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Signature Course Information Literacy Award

Past Winners

Recipients of the Information Literacy Award

2023 

1st Place

Aira Balasubramanian

Pots, Pans, and Pussyhats: The Impacts and Ethics of Feminist Protest Tools

Aira Balasubramanian self-nominated her paper “Pots, Pans, and Pussyhats: The Impacts and Ethics of Feminist Protest Tools” from Arturo De Lozanne’s UGS 303 course Originality in the Arts and Sciences. Her TA, Maureen MacLean said of her paper "Aira contrasts and compares the use of pots and pans in Chilean cacerolazo protests to the "pussyhats" worn by participants of the 2017 Women's March. She ultimately makes a compelling and highly original argument that these methods of protest, while uniting protestors, do not represent the inherent heterogeneity of feminism and can actually exacerbate disparities within and outside the feminist movement. To support this argument, she skillfully utilizes scholarly research found in UT's library catalog spanning the disciplines of feminist studies, sociology, political science, and economic history. ...She produced a beautifully written and rigorously researched paper that far exceeded the work of most Freshmen...the most impressive paper I have seen in all three years I was TA."

2023

2nd Place

Cindy Du

An Investigation into P&G's Coconut Oil Supply Chain

Cindy Du's paper, "An Investigation into P&G's Coconut Oil Supply Chain," was nominated by Kirsta Melton, instructor for UGS 303: Modern Day Slavery. Dr. Melton said "The research paper for the Modern Day Slavery Course...requires students to choose a product they use regularly, break down its ingredients, identify one or more that are generated through exploitative labor practices, track the supply chain of the product and ingredients, analyze the labor exploitation and make independent recommendations for change. ...Ms. Du's research effort was significant and varied, with more than a dozen sources ranging from the company's website to industry publications, nonprofits and academic journals. ...She seamlessly integrated the research with her chosen theoretical framework--the ecological lens, when analyzing the factual situation, and when proposing recommendations for the industry and in addressing the limitations of her own work. Her paper demonstrates a willingness to push beyond conventional sourcing, a refusal to stop when her initial efforts did not yield an easy or direct answer, a sophistication in procuring, blending and analyzing multiple sources to generate creative independent solutions and a recognition of the need to identify for the reader where additional research could be done."

2023

3rd Place

Caitlyn Kung

New York City Bitch: Linguistic Appropriation and Awkwafina's Negotiation of Ethnic Identity Through Rap

Caitlyn Kung's paper "New York City Bitch: Linguistic Appropriation and Awkwafina's Negotiation of Ethnic Identity Through Rap," was self-nominated in Almeida Toribio's UGS 303 class Language and Ethnic Identity. Her TA Drew Colcher said in support of her paper, "Caitlyn’s final essay demonstrated that she grasped the nuances of this field more than any other student in the class. Her unique project on the use of African American Vernacular English in the music of Asian-American entertainer Awkwafina included a detailed focus on specific linguistic features associated with various ethnic identities in the U.S. Her methodology, analysis, and conclusions were well-founded and flowed logically, and her references to resources beyond those read for class allowed her to situate her research in a compelling manner. I believe that Caitlyn’s paper illustrates advanced investigatory and argumentative abilities, and strong potential for future research endeavors."
2023 Honorable Mention

Bhanu Sharma

A Final Nail in the Coffin: The Destruction of Houston's Minority Owned Restaurants

Bhanu Sharma's paper, "A Final Nail in the Coffin: The Destruction of Houston's Minority Owned Restaurants," was nominated by Irene Rosetto, instructor for UGS 303: Afro Entrepreneurship. Dr. Rosetto said of this paper, "Bhanu Sharma...mixed in-person interviews with Houston's restaurant owners and extensive literature research, including journals and newspapers, to investigate the effects of gentrification and the COVID-19 pandemic on minority-owned businesses in Houston. The student did a stellar job integrating primary data collection with an original discussion of bibliographic resources. Bhanu demonstrated advanced knowledge of bibliographic research and citations, high skills in interpreting and synthesizing sources, providing an accurate and original analysis of gentrification - a problem that affects minority communities and businesses around the country."

2022

1st Place

Jaiden Walker

His Final Words: A Wild Plaint Calls Attention to Black Male Mental Health

Jaiden Walker self-nominated her paper “His Final Words: A Wild Plaint Calls Attention to Black Male Mental Health” from Arturo De Lozanne’s UGS 303 course - Originality in the Arts and Sciences. Her TA Olivia Spiers said of her paper “Ms. Walker brings in an abundance of outside evidence to back up her claims that Johnson’s poem paints a bleak, systematic picture of Black men’s poor mental health in America. She also includes direct quotes to further drive her points that Johnson’s turbulent feelings and emotions within the poem mirror many of the struggles Black men still face today. ...Ms. Walker brought an empathetic touch to her methodical study.” The Judges were impressed by the sources she brought together to help her connect an early 20th century work to a modern systemic issue.

2022 

2nd Place

Neha Donthineni

Lost in Translation: La mala hora to Minority Language Suppression

Neha Donthineni self-nominated her paper “Lost in Translation: La mala hora to Minority Language Suppression” from Arturo De Lozanne’s UGS 303 course - Originality in the Arts and Sciences. Her TA Olivia Spiers said of her paper “During her time researching this work, Ms. Donthineni was in close contact with Harry Ransom Center employees in order to receive the most complete and authentic analysis of her chosen artifact. While her paper was rooted in the novel’s characteristics and historical context, Ms. Donthineni launched her paper into contemporary times by bringing in recent research on minority language suppression and its impacts around the world today. She shows adept skill in narrowing in her findings and organizing her research on such complex issues in a very understandable and fluent way.” The Judges were impressed by her use of sources and by her evolution as a researcher as she worked on this paper.

2022

3rd Place

Ty Hanson

Homeopathy: An Overview and Analysis

Ty Hanson's "Homeopathy: An Overview and Analysis" was nominated by Dr. Jacqueline Woolley and completed in her UGS 302 class Why We Believe Weird Things. Dr. Woolley said of Hanson’s paper “I selected this particular paper...because [it] was fascinating and included a wide range of information on the topic – homeopathy. Much to the chagrin of his peer reviewer, his paper was about twice as long as it was supposed to be, but it so wonderfully reflects his boundless enthusiasm about the topic that I didn’t mind. In addition, he used a varied selection of ...sources ..., including scientific web sites, government research organization web sites, databases, and empirical articles in medical journals.” The award judges were impressed by his ability to choose and synthesize sources on such a difficult topic.

2021 

1st Place

Abbie Bard

Homesickness and The Civil War: The Northern Perception of Union Soldiers' Nostalgia 

Bard's paper was nominated by Alex Beasley and completed in his Fall 2020 Signature Course, “Emotions in US History.” Bard's project was chosen for her compelling argument using primary and secondary sources she found with a sound search strategy. Dr. Beasley supported this project by saying "[Abbie Bard] engaged in innovative and prodigious research to find fascinating sources for this paper, including a medical journal article from 1864 and a military surgical manual from 1861. She placed these sources into conversation with secondary sources to argue that debates over homesickness reflected Northern anxieties around the place of the home and the family in an emerging era of industrial capitalism.”

2021

2nd Place

Athena Hawkins

From Pro-Suffrage to Anti-ERA: Fear and Women's Rights in the Mormon Church

Hawkins' paper was nominated by Alex Beasley and completed in his Fall 2020 Signature Course, “Emotions in US History.” Hawkins' project was chosen for her interesting argument, bolstered by primary and secondary sources pertaining to multiple eras. Dr. Beasley supported this project by saying "[Athena Hawkins] innovatively argued that "people are more likely to support liberty and equality when it propels them into a position of societal acceptance, and more likely to fear this type of change when it removes their institution or group from the hegemonic culture’s warm embrace." She marshaled an impressive range of primary and secondary sources to make her case, including pamphlets and newspapers from the 19th century and 1970s.”

2021 

3rd Place

Samantha Seal

Mercy Killings

Seal's paper was nominated by Kristin Schulz from her fall 2020 course "Law and Literature" taught with Paula Murry. Seal's project was chosen for her ability to synthesize a close reading of her primary source, Of Mice and Men, with well-chosen secondary texts. Prof. Schulz supported this project by saying "Her analysis and discussion of deontological and utilitarian principles were excellent and very advanced. She used scholarly research and publications to analyze the principle of "mercy killings" in contemporary and historical literature.”

2020

1st Place

Thomas Jennings

The Word Made Flesh in Zen and Anarchism

Jennings' paper was self-nominated and completed in Arturo De Lozanne’s Fall 2019 Signature Course, “Originality in the Arts and Sciences.” This project was chosen for Jennings' use and synthesis of an impressive array of sources and his successful use of archival sources in particular. 

2020

2nd Place

Brandon Curl

Why is Gay not Okay?

Curl's paper was nominated by Arturo De Lozanne from the Department of Molecular Biosciences after it was submitted in his Fall 2019 Signature Course “Originality in the Arts and Sciences.” The project was chosen because of its interesting search strategy in which the author chased down something that struck his interest. This paper also used and synthesized a varied set of sources. 

2020

3rd Place 

Joseph Punske, Hriman Shah, and Kevin Buck

The Effect of the Structure of Jazz Music on Anxiety

Buck, Punske, and Shah’s paper was nominated by Laura I. Gonzalez from the Department of Integrative Biology, and was completed in her fall 2019 course, “Scientific Inquiry Across Disciplines.” Their project was chosen for their excellent literature review and interesting research question that fit into a gap in the existing literature.

2019

1st Place 

Grace Nguyen

The Water Isn't Safe: The Dismal State of Texas Water Regulation

Grace's paper was nominated by Jane Cohen from the School of Law and was submitted in her Fall 2018 Signature Course “Water, Ethics, Law, and Policy.” The project was chosen for its exceptional use of sources from government documents to journalism to build a compelling argument.

2019

2nd Place 

Mohit Gupta

Jerusalem in Israeli Politics, 1947-1967

Mohit self-nominated his paper from Jonathan Kaplan’s (Department of Middle Eastern Studies) Fall 2018 Signature Course “Jerusalem.” His project was impressive because of his smart, iterative search strategy and ability to articulate the conversation between his sources.

2019

3rd Place 

Tanvi Ingle

The Relationship between Social and Economic Marginalization and Alcohol Abuse within the African Racial Group

Tanvi's paper was nominated by Arturo De Lozanne from the department of Molecular Biosciences after it was submitted in his Fall 2018 Signature Course “Originality in the Arts and Sciences.” Ingle’s paper was chosen for her ability to analyze two works of art in the context of a broad array of interdisciplinary sources. 

2018 

1st Place

Caroline Green 

Rhapsodic Apprenticeship

This paper was nominated by Dr. Adam Rabinowitz from the Classics Department and was submitted in his Fall 2017 Signature Course “Tales of the Trojan War.” This project was chosen because Caroline Green did an exceptional job gathering and synthesizing a diverse array of sources and arrived at an interesting understanding of her topic.

2018

2nd Place

Jenifer Ogu

Madonna Whore: Exploring the Dualism in Social Perceptions of Female Sexuality

This paper was nominated by Dr. Arturo DeLozanne From the Department of Molecular Biosciences and Teaching Assistant Iris Cahill and was submitted in the Fall 2017 Signature Course “Originality in the Arts and Sciences.” Jenifer Ogu’s paper was chosen as the second-place winner because she was able to clearly illustrate her research process and effectively used a multidisciplinary array of sources.

2017

1st Place

Larisa Liberty and Naoko Ward

The Effects of Lead on the Growth of Helianthus Annuus

This paper was self-nominated for the award by Naoko Ward and Larisa Liberty, with support from Dr. Laura Gonzalez.It was submitted in her Fall 2016 Signature Course, "UGS 303 Scientific Inquiry: Innovation". This project was chosen because of the students' skilled use of outside sources to inform a laboratory experiment. Their literature review cited credible sources which they synthesized beautifully.

2017

2nd Place

Stephanie Adeline

The Rise of Asian-American Cinema

This paper was self-nominated for the award by Stephanie Adeline, with support from Dr. Charlotte Canning and Dr. Paul Bonin-Rodriguez. It was submitted in their Spring 2016 Signature Course, "Arts, Your Money, and the Nation". This project was chosen because Stephanie made smart use of sources, and evolved her search technique as she worked on this paper and better understood the information she needed. Her way of connecting art and money necessitated a wide variety of sources. 

2017 

3rd Place

Conrad Henry

Biofuel: An Ethical Burnout

This paper was nominated by Dr. Camille Weinberg and was submitted in her Fall 2016 Signature Course, "Prehistory of Food". This project was chosen because Conrad chose strong sources and did an excellent job synthesizing them into his argument about biofuel use.

2016 

1st Place

Sara Phillips

Think Fast: Greek Poets, Improvisation and Memory

Sara's paper was nominated by Dr. Adam Rabinowitz from the Classics Department and was submitted in his Fall 2016 Signature Course, "Tales of the Trojan War". This project was chosen because of teh uniqueness of the topic, which brought together sources about Ancient Greece and the modern day, and required Sara to choose and synthesize a diverse set of sources.

2016

2nd Place

Angela Xie

The Art of Somatopia

This paper was nominated by Dr. Chiu-Mi Lai from the Asian Studies Department and was submitted in her Spring 2015 Plan II Signature Course, "Landscape Tales in Art, Literature and Geology" (co-taught with David Mohrig, Department of Geological Sciences). This project was chosen because Angela Xie was able to gather and effectively synthesize a diverse set of visual and print sources into both a paper and visual work. 

2015

1st Place

Lauren Essary 

Homer in 18th Century America

Lauren's project was nominated by Dr. Adam Rabinowitz from the Department of Classics and was submitted in his Fall 2014 Signature Course, "Tales of the Trojan War". This project was selected for the approach to refining and developing the topic as part of the research process, use of evidence to support the argument, and the range of primary and secondary sources used. 

2015

2nd Place

Sarosh Nandwani

Autonomy for Palestinian Women in Israel

Sarosh's project was nominated by Dr. Jonathan Kaplan from the Department of Middle Eastern Studies and was submitted in his Fall 2014 Signature Course, "Jerusalem". This project was selected for its in-depth analysis of authority and methodology and deep engagement with scholarly sources. 

2015

3rd Place

Laura Van Buskirk

Distracted Driving and How it Affects One's Safety Behind the Wheel

Laura's project was nominated by Dr. Joan Hughes from the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and was submitted in her Fall 2014 Signature Course, "The Role of Technology Among Youth in Society and Education". This project was selected for the wide range of sources used and the approach to research and writing as cyclical and iterative processes. 

2014

1st Place

Katherine Barhnart

Jerusalem's Status in the Tenth-Ninth Centuries B.C.E.

Katherine's project was nominated by Dr. Jonathan Kaplan from the Department of Middle Eastern Studies and was submitted in his Fall 2013 Signature Course, "Jerusalem". This project was selected for its deep analysis of sources in conversation with one another.

2013 

1st Place

Dounya Alami-Nassif​

Manipulating the Portrait of the East; Evidence of Negative Cross-Cultural Narratives within The Picture of Dorian Gray and Dracula

Dounya's project was nominated by Dr. Elizabeth Richmond-Garza from the Department of English and was submitted in her Fall 2012 Signature Course, "Modernity, Anxiety, and the Art of the Uncanny". This project was selected for both its sophisticated analysis of sources and the range and quality of sources used. 

2012

1st Place

Jessica Wan

Salt Merchant Culture in Qing Dynasty Yangzhou

Jessica was nominated by Dr. Chiu-Mi Lai from the Department of Asian Studies for the research inquiry assignment completed in the Fall 2011 Signature Course, "The Good, Bad, and the Ugley in Chinese Literature". This project was chosen for its excellent synthesis and evaluation of sources.

2010

1st Place

Rebecca Wortmann

Romani Political Struggles in the European Union

Rebecca was nominated by Dr. Ian Hancock from the Department of Linguistics. The paper was submitted in his Signature Course, "The Price of Identity: Romani Reality and Gypsy Myth". This paper was recognized for its incorporation of a variety of sources into a sophisticated and well-documented analysis of a very complex topic. 

2009

1st Place

Lauren Peña

El Dia De Los Muertos: "Celebrating the Cycle"

Lauren was nominated by Dr. Lorenzo Candelaria, for the paper and annotated bibliography she completed in the course "Music, Art,and Ritual in Mexican Catholicism". Lauren's paper was recognized for its incorporation of a diversity of sources, including books and journal articles appropriate to the assignment, and her excellent work evaluating the sources in the annotated bibliography.

 

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