Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities
The Class of 1879 Prize is awarded by the Humanities & Arts department yearly for excellent work in the culminating project for the Humanities & Arts Requirement. These projects must demonstrate exceptional creativity and skill in conceiving, developing, and expressing a theme within any discipline in the humanities and arts.
History of the Prize
WPI has recognized exemplary work in the humanities and arts since 1872, when the department of English and Modern Languages established an award for the best paper in composition classes. At its reunion in 1900, the Class of 1879 endowed this prize for a paper "on a topic of general interest." The endowment was continued by Spencer Miller 1879, who wanted “to encourage graduates of the Institute to develop the art of clear and lucid English in the discussion of engineering subjects.” The Class of 1879 Prize was then awarded annually to the best term paper in the departments of English, History, and Languages until the adoption of the WPI Plan in 1970. In 1983, the department of Humanities & Arts began to award the Class of 1879 Prize to the best Humanities Requirement Projects.
The Class of 1879 Prize has evolved alongside WPI. Today’s prize-winning projects rarely concern engineering subjects, and some aren’t even traditional essays. But we still honor the spirit of Mr. Miller’s prize, to encourage and reward the highest achievements of human expression.
Details for each year's competition are announced in November/December, with a deadline for submission in January. For information on the competition and how to submit your project for consideration, please contact the HUA office at ext. 5246 or at huaweb@wpi.edu.
Note: Prizes awarded for projects completed the previous year.
Browse Award Recipients
Year | Recipient | Name | Title | Awarded by | Type | Department | Details |
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1999 | Corbin T. Hodder | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | "Toothpaste and Orange Juice: a Play," advisor: Dean O'Donnell |
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2018 | Eliot M. Fine | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Honorable Mention | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | “Worcester: A Farewell Tour,” advisor: Joshua Harmon |
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2011 | Ashik Gowdar | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | "Muted Musing", Advisor: Joseph Farbook |
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1993 | Ahmed S. Al-Baiti | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | "Decorative Art of Door Carving on Zanzibar and Pemba Islands," advisor: David Samson |
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2020 | Cosette Domkofski | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | “Those Who Endure,” advisor: Joseph Aguilar |
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2008 | Andrew Marchese | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | "Origins of Emergent Order: The Inadequacy of Reductionism and the Complexity of Light Phenomena," advisor: David Spanagel |
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1988 | Christopher J. Buntil | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | "Give and Take: Anencephalic Babies as Organ Donors," advisor: Thomas A. Shannon |
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2024 | Nora Smith. Advisor: Joseph Aguilar | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | Mechanical & Materials Engineering | Creative Arts: "Burnout." |
2004 | Patrick A. Hogan | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | "Dying by Inches: Imperialism and Asian Famines," advisor: Peter H. Hansen |
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1983 | Martin Joseph Pierce | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | ||
1998 | Quach B. Hai | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | "Self-Sponsoring Writing at WPI," advisor: John M. Trimbur |
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2018 | Harold Terry Hearst III | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Honorable Mention | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | “The Music of Mario Galaxy,” advisor: Douglas Weeks |
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2011 | Peter Osswald | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | "America's War in Afghanistan", Advisor Bland Addison |
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1993 | Christopher G. McKeever | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | "From an Alphabet to Strange and Interesting Designs: an Analysis" of Musical Notation," advisor: Douglas G. Weeks |
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2020 | Julia Milks | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Honorable Mention | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | “Psychiatric Healthcare in Morocco,” advisor: Rebecca Moody |
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2008 | Richard Pampuro | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | "Right within Anarchism," advisor: John Sanbonmatsu |
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1988 | Marc J. Champagne | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | "American Gas Mask Research During World War I," advisor: W.A. Bland Addison |
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2024 | Ben Kresge. Advisor: John Sanbonmatsu | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | Computer Science | Scholarship: "Having it Both Ways: Can I be a Moral Omnivore?" |
2004 | Steven J. Tufo | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | "Considering the Absurd, Judgment, and Love: Albert Camus' Revolt Against Death," advisor: John Sanbonmatsu |
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1983 | JoAnne Shatkin | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | ||
2014 | Jedediah Perron | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | “Going Out With A Bang: The American Supersonic Transport and the Environmental Movement” Major: Aerospace Engineering. Advisor: Thomas Robertson |
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1998 | Siu L. Ng | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | "Interwar Progress in Aerial Photographic Mapping," advisor: E. Malcolm Parkinson |
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2013 | Damien Cabral | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | "The Origins of Muslim Extremism" , advisor: W.A. Bland Addison |
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2011 | Sarah Sawatzki | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Honorable Mention | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | “Women in Stone: Public Displays of Feminine Tenacity in London" Advisor John Delorey |
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1993 | Henry R. McTague | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | "Do Animals Have Rights?," advisor: Bettina Bergo |
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2020 | Payton Bielawski | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Honorable Mention | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | “Sheltered: A Look into the Connection Between Nature and Humankind,” advisor: Marie Keller |
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2008 | Maggie Allard | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | "The Butterfly (animated short)," advisor: Joshua Rosenstock |
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1988 | Jeanette M. Cheetham | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | "The Mask: a Window to Understand the Eskimos," advisor: Ruth Smith |
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2024 | Patrick J. Healey. Advisor: Kevin Lewis | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Honorable Mention | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | Mechanical & Materials Engineering | Creative Arts: "P.J. Haus." |
2003 | Griffin R. Bryant | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | "Torment: a Story," advisor: Michelle K. Ephraim |
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2016 | Reynaldo Duran | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | "Painting a Bridge Between Past and Future," advisor: W.A. Bland Addison and Kristin Boudreau |
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2015 | Kimberly Marrion | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | “Ethics, Dementia and Family: An Investigation into the Familial Issues that Arise with Dementia Patients,” major: Architectural Engineering, advisor: Bethel Eddy |
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1998 | Ian E. Parmenter | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | "A Work in Progress: a Screenplay," advisor: Dean M. O'Donnell |
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2013 | Jesse Lehman | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | "A Discussion of 20th Century Musical Techniques and Their Presence in Karlheinz Stockhausen's Gruppen“ , advisor: Douglas Weeks |
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2011 | Mariah Seaboldt | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Honorable Mention | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | "The House on Berkshire Street", Advisor: Michelle Ephraim |
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1992 | Chad L. Council | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | "From Love Comes the Pieces of a Broken Heart - A Play," advisor: Susan Vick |
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2020 | Samuel Hopkins | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Honorable Mention | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | “Development of Single-use Plastics in a Throwaway Culture,” advisor: Joseph Cullon |
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2008 | Rui Dai | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Honorable Mention | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | "Red and the Rest (a memoir)," advisor: Lorraine Higgins |
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1987 | Shawn D. Harrison | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | "Niépce, Daguerre and Talbot: the Motives Behind the Men," advisor: E. Malcolm Parkinson |
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2024 | Olivia Spielberger. Advisor: Roshanak Bigonah | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Honorable Mention | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | Biology & Biotechnology | Creative Arts: "Visual Persuasion, Ocean Empathy." |
2003 | Ryan Patrick Jones | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | "Ministry: a Screenplay," advisor: Dean O'Donnell |
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2016 | Cody Slater | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | "The Temporal Expression of Consciousness," advisor: Jennifer McWeeny |
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2014 | Charlotte Reames | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | “Gender Roles in Morocco” Major: Biology and Biotechnology. Advisor: W. A. Bland Addison |
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1997 | Jeffrey L. Bayko | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | "The Road to Jensenism (1923-1969)," advisor: Michael M. Sokal |
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2013 | Shreyas Renganathan | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | "Undeterminism: Materially Realizing Free Will", advisor: Jennifer McWeeny |
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2010 | Kassondra Hickey | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | “Interactive Media Art,” advisor: Joseph Farbrook |
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1992 | Lily Lau | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | "The Monster in the Closet of Our Souls: The Gothic and Wuthering Heights," advisor: Joel Brattin |
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2021 | Robbie Oleynick advisor: Laura Eckelman | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | "Scoring A Silent Sky" |
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2008 | Kirk Lanciani | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Honorable Mention | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | "Soaring on the Ground: The Flight Simulator," advisor: E. Malcom Parkinson |
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1987 | Edward C. Hein | Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities | Winner | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Undergraduate | "A Psychological Assessment of Lee Iacocca," advisor: Patrick P. Dunn |