Humanities Express

Humanities Graduate Students Receive Major University Awards

Eight Humanities graduate students received the university's highest recognitions for exceptional achievement in graduate student research and teaching this year. Seven of our students were awarded the Presidential Fellowship, given to only 34 students annually: Lisa Ann Balabanlilar (History), Jane Berger (History), Anna Feldman (Linguistics), Steve Galbraith (English), Cheryl Hindrichs (English), Nathan Kozuskanich (History), and Andrea Sims (Linguistics). The Presidential Fellowship recognizes the "accomplishments and potential of graduate students entering the final phase of their dissertation research or terminal degree project"; fellows receive a year of financial support to concentrate on their scholarship. In addition, Dawn Simmons Walts (English, pictured at left) was honored with one of only 10 Graduate Associate Teaching Awards, the universitys most distinguished recognition of graduate student teaching. To put these awards in perspective, Ohio State has approximately 5,500 "post-master's" students, of whom more than 2,000 are Graduate Teaching Associates.

Walts was nominated by two students from her Introduction to Shakespeare class, and her award was presented to her while she was teaching an introductory British literature class this Spring. The honor comes with a plaque and $2,000. Walts says that she loves to see and hear her students wrestling with ideas. "I try to make class fun," she adds, "because students tend to work harder and take more risks when they are relaxed and having a good time." After graduation, she hopes to teach literature and composition in a small liberal arts college.

Humanities graduate students received still other important university awards for research and teaching this year. Four Humanities Ph.D. students were awarded Alumni Grants for Graduate Research and Scholarship, which provide up to $2,000 for dissertation research: Robin Dautricourt (Linguistics), Lewis Howe (Spanish and Portuguese), Mark Rankin (English), and Kyuchul Yoon (Linguistics). Seven Humanities graduate students were selected to participate in the Preparing Future Faculty Program, which enabled them to work closely with faculty members at leading liberal arts schools and smaller universities in Ohio: Elizabeth Appleby (French and Italian), Jen Camden (English), Steve Galbraith (English), Cheryl Hindrichs (English), Mariah Hudson (History), Patricia Sanda (Germanic Languages and Literatures), and Dawn Simmons Walts (English).

Congratulations to all on jobs well-done!