Awards and Scholarships

Department Awards

W. C. Bradley Award for Student Achievement in the Humanities

Katherine Perry

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AU 10 Outstanding Graduate Students

The Auburn University Graduate Council selects 10 outstanding master's students and 10 outstanding doctoral students.

2006
Abby Whigham

2005
Jessica M. Lueders, MTPC
Shea Stuart, PhD

2004
Kelly Messerschmidt, MTPC

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Graduate Student Research Forum

Kevin Quinn, “Sorting Out Sexuality: Homosexuality and Gender Performance in Henry James's The Portrait of a Lady”

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Donald H. Cunningham Technical Communication Scholarship

Sponsored by Birmingham Chapter of STC, the Award for Excellence in Technical and Professional Communication was renamed for retiring Coordinator of Technical and Professional Communication Dr. Donald H. Cunningham in 2005. This scholarship may be awarded to a current Auburn University graduate or undergraduate student who is enrolled full time as an MTPC student or as an undergraduate minoring in technical and professional communication. The award is for one academic year. The recipient is selected by the Department of English Head based on the recommendation of the technical and professional communication faculty.

2007
Robin Gosser

2006
Jennifer Browning
Kimberly Shumack

2005
Cecily Jackson

2004
Julie Anne Zorn

2003
Angela Woods

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Varian C. Burkhardt Award

Each summer or fall the Graduate Studies Committee acknowledges that MA student who has compiled the best first-year academic record.

2007
Natalie Atkins

2006
Milla Chappell

2004
Katherine McDonald

2003
Nicholas Boone

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Florence Parker Hargis Fellowship

Awarded to an outstanding first-year Master’s or PhD student (currently $10,000; may be split into two awards). The recipient of the Florence Parker Hargis Graduate Fellowship in English is chosen by the Graduate Studies Committee of the Department of English. The Hargis Fellow is a first-year (entering) student with an outstanding academic record.

2007
Elizabeth Jones
Matt Klauza

2006
Kellye Corcoran
Pamela Horn

2004
Mary Ann Rygiel
Eva Shoop

2003
Angela Farmer
Adrea McDonnell

2002
Dana Nichols

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New Fellowship in English

2005
Jennifer Reid

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Merriwether Fellowships

The Graduate School awards a limited number of these fellowships each year to outstanding doctoral students whose work is nearing completion. Each doctoral program may nominate one student for these fellowships annually. The Merriwether Fellowship carries a stipend of $4,000 and restricts the recipient's other graduate assistantship level to no more than 1/3. These fellowships are not renewable.

2006
Cathy Rex

2005
Katherine Perry

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Betty Travis Naugle Annual Fellowship in Technical and Professional Communication

Fellowship is awarded to an outstanding graduate student in Technical and Professional Communication by the Department Head on recommendation of the TPC faculty. The award goes to a current Auburn University graduate student or students who have

Commitment to a career or teaching in TPC
Taken at least one 6000 or 7000-level course in TPC at Auburn University
Demonstrated academic excellence (minimum 3.0 GPA)
Enrolled in at least one 6000 or 7000-level course in TPC in the year the fellowship is received.

2007
Jessica Smith

2006
Brigitte Demasi

2005
Diane Glanzer
Xiangrong Liu

2004
Jessica M. Lueders
Christopher Miller

2003
John Campbell
Paul Wamsted

2002
Alise Chabaud
Heather Lord

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Mildred Enloe Yates Fellowship of Mortar Board

Awarded to an outstanding first-year (entering) Master’s student (currently $4,500). The student must be enrolled in at least one graduate course in English per semester in the academic year of the award.

2007
Jessica Smith

2006
Melissa Pojasek

2004
Abby Whigham

2003
Karen Milstead

2002
Sarah Bowles

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GTA Teaching Award

This award goes to one master’s-level GTA and one doctoral-level GTA each year. Only those in their second year or later are eligible. At the beginning of the spring semester, the CGS solicits nominations for the awards from undergraduate students. The period covered by the award includes the previous calendar year. These names go to a committee consisting of three graduate faculty members, none of whom is the major professor of any of the nominees, and none of whom coordinates a program in which any of the nominees teach. On the basis of the student nominations, the committee selects no more than four finalists for each award, and a class taught by each finalist will be observed by an award committee member. The committee also reviews the following information, to be submitted by the nominee:

Statement of teaching philosophy submitted by the nominee.
Course materials (syllabi, handouts, etc.) on paper or the Web, including submission of student writing samples with grades and comments.
Reports on class visits by program coordinators and other faculty.
All teaching effectiveness surveys for the period.

2007
Amie Fletcher, PhD
Melissa Pojasek, MA

2006
Angela Farmer, PhD
Cathy Rex, PhD
Elizabeth Childs, MA

2005
Robin Bates, PhD
Jill Parrott, MA

2004
Sean Wells, PhD
Angela Woods, MTPC

2003
Jessica Van Slooten, PhD
Heather Vaughan, MA

2002
David Murdock, PhD
Jessica Abernathy, MA

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Best Paper by a Graduate Student

This award goes to one graduate student from any of the Department’s graduate programs. Papers written for graduate English courses at Auburn during the previous spring, summer, and fall are eligible. At the beginning of the spring semester, the CGS solicits nominations from graduate faculty. Nominated papers will then be solicited from their authors.

2007
Kellye Corcoran, PhD-level, "All Cuckolds Really Do Go to Heaven: Cuckoldry as Performance in the Late Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth Century"

Jessica Sims, MA-level, "Privatization Through Community: The Battle Between Personal and Public Ownership of the Body in Donald Hall's Without"

2006
Kellye Corcoran, "Dandies in the Opium Den: Dorian Gray as a Fin de Siecle Prototype of the Gutter Dandy"

2005
Sean H. Wells, "'The White Eagle Blinked at Her': Vogue Magazine and Kate Chopin's Parables of Consumerism," written for Dr. James Emmett Ryan 's ENGL 7760 course in Spring 2004

Honorable Mention: Cathy Rex, “Outer-National and Transcultural Identification: George Copway’s The Life, History and Travels of Kah-ge-gah-bowh,” written for Dr. Hilary Wyss's ENGL 7770 course in Spring 2004

2004
Kelly Messerschmidt, "Difficulties with 'Bad News' and the 'Normalization of Deviance': Obstacles to Effective Communication at NASA," written for Dr. Betsy Smith's ENGL 7930 course in Summer 2003

Adriane Smith, "'Lamb-Time': Subjective Temporal Realities, Future Nostalgia, and the Epistolary Form," written for Dr. Kathryn Pratt's ENGL 7180 course in Fall 2003

2003
Derrick Spradlin, "'Excellent Uncertainties': The Arthurian Colonization of America in English Renaissance Literature," written for Dr. Constance Relihan's ENGL 7160 course

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Dissertation Writing Semester Fellowship in English

As funds are available, the department supports an award for ABD students in English who are nearing completion of the dissertation. The recipient of the Writing Semester Fellowship in English is chosen by the Graduate Studies Committee of the Department of English from nominations by major professors, who consider the following criteria:

The nominee’s potential for substantially completing the dissertation and preparing to defend within the semester of support
The usefulness to the student of a release from teaching for the purpose of making significant progress on the dissertation

2007
Nicholas Boone
Angela Farmer

2006
Katherine Perry
Sharyn Pulling
Cathy Rex

2005
Robin Bates
Ahsan Chowdhury
Derrick Spradlin

2004
Joanne Tidwell

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Department of English Award for Academic Excellence in Technical and Professional Communication

Sponsored by anonymous donors, the Academic Excellence in Technical and Professional Communication Award may be awarded to a current Auburn University graduate or undergraduate student who is enrolled full time as an MTPC student or as an undergraduate minoring in technical and professional communication. The award is for one academic year. The recipient is selected by the Department of English Head based on the recommendation of the technical and professional communication faculty.

2005
Kathryn Wilder

2004
Elizabeth Childs
Rachel Kennedy

2003
Kelly Messerschmidt

2002
Nathan Meier

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Department of english ma fellowship

This fellowship is awarded to a first-year MA student with strong potential for contributing to the intellectual life, diversity, and quality of the department.

2007
Monita Bell

2006
Natalie Atkins

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Department of english MTPC fellowship

This fellowship is awarded to a first-year MTPC student with strong potential for contributing to the intellectual life, diversity, and quality of the department

2007
Emma Mulvaney

2006
Natasha Jones

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Questions about this program
Last updated May 1, 2007