Winners from the Class of 2013

Christopher Theodorou, Alexandra North, Matthew Manarski, Christina Socci, and Leah McNamara

Winners from the Class of 2013

Matthew Manarski,   “Unsoiling Them: Reflections on and Hopes for the Achievement of Social Justice in American Education”  

Manarski reconstructs the conversation among American education reformers regarding the educational plight of the children of the poor. Starting with Horace Mann’s dream of a “common school,” he deftly synthesizes the arguments of Michael Apple, Pedro Noguera, and Jonathan Kozol to show how these contemporary thinkers echo Mann's critique while seeking to “provide solutions to modern problems that plague public education in this country.” 

Leah McNamara,  “Europe’s Skeletons: An Investigation into King Leopold II’s Concealment of the Extortion of the Congo”   

McNamara moves comfortably among her multitude of sources as she weaves together a complex and nuanced portrait of historical conflict in the Congo. She shows how King Leopold II manipulated his public image to conceal the atrocities he committed in the Congo. 

Alexandra North,  “Dignity, Duty and Devotion: Romance and Professionalism in The Remains of the Day and The Turn of the Screw”   

North demonstrates her talent for close reading in her comparative analysis of the governess characters in these two novels.  She shows how class and gender issues inflect the protagonists’ conflict between romantic desire and professional duty.

Christina Socci,  “The Irreconcilable: A Study of Paradox in the Lives of Scientists”   

In this provocative and engaging essay, Socci compiles an ambitious bibliography as she researches the lives of two twentieth-century scientists.  The paradox she investigates is the public-private split in the lives of the scientists whose “personal achievement is . . . accompanied by unforeseeable ethical consequences.” 

Christopher Theodorou,  “Honor Bound: Achilles’ Devotion to the Point of Paradox”   

Undaunted by the complexity of a challenging ancient epic, Theodorou teases out the multiple paradoxes in Homer's Illiad.  In a well conceived analysis, he analyzes how Achilles’ adherence to the Homeric code of honor leads to his violations of that code.