MSU’s Department of History celebrated its annual awards ceremony on May 1 at the Kellogg Center.
Assistant Professor Shayan Rajani delivered opening remarks, followed by the presentation of awards, including honors thesis authors, outstanding seniors, undergraduate awards, graduate awards, and the faculty award.
“The awards ceremony is one of my favorite events of the year,” Chairperson Michael Stamm noted. “It’s wonderful to have family and friends present while we recognize some of the amazing members of our community.”
Associate Professor Michelle Moyd received the Richard E. Sullivan Endowed Award for Teaching Excellence, which recognizes faculty who exemplify excellence in teaching and serve as extraordinary advisors and mentors.
Speaking about Dr. Moyd, Associate Professor Aminda Smith shared, “In their remarks, Professor Moyd’s students regularly praised her uncommon empathy and unusual generosity. Almost every single student talked about how much Professor Moyd cares about her students.” Watch the full video on Instagram to hear more about Dr. Moyd’s influence on students.
The full list of award recipients includes:
Honors Thesis Authors
(Students graduating with honors must maintain an exceptional GPA and write a senior thesis. The honors thesis obliges students to pursue original research and to produce a thesis of a minimum of 50 pages.)
- Cassia Bennett, Subversive Nightlife in 1920s New York City
- Kara Hwang, Teaching History for the Nation: Political Agendas Behind History Education with a Case Study of Early Stages of Republic of Korea
- Maxine Levanduski, A History of the American Road Trip
- Madeleine Loomis, The Palmer Raids and Media
- Grace Lowell, The Feminist Art Movement as a Branch of the Greater Women’s Movement of the 1970s
- Andrew Palmer, Between Bondage and Freedom: A Comparative Study of Enslaved and Free Labor in Antebellum and Confederate Charleston 1815–1865
Outstanding Seniors
(History majors who earned a 3.75 GPA or higher.)
- Cassia Bennett
- Zachary Boots
- William Chiampas
- Domenic Cedillo
- Zoe Larsen
- Madeleine Loomis
Undergraduate Awards
- Nicole Butkovich, Leslie B. Rout and Frederick D. Williams Award
- Domenic Cedillo, Blight History Award
- Kenzie Cole, The David T. Bailey Endowed Scholarship in History
- Kara Hwang, David LoRomer Scholarship (Honorable Mention: Nicole Butkovich and Haley Kurak)
- Haley Kurak, J. Morgan Sweeney Memorial Scholarship
- Maxine Levanduski, The Sinclair and S. Suzanne Powell Scholarship in Transportation History
- Carly Madden, Sandra Sageser Clark Endowed Scholarship in History
- Rocco Pyskoty, Robert and Catherine Workman Endowed Scholarship in History
- Lillian Towery-Collins, Irene Steindler Endowment
- Parker Wilson, Anthony and Mary Joan Woods Scholarship for Research
Graduate Awards
- Tobias Awiti, Muelder-Lowe Graduate Award
- Maxwell Benneh, The Sinclair and S. Suzanne Powell Scholarship in Transportation History
- Lucy Cai, Kwan-Wai So Award
- Zachary Cho, The Donald Lammers Graduate Award
- Joseph Eshun, Madison Kuhn Award
- Jada Gannaway, Fred Williams Graduate Award
- Bryttany Grimes, Milton E. Muelder Graduate Fellowship in History
- David Marchionni, Harry Brown Graduate Fellowship in American History
- Sally Parampottil, Irene Steindler Endowment
- Omar Sarr, Jeff Rooney Paper Prize
- Amber Walker, Blight History Award
Faculty Award
- Michelle Moyd, Richard E. Sullivan Endowed Award for Teaching Excellence
To view more photos from the event, see our full album on Facebook.