March
Twelve graduating seniors have been named Dean’s Distinguished Graduates. Each year, the College of Liberal Arts honors 12 seniors with the Dean’s Distinguished Graduate Award for their leadership, scholarly achievements and service to the community.
The honorees are:
- Reema Ali, History (Special Honors) / Economics
- Nathan Carmichael, Classical Archaeology (Special Honors) / Anthropology / Classics
- Jonathan Cortez, Ethnic Studies (Mexican American Studies) (Special Honors) / Sociology
- Ciaran Dean-Jones, Plan II Honors Program / Classics / History
- Alexander Djamoos, Government (College Honors)
- James Fisk, English (Special Honors; College Honors) / Computer Science
- Sai Gourisankar, Plan II Honors Program / Chemical Engineering
- Mark Jbeily, Plan II Honors Program
- Geetika Jerath, International Relations & Global Studies
- Kaitlyn Kennedy, German (Special Honors) / Spanish / Latin American Studies
- Christina Kent, Economics (Special Honors) / Finance / Mathematics
- Jane Mize, English (Special Honors; College Honors) / Latin
Honorable mention recipients:
- Alexandra Buck, Government (College Honors) / History / Religious Studies
- Marlee Burns, Plan II Honors Program / International Relations & Global Studies / Middle Eastern Studies
- Jesse Crandell, Spanish (Hispanic Linguistics) / Portuguese
- Caroline Crews, Classics / Religious Studies
- Courtney Crosby, Psychology
- Steve Dao, Philosophy (Special Honors) / Computer Science
- Katie Floyd, Latin American Studies (Special Honors) / Plan II Honors Program
- Ana Hernandez, Latin American Studies (Special Honors) / History
- Michelle Jackson, Psychology (Special Honors)
- Preston McLaughlin, Geography (Special Honors)
- Andrew Messamore, Sociology (Special Honors) / Journalism
- Kornel Rady, Government / Comm. Studies, Corporate Comm.
- Emily Smith, Sociology
- Rachel Snavely, Geography (Special Honors)
- Olivia Starich, Anthropology (Special Honors) / Journalism
- Callista Stoop, Arabic Language & Literature
- Emily Tagtow, Linguistics (Special Honors)
- Coleman Tharpe, Anthropology (College Honors) / RTF
- Jorge Wong, Classics (Special Honors) / Linguistics
- Larissa Zelezniak, History
This year marks the 35th anniversary of the Dean’s Distinguished Graduate program, which has yielded more than 400 alumni who represent the best and the brightest graduates of the College of Liberal Arts. In 2009, the College created the Dean’s Distinguished Graduate Alumni Association in an effort to better connect alumni to one another and the college.
April
Anthropology and RTF senior Coleman Tharpe won the National Student Employee of the Year Award for his work on a massive online course (MOOC) for the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Click here to read more.
Chair of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Jill Robins was appointed to the PMLA Advisory Committee for a three-year term in the field of 20th-century-poetry.
The College of Liberal Arts cleaned up at the Graduate School/University Co-op Awards Banquet this year, winning the following recognitions:
- Outstanding dissertation: Megan Andrews, English
- Outstanding Graduate Student Academic Employee: Dena Afrasiabi, AI, Middle Eastern Studies; Casey Hanson, TA, Anthropology
- Outstanding Thesis award: Rigoberto Choy, LLILAs; Raymond Joseph Parrott, History
- Outstanding Alumnus Award: John Gaddis, History; Robert Plomin, Psychology (students: Shuo Jin, Kazushi Minami)
- Outstanding Graduate Adviser: Paula Perlman
Casey Bushman, a senior academic advisor in the College of Liberal Arts, was named an NACADA Outstanding New Advisor Winner in the primary advising category.
Carrie Anderson, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of American Studies, was named the recipient of the P.E.O. Scholar Award from the P.E.O. Sisterhood–a $15,000 award that supports advanced female graduate students in dissertation research and writing.
June
Aaron Sherraden, a PhD student in the Asian Cultures & Languages program, has been awarded the Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fund Fellowship for the 2015-16 academic year. Only 13 are awarded each year. Sherraden is the third PhD student in Asian Cultures & Languages to receive the Liebmann Fellowship. Karline McLain was awarded the Liebmann in 2002 and Don Davis in 1998.
July
Five students in the College of Liberal Arts have received Arabic Study Awards from the Qatar Foundation International. The scholarships range from $5,000 to $10,000 and help fund undergraduate students’ tuition and their study of the Arabic language.
Students receiving the award are:
- Dounya Alami-Nassif
- Brett Bowman
- Kelly Fagerman
- Anita Farsad
- James Stratton
More information on the awards can be found here.
October
Macey Shay, a Dedman Scholar and history and French honors student, was awarded the prestigious Killam Fellowship by Fulbright Canada to study at l’Université de Montréal for the 2015-16 academic year. The Killam Fellowships Program provides a cash award of $5,000 US per semester, a three day orientation in Ottawa and a three day spring seminar in Washington D.C.