Zombie Cinema: A Mirror of Evolving Race Relations Between White and Black America"
Faculty: Alan Taylor’s Writing 3: The End … Post-Apocalyptic Fiction, Film, and Art
- Writing 5 Division: Margaret Cross, "Exposing the Link between Crime and Sexual Trauma"
Faculty: Julie Kalish’s Writing 5: The Supreme Court
2015
Arthur Feinstein 1955 Memorial Fund First Year Excellence in Writing Award
- Alex Sclafani, “Monsanto Company: Planting Corn, but Growing Troubles"
Faculty: Patricia Lopez
Albert I. Dickerson 1930 Freshman Writing Prize
- Writing 2-3 category:
No prize awarded
- Writing 5 / Humanities 1 category:
Emily Smid, for her essay, “Homosocial Regionalism in Modern Country Music,” written for Nick Van Kley’s Writing 5 class.
- First-year Seminar / Humanities 2 category:
Theo Minerva, for his essay, “Too Much of a Sweet Thing: The Case for an Increased FDA Role in Reducing Sugar Consumption,” written for Andrea Kremer’s First-year Seminar class.
2014
Arthur Feinstein 1955 Memorial Fund First Year Excellence in Writing Award
- Benjamin Prudhomme, “Orozco’s Serpientes: Contextualization and Visual Analysis"
Faculty: Mary Coffey
Albert I. Dickerson 1930 Freshman Writing Prize
- Writing 2-3 category:
No prize awarded.
- Writing 5 / Humanities 1 category:
Emily Burack, for her essay, “Can Soccer Help Arabs Achieve Equality in Israel?” written for Timothy Ruback’s Writing 5 class.
- First-year Seminar / Humanities 2 category:
Michelle Li, for her essay, “Hope, Suffering, and a Lost Dream: The Representation of the Golden Venture Story in Wang Ping’s ‘Song of Calling Souls’” written for Woon-Ping Chin’s First-year Seminar class.