Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities

Awarded by
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 Award Recipients

Year Recipient Name Title Awarded by Type Details
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

1983 Martin Joseph Pierce Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Winner Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate
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

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

2011 Ashik Gowdar Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Winner Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

"Muted Musing", Advisor: Joseph Farbook

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

2020 Cosette Domkofski Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Winner Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

“Those Who Endure,” advisor: Joseph Aguilar

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

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

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

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

1983 JoAnne Shatkin 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

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

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

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

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

2008 Richard Pampuro Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Winner Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

"Right within Anarchism," advisor: John Sanbonmatsu

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2003 Gregory I. Ratner Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Winner Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

"The Outcomes of the 'Record War': History of the Record Industry, 1930-1955," advisor: Michael M. Sokal

2016 Benjamin Huchley Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Winner Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

"Online Avatars: An Expression of the User's Self," advisor: Jennifer McWeeny

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

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

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

2010 Kassondra Hickey Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Winner Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

“Interactive Media Art,” advisor: Joseph Farbrook

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

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"

2008 Ryan Whetstone Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Honorable Mention Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

"Jazz Saxophone Performance; From Swing to Fusion," advisor: Richad Falco

1987 Richard D. June Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Winner Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

"William Carlos Williams' Paterson: the Voice of a Nation," advisor: Laura J. Menides