The 2024
Connecticut College
Prize for
Undergraduate
Library
Research
$500 Award | Applications due 3/08/2024 | Winners published in Digital Commons
Information Services is delighted to announce the winner of the inaugural $500 Connecticut College Prize for Undergraduate Library Research:
Caitlin Kullberg ‘16
For her project:
"Linguistic Ideologies and Issues of Representation in Winners of the Pura Belpré Award for Illustration"
Written Spring 2015 for Professor Jennifer Rudolph’s Hispanic Studies course, Spanglish as Identity (SPA 494G)
An excerpt from Caitlin’s application:
“Through doing this research, I have learned that inter-disciplinarity is a strength. I believe my work demonstrates a form of rigorous scholarship that would not be possible without putting sources from various fields, such as Hispanic Studies, Education, Linguistics, and Sociology, in dialogue with each other. I also learned the importance of looking far and wide, and being open to finding useful sources of information that you do not expect to find; only then can you be truly responsive to available information in constructing your thesis.”
The full-text of winning research statements is available in Digital Commons.
An excerpt from the letter of faculty support:
“Caitlin wrote an outstanding paper. Her research was both interdisciplinary and extremely original in its breadth and sophistication. Caitlin’s work far exceeded the expectations of the class overall. The level of analysis was such that she could easily develop this project into a publishable article.”
-Professor Jennifer Rudolph
Thanks to all applicants:
Thank you to everyone who submitted their work or sponsored a student for this year's competition. We were very impressed and pleased with the high level of scholarship and research acumen in the entries submitted for this year's prize.
The annual prize was awarded for the first time in 2016. It is the first award at Connecticut College specifically created to recognize excellence in the research process. Its purpose is to honor students who have demonstrated excellence in research, and to motivate students to learn and deploy sophisticated research strategies. The competition was judged by a team of librarians and faculty (see Library Prize Committee).
All currently enrolled undergraduate students were eligible for the prize, and any student work for a grade (excepting work for honors projects) was accepted. Entrants submitted a copy of their work and a research statement describing their process, along with a bibliography and a note of recommendation from a faculty member.
Students are encouraged to consider applying, and faculty, similarly, are encouraged to suggest that students apply.
The Library Prize Committee is grateful to the Friends of the Connecticut College Library for their generous sponsorship of this award.
The Connecticut College Prize for Undergraduate Library Research is adapted from UC, Berkeley, Library Prize for Undergraduate Research; Temple University, Library Prize for Undergraduate Research.