Department of History Prizes
Colton Award
For excellence in the preparation of a senior thesis in the Department of History.
Awardee: Katherine Enright for: “FROM NATURAL HISTORY TO NATIONAL HERITAGE: The History and Politics of Displaying Colonial Natural History in Singapore Museums.”
Cynthia Wight Rossano Prize in Harvard History
For the best essay or multimedia presentation on any aspect of Harvard history.
Awardees: Ruby Huang for the History 97O (What is Military History?) paper: “‘For One Reason or Another Not Found a Place Here’: The Harvard Department of Military Science and Tactics, 1894-1900,” and to Henry Haimo for the History 97B (What is Intellectual History?) paper: “James Bryant Conant: The Democratic Educator Who Made Something Out of ‘Makeshift’”
David Herbert Donald Prize
For excellence in American history.
Awardee: Michael Wallace whose thesis title is: “A NATIONAL PARK RENAISSANCE: ‘Mission 66’ and the Rise of Modern Environmentalism, 1956-1966.”
Department of History Prize
For the best total record as history concentrator by the end of the senior year.
Awardee: Uday Schultz whose thesis title is: “Ironbound: Freight Transport, Industrial Change, and the Making of a Logistics Economy in Northern New Jersey.”
Franklin and Eleanor Ford Prize
Established in 2021 by Charles Maier, Leverett Saltonstall Professor of History, Emeritus, this prize is awarded for the best senior thesis in the Department of History on the history since 1500 of one or more of the countries, territories, or societies currently in the European Union.
Awardee: Tadhg Larabee for: “Ireland Inside The ‘Civilizing Machine’: Technology, Political Economy, and the Rural Landscape, 1801-1845.”
Lillian Bell Prize
For student with the best paper on the Holocaust or other major 20th-century event involving human tragedy.
Awardee: Shraddha Joshi for her audio story: “To Witness, to Move On: Remembering Partition in our Present Reality.”
Philip Washburn Prize
For best thesis on historical subject.
Awardees: Alexander Lee for: “WE THE SOVIET PEOPLE: Civic Belonging, Sovetskii Narod Discourse, and Soviet Identity under the Conditions of Late Socialism,” and to Oliver Riskin-Kutz for: “THE BEAR IN THE BOAT: An Environmental History of 18th Century Louisiana.”
Undergraduate Essay Prize
For the best work of original historical scholarship produced before the senior year in a history department course.
Awardees: Tadhg Larabee for the History 12P (The History of Emotions) paper: “Putting the Arctic Back into Early-Nineteenth-Century Arctic Emotions,” and to Tamar Sarig for the History 14X (Conquering Pandemics: Medicine and the State in the Effort to Control Disease) paper: ‘“My dear family once more in good health’: Women, Domesticity, and Healthcare in Early America.”
William Scott Ferguson Prize
For best History 97 essay.
Awardees: Sophia Charles for the History 97M, (What is International History?) paper: “Russian, American, Somewhere-in-Between: Russian Émigré Voices in the American Cold War Conversation,” and to Enrique Sanchez for his History 97J, (What is Family History?) paper: ‘“Breeding from the Bottom’: Eugenics and the Early Birth Control Movement.”
University-Wide Prizes
Alwaleed Bin Talal Undergraduate Thesis Prize in Islamic Studies
Awarded by the Alwaleed Islamic Studies Program for the best undergraduate thesis making original contributions to current scholarly discourse on Islam and Muslim societies, past and present.
Awardee: Waseem Nabulsi, class of 2023, a prize of $2,000 for his project entitled “Magic Mountain: Samaritan Astrological Intervention in Palestinian Misfortune”
Bowdoin Prize for Undergraduate Essays in the English Language
For the best essay of high literary merit written by an undergraduate student in any field of learning.
Awardee: Waseem Nabulsi, class of 2023, a prize of $2,000 for his project entitled “Magic Mountain: Samaritan Astrological Intervention in Palestinian Misfortune”
Robert Levin Prize in Musical Performance
Awarded by the Office for the Arts to recognize an extraordinarily gifted undergraduate musician.
Awardee: Camden Michael Archambeau, class of 2023, a prize of $1,000
Selma and Lewis H. Weinstein Prize in Jewish Studies
Awarded by the Center for Jewish Studies for the best undergraduate essay in Jewish studies.
Awardee: Madison Stein, class of 2024, a first-place prize of $1,000 for her project entitled “A Distinct Diaspora: Examining the Development of Baghdadi Jewish Identity Across a Transnational Network”
Seymour E. and Ruth B. Harris Prize for Honors Thesis in the Social Sciences
For the best senior honors thesis in a social science other than economics.
Awardee: Waseem Nabulsi, class of 2023, a prize of $2,000 for his project entitled “Magic Mountain: Samaritan Astrological Intervention in Palestinian Misfortune”
Sophia Freund Prize
Awarded annually to the students in the senior class of Harvard College who are graduating summa cum laude with the highest grade point average.
Awardee: Uday Schultz, class of 2023, a prize of $1,000
Thomas Temple Hoopes Prize Winners
A.J. Dilts, class of 2023, for his project entitled "The Architecture of Advice: How the Bureau of Intelligence and Research Shaped President Kennedy's Policy in Vietnam, 1961-1963"— supervised and nominated by Professor Fredrik Logevall and Mr. Daniel Chardell
Katherine Michelle Enright, class of 2023, for her project entitled "From Natural History to National Heritage: The History and Politics of Displaying Colonial Natural History in Singapore Museums"—supervised and nominated by Professor Ajantha Subramanian and Professor Janet Browne
Tadhg Larabee, class of 2023, for his project entitled "Ireland Inside the 'Civilizing Machine': Technology, Political Economy, and the Rural Landscape, 1801-1845"—supervised and nominated by Professor Maya Jasanoff
Alexander Lee, class of 2023, for his project entitled "'We the Soviet People': Civic Belonging, Sovetskii Narod Discourse, and Soviet Identity under the Conditions of Late Socialism"— supervised and nominated by Professor Terry Martin
Waseem Nabulsi, class of 2023, for his project entitled "Magic Mountain: Samaritan Astrological Intervention in Palestinian Misfortune"—supervised and nominated by Professor Steven Caton
Oliver Leo Riskin-Kutz, class of 2023, for his project entitled "The Bear in the Boat: An Environmental History of 18th-Century Louisiana"—supervised and nominated by Professor Jill Lepore and Professor Emma Rothschild
Uday Rex Schultz, class of 2023, for his project entitled "Ironbound: Freight Transport, Industrial Change, and the Making of a Logistics Economy in Northern New Jersey"— supervised and nominated by Mr. Jacob Anbinder
Alexander Tam, class of 2023, for his project entitled "To Be A Citizen: Rights, Obligations, and Belonging at the Social Margins of the Confederacy"—supervised and nominated by Professor Drew Faust
Michael Wallace, class of 2023, for his project entitled "A National Park Renaissance: 'Mission 66' and the Rise of Modern Environmentalism, 1956-1966"—supervised and nominated by Mr. Camden Elliott