College sophomore Ryan Sutherland, College senior Fiona O'Carroll and College senior Laurabeth Goldsmith are the 2014 Woodruff Library Undergraduate Research Award (URA) winners, according to an April 15 University press release.
The winners will receive a $500 award and present their research on posters at the Scholarly Inquiry and Research at Emory (SIRE) Undergraduate Research Symposium on Wednesday at the Dobbs University Center, according to the press release.
Sutherland's research is titled "Exoticism and Musical Appropriation: The Javanese Gamelan in Debussy's 'Pagodes' (1903) and Russian Folk Music in Stravinsky's 'Le Sacre du Printemps' (1913)." The judges recognized Sutherland for his use of sources, tone and style of the writing as well as for attending performances of pieces he analyzed, according to the press release.
O'Carroll was nominated by Cahoon Family Professor of American History Patrick Allitt for strong research, sophisticated use of library sources and "beautifully written work" in her paper, "'The Instinct of Every Real Woman': The Ideas of the Anti-Suffrage Movement in the U.S., 1868-1920."
Goldsmith wrote in an email to the Wheel that she was thrilled to receive the award for her research on the propaganda surrounding Nazi concentration camp Theresienstadt, written for African American Studies Professor Carol Anderson's "War Crimes and Genocide" class.
"[Anderson's class] was by far one of the best classes I've taken at Emory," Goldsmith wrote. "The class enabled students to delve deep into topics of their choosing and then defend them to the class, receive critiques from fellow students and Professor Anderson and refine their research papers."
Anderson wrote in an email to the Wheel that Goldsmith was a "dream student" in her class and signified excellence in research.
"[Goldsmith] is smart, intuitive, hardworking and intellectually voracious and fearless," Anderson wrote.
Anderson also wrote that research is an integral part of college and the greater academic world.
"[Research] is the hallmark of a world-class liberal arts education," Anderson wrote. "[It is part of] the skillsets demanded in medicine, law, philanthropies, NGOs, government and business."
Goldsmith echoed that sentiment, saying that writing research plays a vital role in education, especially at Emory.
"I loved working with the library through Anderson's class to learn about the additional sources available at Emory, methods of locating original documents and [ways] to track down needed research materials," Goldsmith wrote.
College sophomore Chloe Burrell was awarded an honorable mention for her research on the historical definition of marriage for the history department.
– By Stephen Fowler
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