- Worcester Polytechnic Institute
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 Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities awardees
| Year | Recipient | Award level | Type | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Mark Hayden | Honorable Mention | Undergraduate |
"Transmarginal Inhibition in Gravity’s Rainbow,” advisor: Lance Schachterle |
| 2010 | Xiaoyun Wang & Chang Liu | Honorable Mention | Undergraduate |
“The Saint Archer” (animated short film), advisor: Joshua Rosenstock |
| 2009 | Jeffrey Marrion | Winner | Undergraduate |
"Philosophy and Film: Existentialism and Place," advisor: J. Sanbonmatsu |
| 2009 | Michael Szkutak | Winner | Undergraduate |
"Presidential Electioneering in the Television Age," advisor: J. Hanlan |
| 2009 | Sarah Albrecht | Winner | Undergraduate |
"Motives for Change: Signac's Stylistic Shift," advisor: D. Samson |
| 2009 | Don Havener | Honorable Mention | Undergraduate |
"The Encyclopedia and the Third Estate," advisor B. Addison |
| 2009 | Everett Tripp | Honorable Mention | Undergraduate |
"Why They Fought: The Working Class in Empire," advisor: P. Hansen |
| 2009 | Heather Bell | Honorable Mention | Undergraduate |
"Celtic Music Throughout the UK," advisor: J. Delorey |
| 2008 | Andrew Marchese | Winner | Undergraduate |
"Origins of Emergent Order: The Inadequacy of Reductionism and the Complexity of Light Phenomena," advisor: David Spanagel |
| 2008 | Maggie Allard | Winner | Undergraduate |
"The Butterfly (animated short)," advisor: Joshua Rosenstock |
| 2008 | Richard Pampuro | Winner | Undergraduate |
"Right within Anarchism," advisor: John Sanbonmatsu |
| 2008 | Kirk Lanciani | Honorable Mention | Undergraduate |
"Soaring on the Ground: The Flight Simulator," advisor: E. Malcom Parkinson |
| 2008 | Rui Dai | Honorable Mention | Undergraduate |
"Red and the Rest (a memoir)," advisor: Lorraine Higgins |
| 2008 | Ryan Whetstone | Honorable Mention | Undergraduate |
"Jazz Saxophone Performance; From Swing to Fusion," advisor: Richad Falco |
| 2007 | Craig D. DiGiovanni | Winner | Undergraduate |
“The Planning and Implementation of Denazification in Post War Germany,” advisor David Dollenmayer |
| 2007 | Lucas Samuel Lincoln | Winner | Undergraduate |
“An Analysis of Pat Metheny as a Jazz Composer,” advisor Richard Falco |
| 2007 | Rebecca C. Baron | Winner | Undergraduate |
“A Change in Expectations: Staging of Dueling in Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet and Hamlet,” advisor Michelle Ephraim |
| 2006 | Amanda J. Tarbet | Winner | Undergraduate |
"Multimodal Tensions in the Graphic Novel," advisor: Ruth Smith |
| 2006 | Benjamin W. Dwyer | Winner | Undergraduate |
"Spirits of the Dead: a Musical Composition," advisor: Richard Falco |
| 2006 | Eric G. Wilusz | Winner | Undergraduate |
"Competing Visions for Technical Education: the Founding of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Worcester Polytechnic Institute," advisor: David Spanagel |
| 2005 | Charles A. Gammal III | Winner | Undergraduate |
"John Boynton: Farmer to Founder," advisor: David Rawson |
| 2005 | Hilal Tetik | Winner | Undergraduate |
"Robert Fludd's 'De Musica Mundana' and the Ideals of the Rasicrucian Brotherhood," advisor: Lee Fontanella |
| 2005 | Karim G. Makram | Winner | Undergraduate |
"Breaking Out," advisor: Lorraine Higgins |
| 2004 | Laura E. Baldassari | Winner | Undergraduate |
"Flute Music of the Classical Period," advisor: Douglas G. Weeks |
| 2004 | Patrick A. Hogan | Winner | Undergraduate |
"Dying by Inches: Imperialism and Asian Famines," advisor: Peter H. Hansen |
| 2004 | Steven J. Tufo | Winner | Undergraduate |
"Considering the Absurd, Judgment, and Love: Albert Camus' Revolt Against Death," advisor: John Sanbonmatsu |
| 2003 | Gregory I. Ratner | Winner | Undergraduate |
"The Outcomes of the 'Record War': History of the Record Industry, 1930-1955," advisor: Michael M. Sokal |
| 2003 | Griffin R. Bryant | Winner | Undergraduate |
"Torment: a Story," advisor: Michelle K. Ephraim |
| 2003 | Ryan Patrick Jones | Winner | Undergraduate |
"Ministry: a Screenplay," advisor: Dean O'Donnell |
| 2002 | Amanda A. Roberts | Winner | Undergraduate |
"Sequencing within the Short Story Collection: An Experiment in Design and Practice," advisor: John Trimbur |
| 2002 | Benjamin K. Sandofsky | Winner | Undergraduate |
"The Shawl: The Study and Application of David Mamet's Filmmaking Theories," advisor: Dean O'Donnell |
| 2002 | Kimberly Johnstone | Winner | Undergraduate |
"The United States Supreme Court: The 2000 Presidential Election," advisor: JoAnn Manfra |
| 2001 | Brendan Morris | Winner | Undergraduate |
"Rastro: The Essence of Madrid," advisor: Lee Fontanella |
| 2001 | Jennifer Persico | Winner | Undergraduate |
"The Jump From Resentment to Revolution," advisor: Deborah Gray |
| 2001 | Lauren Wojtkun | Winner | Undergraduate |
"Like the World of Dreams Itself': An Analysis of William Shakespeare's Use of the Green World in A Midsummer Night's Dream and As You Like It," advisor: Michelle Ephraim |
| 2000 | Emily Reynolds | Winner | Undergraduate |
"Becoming a Woman: A Look at the Influences of Patriarchy, Materialism and Relationships in The Great Gatsby and The Color Purple," advisor: Lisa Lebduska |
| 2000 | Florentin Groeli | Winner | Undergraduate |
"British Jazz, or Jazz in Britain?," advisor: Douglas G. Weeks |
| 2000 | Janaki Kirloskar | Winner | Undergraduate |
"A Glimpse of Reality in the Hindu Temple," advisor: Ruth Smith |
| 1999 | Amelia A. Gilbreath | Winner | Undergraduate |
"Flute Recital," advisor: Douglas G. Weeks |
| 1999 | Corbin T. Hodder | Winner | Undergraduate |
"Toothpaste and Orange Juice: a Play," advisor: Dean O'Donnell |
| 1999 | Richard E. Harang | Winner | Undergraduate |
"Mind and Materialism," advisor: Marianne Janack |
| 1998 | Ian E. Parmenter | Winner | Undergraduate |
"A Work in Progress: a Screenplay," advisor: Dean M. O'Donnell |
| 1998 | Quach B. Hai | Winner | Undergraduate |
"Self-Sponsoring Writing at WPI," advisor: John M. Trimbur |
| 1998 | Siu L. Ng | Winner | Undergraduate |
"Interwar Progress in Aerial Photographic Mapping," advisor: E. Malcolm Parkinson |
| 1997 | Daniel Murphy | Winner | Undergraduate |
"The American Dream: Has it Become Unreachable," advisor: William A. Baller |
| 1997 | Janet L. Brennan | Winner | Undergraduate |
"A Consideration of Consciousness Explained," advisor: Roger S. Gottlieb |
| 1997 | Jeffrey L. Bayko | Winner | Undergraduate |
"The Road to Jensenism (1923-1969)," advisor: Michael M. Sokal |
| 1996 | Andrea Kodys | Winner | Undergraduate |
"Promises, Policies and Goals: The U.S. Occupation of Haiti, 1915-1934," advisor: James Watters |
| 1996 | Greg Amiro | Winner | Undergraduate |
"The Rock n' Roll Renaissance," advisor: Douglas G. Weeks |
| 1996 | Mickey Lacroix | Winner | Undergraduate |
"A Critique of Husserlian Phenomenology," advisor: Bettina Bergo |