The Robert W. Woodruff Library and Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library at Emory University recognized 15 students with undergraduate research awards for their projects and papers that used primary sources they found in the libraries.

“The students we honor with these awards have produced high-caliber work using research materials in the Woodruff and Rose libraries,” University Librarian Yolanda Cooper says. “According to studies, undergraduate research helps to build communication and critical thinking skills, creativity, perseverance and independent thought, traits which help produce better scholars and are in high demand in the workplace. We are pleased our libraries’ resources enabled these researchers to create such impressive projects and hone their skills.”

The Elizabeth Long Atwood Undergraduate Research Award, given by the Woodruff Library, recognizes Emory College undergraduate students in all disciplines who use the Woodruff Library’s collections and research resources in their original papers, digital projects, or posters; and show evidence of critical analysis in their research skills (for example, locating, selecting, evaluating and synthesizing information).

• Andrea Abbate, class of 2017, English and sociology double major. Winner for sociology honors thesis, “Food Security vs. Food Sovereignty: A Qualitative Analysis of Food Justice Narratives and Activist Identities Among Community Gardeners in Atlanta.”
• Cloe Gentile, class of 2017, music and sociology double major. Winner for music honors thesis, “Larsen as a Lens: The Male Gaze and the Female Voice.”
• Andrew Sullins, class of 2018, political science major. Winner for African American Studies: War Crimes and Genocide class paper, “Covert Killings: Civilian Casualties and the Use of Covert Drone Strikes in the War on Terror.”
• Gillian Hecht, class of 2018, history major. Honorable mention for History: The Professions in America class paper, “The Rise and Fall of the Emory Dental School.”

The Bradley Currey Jr. Seminar Award is open to undergraduates in all years of the honors program of the Emory College of Arts and Sciences, or any upper level student who is conducting original research. Successful applicants attend two intensive instructional workshops that train them to locate archival repositories, assess manuscript and special collections, plan their research, and properly handle rare materials. Students who complete the training receive grants intended to help defray the costs of conducting original research in an archival repository.

• Chris Batterman, class of 2019, music and psychology major. “Il Guarany: Indianism and Brazilian National Identity in the Music of Antônio Carlos Gomes.
• Nina Burris, class of 2018, music major. “Italian Opera Seria at the Eighteenth-Century Imperial Russian Court.”
• Jeffrey Haylon, class of 2018, history major. “This Young Modern Giant: Aviation and Nazism, 1918-1940.”
• Jenifer Norwalk, class of 2018, art history major. “Frederic Leighton’s 'The Reconciliation’."
• Jonathan Peraza, class of 2018, sociology major. “Integration, Racialization and Ethnicization: Salvadoran and Guatemalan Migrant Youth in Georgia Schools.”
• Míšha Stekl, class of 2019, philosophy/comparative literature major. “Mad for Transgender Studies.”

 The Alan Rackoff Prize was established through the Betsy and Wayne Rackoff Fund and named in honor of Dr. Rackoff's late brother, an Emory student in the class of 1973. Dr. Wayne Rackoff 75C, vice president of clinical oncology at Janssen Research & Development (a Johnson & Johnson company), was among the first generation of Emory students in English courses to have access to primary materials in what was then known as Special Collections (now the Rose Library). The experience made a lasting imprint on his intellectual life and led him to become a longtime supporter of the archival collections.

The prize awards $1,000 to one student each academic year for the best research paper, project, or honors thesis based on primary source material related to a class or course of study in any academic department except the Department of English.

•  Jessica Bertram, class of 2017, anthropology and human biology/dance & movement studies major. “She Fell But Felt No Fear.”
•  Samantha Perlman, class of 2017, history and African American Studies major. “When Admission Is Not Enough: Integrating Emory University, 1969-1989.”

The Schuchard Prize was established through the Betsy and Wayne Rackoff Fund and named in honor of Wayne Rackoff's archival mentor, Ronald Schuchard, Goodrich C. White Professor Emeritus of English. The prize awards $1,000 to one student each academic year for the best research paper, project or honors thesis based on primary source material related to a class or course of study in the Department of English only.

• Sierra Cortner, class of 2017, English/international studies. Winner, “The Power of Design: Indoctrination of Class and Domestic Ideals in William Morris’s Kelmscott Chaucer.
• Mary Cate Sullivan, class of 2020, undeclared. Honorable mention, “The Importance of Humanity in the Telling of History.”
• Gabe Morbeck, class of 2020, undeclared. Honorable mention, “One Nigeria? Nnamdi Azikiwe and the Erasure of Biafran Identity.”