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
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

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

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 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

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

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

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 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

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

2013 Robert Dabrowski Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Honorable Mention Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

"Do Robots Have Freedom?", advisor: Jennifer McWeeny

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

2016 Alex Markoski Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Honorable Mention Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

"Greatest Influences for Being a Well-Rounded Musician," advisor: Douglas Weeks

2014 Xuan He Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Honorable Mention Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

“Faith Healing” Major: Biomedical Engineering. Advisor: Bethel Eddy

2013 Rachel Handel Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Honorable Mention Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

"The Towers Sesquicentennial Edition", advisor: James Cocola

2016 Eric Stolz Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Honorable Mention Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

"One- and Two-State Peace Solutions in Israel," advisor: W.A. Bland Addison

2013 Victoria Carlson Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Honorable Mention Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

"The President's Shot, Now What?", advisor: M. David Samson

2010 Aakrit Bhakhri Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Honorable Mention Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

“Muslim Separatism and Identity in India: Aftermath of the Partition of 1947,” advisor: Ruth Smith

2021 Paul A. Pacheco Jr. & Vanessa Van DeMark advisor: Kristin Boudreau Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Honorable Mention Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

"Addressing the Gender Gap in STEM Education with Classroom Interventions"

2014 Ali Fuat Becan Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Honorable Mention Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

“Producer as Composer Practicum” Major: Electrical & Computer Engineering. Advisor: Scott Barton (honorable mention)

2010 Mark Hayden Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Honorable Mention Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

"Transmarginal Inhibition in Gravity’s Rainbow,” advisor: Lance Schachterle

2021 Sage Ortega-Shue advisor: Joseph Cullon Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Honorable Mention Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

"The Appropriation of Defensible Space"

2015 Katherine Picchione Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Honorable Mention Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

“Pokomchi Pictorial Literacy,” major: Mechanical Engineering and Society, Technology, and Policy, advisor: Ryan Madan

2010 Xiaoyun Wang & Chang Liu Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Honorable Mention Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

“The Saint Archer” (animated short film), advisor: Joshua Rosenstock

2017 Olivia Leavitt Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Honorable Mention Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

“Repeat and Refrain:  Making A Renaissance Villancico Modern,” advisor: Douglas Weeks

2017 Nicole Mattson Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Honorable Mention Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

“For Every Hour:  Twenty-Four Prose Poems,” advisor: Joshua Harmon

2019 Camryn Berry Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Honorable Mention Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

“16:91,” Advisor: Katharine McIntyre

2019 Jackson Powell Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Honorable Mention Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

“The impact of Government Intervention of Global Industry: A Case of China and the Solar Energy Industry,” advisor: John Galante

2022 Kseniia Romanova Advisor: Adryen Gonzales Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Honorable Mention Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

"2D Design to 3D Sculpture" 

2012 Syed Athar Bin Amir Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Honorable Mention Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

“An Evaluation of the Terror”, Advisor:  Bland Addison

2019 Kristen Antunes Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Honorable Mention Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

“Local Knowledge and Climate Adaptation,” advisor: William San Martin

2009 Heather Bell Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Honorable Mention Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

"Celtic Music Throughout the UK," advisor: J. Delorey

2022 Alden Johnson Advisor: Rebecca Moody Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Honorable Mention Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

"Gender in Wrestling: A Breakdown Beyond the Takedown" 

2012 Ting Ting Wang Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Honorable Mention Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

“Union Carbide and the Bhopal Incident: An American Company in a Third World Nation During the Cold War”, Advisor:  Thomas Robertson

2009 Don Havener Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Honorable Mention Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

"The Encyclopedia and the Third Estate," advisor B. Addison

2022 Clara Dublin Advisor: John Galante Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Honorable Mention Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

"From Entrance to Evacuation: The Development and Destruction of Japanese Immigrants’ Community Network in Seattle"

2018 Nde Nkimbeng Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Honorable Mention Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

“The Multiple Selves of the Oppressed,” advisor: Jennifer McWeeny

 

2009 Everett Tripp Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Honorable Mention Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

"Why They Fought: The Working Class in Empire," advisor: P. Hansen

2018 Rosa Reynoso Class of 1879 Prize for Outstanding Projects in the Humanities Honorable Mention Worcester Polytechnic Institute Undergraduate

“The Muslim World in Transition—Rediscovering True Islam,”  advisor: W.A. Bland Addison

 

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

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

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

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

"Right within Anarchism," advisor: John Sanbonmatsu

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