Vanderbilt Undergraduate Writing Awards
There are many writing awards for undergraduate students at Vanderbilt. Listed below are a handful of awards to which undergraduate students can apply for consideration.
College of Arts and Science, Peabody College, School of Engineering, and Blair School of Music
Henrietta Hickman Morgan Memorial Prize
Best piece of original writing by member of freshman class.
College of Arts and Science
History
Henry Lee Swint Award
$500 to the author of the best research paper or essay in any field of history. This competition is open only to undergraduate history majors and excludes history honors theses.
Samuel T. McSeveney Award
$500 to the author of the best research paper or essay written for a freshman history seminar (History 1111 or another 1111 course taught by a history professor). This award was established in 2001 by Professor Samuel T. McSeveney to recognize an undergraduate student with the best paper written in a freshman seminar in the Department of History.
Dewey Grantham Award
$500 to the author of the best honors thesis in the history department. Named for the late Professor Dewey Grantham, this award has been presented each year since Spring 1997.
LHS Award
$500 to the author of the best research paper or essay written by a law, history & society major. Excludes history honors theses.
Economic History Award
$500 to the author of the best research paper or essay written by an economics and history major. Excludes history honors theses.
Paul K. Conkin Award
$500 to the author of the best paper in U.S. history. This competition is open to all undergraduate students but excludes history honors theses.
French and Italian
Jane L. Drushal Memorial Scholarship
Established in memory of Jayne L. Drushal, a French major at Vanderbilt who died at a young age, is a cash award given to one or more students accepted for study in a francophone country for the spring, summer, or fall semester. Please return your application to the department office, 215 Furman Hall. Deadlines: November 15th (Spring Study Abroad) and March 31st (Fall & Summer Study Abroad). Brooks-and-Drushal-Application
The Franklin Brooks Memorial Award
Established in 1994 in memory of a much-loved faculty member and Director of Vanderbilt-in-France, is a cash award given to one or more students accepted for study in a francophone country for the spring, summer, or fall semester. Please return your application to the department office, 215 Furman Hall. Deadlines: November 15th (Spring Study Abroad) and March 31st (Fall & Summer Study Abroad). Brooks-and-Drushal-Application
The Jacqueline Wachs Essay
Established in 1999 by the Department of French and Italian in memory of Jaqueline Wachs, who taught French from 1966 – 1994. The prize is a cash award for the best essay submitted by an undergraduate. The contest deadline will be March 29th; a flyer will be posted in the French and Italian Department. Jacqueline-and-Morris-Wachs-Application
The Gardner Prize
Endowed in 1980 by Grace Gardner in memory of her husband, treasurer emeritus of Vanderbilt. The award is a cash award given to a graduating senior for excellence in French. This award is made by the faculty and has no formal application procedure.
The C. Maxwell Lancaster Award
Endowed in 1991 with a gift from Professor Luigi Monga to honor the memory of C. Maxwell Lancaster, professor of French and Italian from 1939 – 1976. It is a medal awarded to a graduating senior for excellence in Italian. This award is made by the faculty and has no formal application procedure.
Pi Delta Phi
The National French Honor Society. Students with a cumulative GPA of 3.3 and a French GPA of 3.6 who have taken at least 4 classes at the 2500 level or above may apply for membership. The annual induction ceremony takes place at the end of the fall semester.
Gender and Sexuality Studies
Susan Ford Wiltshire Essay Prize
The Department of Gender and Sexuality Studies gives two awards each spring — one for the best undergraduate essay ($100 prize) and one for the best graduate essay ($200 prize), in honor of Susan Ford Wiltshire. The submitted essays must be on a topic concerning gender, race, ethnicity, class, and/or sexuality. They must have been written during the previous calendar year (spring, summer, or fall). The competition is open to students in all schools and colleges of the university, including graduating seniors.