2023-2024 Annual Awards

Program for the 2023-2024 Annual Awards Celebration

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Earlier this evening we gathered at the Alumni Center and online to celebrate the success of students and faculty.

Like last year, we exchanged the sit-down banquet from the pre-COVID days for a less formal reception which allowed for more conversation — and an earlier evening.

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We’re grateful to all of the faculty, students, families, and donors celebrating with us, either at the Alumni Center or online.

We’ll have photos of our award presentations in the next week or so (with thanks in advance to David Mayes), but, for now, we offer below some virtual recognition to complement the applause and cheers of faculty, students, family, and friends offered face-to-face or in the Zoom chat.

(Information about the student awards below is available from our department’s web site.)

Brink Memorial Essay Award: The Clark M. Brink Memorial Essay Award is given for student essays exhibiting “the highest degree of originality of composition and excellence in handling a topic treating or exemplifying the values of humanistic studies.”

• Cassidy Hartig (first place): “‘Ay me, how weak a thing / The heart of woman is!’: Shakespeare’s Feminized ‘Violent Hands’ in Tragic Suicides.” Faculty praised Cassidy’s ambitious, wide-ranging, and substantive project that features charts and extensive footnotes and highlights the “often voiceless” female characters in Shakespeare’s plays.
• Aidia Kite (second place):  “Flightless.” Faculty praised Aidia’s exemplary close reading that attends to diction, repetition, and sound and clever decoding of Maya Angelou’s poem “Caged Bird.”

Chappell Award: Aidia Kite and Lillianna Lamagna

Conover Award: Aimee Lamoureux

• “As the graduate award with the longest history in our department, the Conover recognizes superior academic performance, fine teaching, and real distinction as a graduate student. Faculty praised this student for her intelligence and superb writing. One said that she was ‘the strongest writer,’ able to do superb work through revision, saying that if you ‘give her something to work with . . . she’ll really really work.'” (Cameron Leader-Picone, for the selection committee)

Davis Award: Molly Andrade

• “Earle Davis is one of the most famous members in the history of the K-State English Department. He was a longtime Head of the Department, the author of several books, and an excellent scholar of Victorian literature. This scholarship honors his memory and his example. This year’s winner has been praised by her teachers for her exceptional comprehension and scholarly commitment. As one faculty member puts it, her work is what they want ‘to share or excerpt to show other students what to aim for.’ This student embodies the scholarly energy, the intellectual curiosity, hard work, and ambition that characterized Earle Davis’s work as well as the best academic work being done by our graduate students and our profession.” (Cameron Leader-Picone, for the selection committee)
  

Edwards Scholarship: Destiny Munns, Gabriell Padua, and Matthew White

English Department Undergraduate Scholarship: Mara Aberle and Abdullah Mustafa

Glenn Scholarship: Gabriell Padua

Grindell Award: Zoey Dutcher

Hallam Walker Davis Award: Rylan Jackson

Johanning Scholarship: Destiny Munns

• “The Jerome Johanning Memorial Scholarship is given in honor of Jerome Johanning, who was a graduate teaching assistant in our department from 1983-1985. To reflect Jerome’s love of teaching and writing, the scholarship is awarded to an outstanding graduate teaching assistant in the Department of English. The recipient is selected based upon academic performance, student evaluations, and a self-evaluation. This year’s winner doesn’t rely on gimmicks or games, she’s not overly concerned about whether or not students like her, but she is deeply invested in her students’ learning. And it shows in her students’ work.”  (Abby Knoblauch, for the selection committee)

Most Promising GTA Award: Riley Dandurand

Most Promising Undergraduate Student Award: Olli Sutton

Expository Writing Exemplary Teaching Award: Jefferson Storms (term instructor) and Jordan Dombrowski (GTA)

• Jefferson Storms: “I’ve been so grateful for our first winner’s calm confidence and thoughtful pedagogy. His students constantly note that he goes out of his way to help them grow, and their writing skills have improved because of his teaching. This student might say it best: ‘He’s a fantastic teacher, one of the best teachers I’ve had in college. He truly cares about his students. He gets excited about what he’s teaching and teaches with passion. Overall 10/10 teacher.’ Please help me not only congratulate him on his award, but also on his new position as Academic Development Coordinator with the McNair Scholars Program.” (Abby Knoblauch, for the selection committee)
• Jordan Dombrowski: “Our second award winner has been a quiet force for good among her cohort. She’s met every deadline, she’s mentored other GTAs, she’s never complained, and she’s seen each day as an opportunity to help her students succeed. Frankly, they know it. Her TEVALs are a FLOOD of gratitude from her students. They consistently call her amazing, incredible, and the best teacher they’ve ever had. Multiple students lament that they can’t take another class with her. But here are few of my favorites: ‘She has made me want to do my work.’ ‘This class has been my favorite experience on this campus’ and, perhaps my all-time favorite, ‘I will be recommending you to my little brother so he can take your class.'” (Abby Knoblauch, for the selection committee)

Lamb Scholarship: Grace Odgers

Lukens Scholarship: Catherine Torkelson

Bonnie A. Nelson Scholarship: Riley Brokeshoulder and Khloe Kuckelman

Popkins Scholarship: Kayla Burns, Noah Jayne, Sierra Knipe, Fortune Lavie, Margo Losier, and Cosette O’Brien

Brewster Rogerson Scholarship: Allison Meerian

Seaton Awards: Rylie Morgan and Aimee Lamoureux

Undergraduate Leadership & Service Award: Cassidy Hartig

Undergraduate Excellence in English Award: Libery Belote

Writing Center Excellence Award: Kinsley Searles (first place) and Stephen Antwi (honorable mention)

• “The Writing Center staff is honored to present the Writing Center Excellence Award, which recognizes overall excellence in Writing Center work, to Kinsley Searles for her remarkable work tutoring student writers, supporting her colleagues, and filling leadership roles by acting as the 2023 summer supervisor and as the written feedback coordinator for the 2023-2024 school year. Nominators expressed what a good example Kinsley is for new tutors and how deserving she is of recognition for her leadership in the Center. One nominator shared that Kinsley ‘is super nice and has the brightest personality. She was a great leader and mentor for me and other undergraduate tutors.’ Another nominator expressed ‘Kinsley Searles is the epitome of what a Writing Center tutor should be. Not only is she positive and communicative, but she is willing to go the extra mile to ensure that all her tutees receive the help they need to be successful. She is extremely dedicated to and takes pride in her work as a tutor and is constantly willing to learn and grow. Kinsley is incredibly deserving of this award and is a shining example of the attributes the Writing Center strives to uphold.'” (Stacia Gray, for the selection committee)
• “The Writing Center staff also extends an Honorable Mention to Stephen Antwi for his exceptional work with graduate students and ELL writers.” (Stacia Gray, for the selection committee)

Children’s Literature Graduate Essay Award: Molly Andrade, “Imagination for Everyone: Agency’s Diversifying Role in A Child of Books”

• “For the faculty selection committee, Molly’s essay ‘deftly integrated theorization with textual analysis’ in its interpretation of Oliver Jeffers’ A Child of Books, asking ‘big questions from the very beginning’ and delivering ‘higher level synthesis’ of ideas from ‘a wide range of scholarly resources.'” (Phil Nel, for the selection committee)

Composition & Rhetoric Research Essay Award: Milena Velasquez, “Disposable Learning: A Qualitative Study of a Singularized Consumable Textbook in the Los Angeles Urban Education Context.”

• “In this research project, Mila unpacks the ‘consumable school textbook’ as a material object, through scholarly research in writing studies and material culture studies, as well as through an interview with one of her students. Through her position as a teacher in urban Los Angeles, Mila critiques the banning of graffiti and pen art in consumable (disposable) textbooks and the institutional views of graffiti that tie it to gang affiliation and criminality. She presents a counter-narrative through her interview with a student who draws and writes in the margins of his textbook as a means of identity-building within the institutional framework of school. She presents the textbook margin as a canvas for students’ artistic expression and presents this type of personalization of school textbooks as a way to engage students and combat the criminalization of students that fuels the school-to-prison pipeline.” (Cydney Alexis, for the selection committee)

Cultural Studies Essay Awards: Undergraduate: Catherine Torkelson; Graduate: Cosette O’Brien and Gabriell Padua

• “The winner of this year’s undergraduate Cultural Studies Essay Award is Catherine Torkelson for a brilliant and compelling essay titled ‘In Defense of Daisy.’ It showed convincingly how The Great Gatsby‘s Daisy is not at all a femme fatale, as sometimes claimed by scholars, and invites us instead to recognize the structural sexism that blames women for men’s demise.” (Greg Eiselein, for the selection committee)
• “Our first winner of this year’s graduate award is Cosette O’Brien for an essay called ‘The Damsel in Distress as Gender Parody,’ which offered an insightful analysis of gender in video game narratives. We loved this essay in part for the way it used its main example, a game called Your Turn to Die, to recognize and subvert how games have historically relied on misogynistic damsel in distress narratives.” (Greg Eiselein, for the selection committee)
• “The other graduate winner this year is Gabriell Padua for his a smart and nuanced essay titled ‘American Empire, Exile, and Existentialism,’ It drew on philosophical existentialism and psychology to offer a highly original and complex analysis of postcolonial racialization in Bienvenido Santos’ ‘The Day the Dancers Came.’”(Greg Eiselein, for the selection committee)

Expository Writing Program Essay Award:  Sophia Schmidt, “The Relationship between Hispanic-Americans and the United States Healthcare System” (first place, written for Delaney Sullivan’s ENGL 200 class); Clayton Mombello, “A Proposal for Installation of Soil Moisture Sensor System” (second place, written for Sarah Morgan’s ENGL 200 class)

Gordon Parks Essay Award: N/A for AY2023-2024

Graduate Creative Writing Award: Fiction: Rylie Morgan, “Nucifera” (first place); Allison Dollar, “A Green and Pleasant Place” (second place)

• “Nucifera”: “Molly is a young scientist living in an underground refuge, the last remnant of humanity after the Scouring destroyed all life on the surface. The story starts when her team reveals the first plant seen in a century…and in only a few thousand words, the story unpacks family, lies, change, and the nature of humanity. Idea-driven short science fiction, where the future of the species is explored through the hearts and actions of individuals, is challenging to write, but this story controls its worldbuilding with great precision, and effectively develops multiple characters.” (External judge’s comments)
• “A Green and Pleasant Place”: “In ‘A Green and Pleasant Place,’ middle-aged Anna comes to England on a Shakespeare tour, but runs into some very unexpected situations. The work is well-written and surprising, but under its charm it’s doing some things that are quite hard: effectively managing character interactions of all sizes, and offering an understated, unsentimental approach to loss.” (External judge’s comments)

Graduate Creative Writing Award: Non-Fiction: Aimee Lamoureux, “The Living Sickness”

• “Here is a compelling piece that, through various stories, explores what can oftentimes be labeled as taboos–panic attacks, speaking about grief, the body’s reaction to stress. “The Living Sickness” takes the reader on a journey not only of external events, but internal reflection that allows the reader not only to see the writer’s life, but their own.” (External judge’s comments)

Graduate Creative Writing Award: Poetry: Aimee Lamoureux, “Children of Eve”

• “Through rhythmic fragmentation, ‘Children of Eve’ enacts a reclamation of power and desire within a system that has, for centuries, insisted on marking the feminine as sinful. I loved surprising lines like ‘My mother tongue is not speech / but a searching’ and ‘the almond of my lung’ in this evocative poem that honors the risks and pleasures that enliven us.”  (External judge’s comments)

Graduate Critical Essay Award: Milena Velasquez, “‘The Journey is Not Linear, it is Always back and Forth’: Defying Phallocentric Narrative Style in Jeanette Winterson’s Sexing the Cherry” and Stephen Antwi, “The Black experience in Jordan Peele’s Get Out”

•  “In examining how Winterson calls into question traditional assumptions about language and narrative structure, Mila Velasquez makes an insightful argument about the way ideas of gender may be expressed and interrogated through shifts in traditional narrative technique that create ‘a distinctly feminine reading experience.’ Operating within a strong critical framework, the essay moves easily between the scholarly conversation and a close analysis of the text, demonstrating a sharp historical knowledge that is smoothly juxtaposed to a strong and sophisticated examination of contemporary issues.” (Shirley Tung, for the selection committee)
• “In his video essay on Jordan Peele’s film Get Out, Stephen Oduro Antwi reimagines the traditional experience of Black characters within the horror genre. Antwi provides a complex and nuanced discussion of Black body politics, contextualizing Peele’s film within an historical setting that engages the conversation of ‘the good darky’ with close-up shots reflecting the complex psychological traumas of Black people. Through skillful editing and analysis of the layout, lighting, props, and design, the video offers a convincing argument of how the film both captures and critiques the Black experience in cinema and in society.” (Shirley Tung, for the selection committee)

Professional Writing Award: Charlie Kuenzi, “Root Cause of Food Fraud in the Food Manufacturing and Processing Industry” (first place); Regan Nugent, “A Proposal to Improve the Onboarding Process at Student Athlete Service Department” (second place).

Technical and Scientific Writing Awards:  Cole Hayden, “Determining the Effectiveness of Image Analysis Software for Counting Seeds for the Kansas Lipidomics Research Center: A Recommendation Report” (first place); Cal Dunekack, for a report titled “Membrane-based Hydrocarbon Separation” (second place).

Touchstone Creative Writing Awards: Fiction: Aidia Kite, “Those Final Ashes of War” (first place), Sarah Troub, “The Brink” (second place)

• “Those Final Ashes of War”: “‘Those Final Ashes of War’ follows the story of a veteran trying to shake the trauma of battle and find the will to change his unhealthy life. Caught between two fellow veterans who pursue opposite paths to civilian adjustment, Kite’s protagonist questions his place in life, pondering whether he is just the discarded remnants of war like the ash of a spent cigarette. ‘Those Final Ashes of War’ forces the reader to examine a post-traumatic life through the lens of a disenchanted man, and offers a window to the self-torture of recovery.” (Ian Lutz, for the selection committee)
• “The Brink”: “Troub’s fantastical short story of a magic adept risking life, limb, and the destruction of reality, embodies a fantastical imagination in the telling of an apprentice rescuing a teacher. Blending aesthetics of the occult with elements of cosmic horror, Troub’s riveting piece brings the reader from a cozy kitchen to the very fabric of the universe with a style of prose as fluid and vivid as the cosmic blood her heroic protagonist endures. For lovers of magic realism, ‘The Brink’ offers an exciting taste of a world larger than the confines of its pages with smart, endearing characters as witty as they are imperfect.” (Ian Lutz, for the selection committee)

Touchstone Creative Writing Awards: Poetry: Aidia Kite, “Confine” (first place), Jennifer Allen, “no contact (but i wanted it first)” (second place)

• “Confine”: “Confine is a difficult piece to describe, not due to any unapproachable subject matter but because it is a stunning example of poetic thought visually deconstructed. Kite’s poem about a shattered soul, held together by the fear of existential oblivion, communicates acquiescence to self-obfuscation through unorthodox text manipulations. From circular text orbiting a stanza like rings to a planet to stanzas forming diamonds and trapezoids off-kilter and split between pages, ‘Confine’ ironically breaks the confines of the conventional poem and forces the reader to move and flip its pages to absorb every piece of a broken spirit like shards of a shattered mirror.” (Ian Lutz, for the selection committee)
• “no contact (but i wanted it first)”: “Jennifer Allen’s poem probes the heart-rending reality of an ended relationship, with fresh wounds manifested through unreturned calls and nonreciprocal longing. The liminal torture of a breakup can be felt – almost painfully – by the speaker’s attempts to move on while still anchored to past love. Invoking the raw yearning of a heart torn in two, Allen’s poem articulates an experience as old as love itself through the modern devices of 3am phone calls and archived text messages revisited.” (Ian Lutz, for the selection committee)

• “Veitch’s creative nonfiction piece, written in the form of a casualty notification by a Lieutenant General, does not announce the death of soldiers in war but the death of a middle schooler’s dreams in school. The personified ambitions of ‘becoming an animator’ and a ‘becoming a video game designer,’ who served valiantly in the battles of English and Algebra classrooms, perish against the overwhelming forces of an uncaring educational system. Veitch’s wonderfully composed letter mixes humor and disenchantment in equal measure to express the genuine loss of futures felt by a youth’s crushed spirits.  (Ian Lutz, for the selection committee)

Graduate Student Service Award: Sarah Morgan

• “This year’s winner is known for her wide-ranging contributions in service to the department: as a volunteer for department-sponsored events and outreach; as a ready assistant for moving boxes, furniture, and books; as a representative for graduate students at the college and university levels; and as a leader among the graduate students, particularly for two of our student organizations, SAGE and SOCS. Our thanks and congratulations to Sarah Morgan!” (Karin Westman, for the faculty)

SAGE Graduate Faculty Award for Distinguished Teaching: Phil Nel

• “This year’s recipient’s students have described them as dynamic, engaging, electric, and mind-blowing. Despite the busy nature of professorship, this professor makes time for their students and adapts to their needs. Their students say, speaking as one of them, that they make us want to be better scholars while reminding us that we are people first and students second. Here is a far from complete list of playlists this professor has made and suggested to his students: ‘A Mostly Mellow Mix,’ ‘songs to listen to on the road to and from Graduation Parties, Vol.1,’ ‘Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah covers,’ ‘Greatest Hits of 1983,’ ‘A Xerox playlist,’ and ‘songs about the rain.’ If you can’t tell already, this year’s SAGE Teaching Award goes to Dr. Phil Nel. Many of us, myself included, have had the privilege of taking several of Dr. Nel’s classes. Dr. Nel has the rare gift of making difficult and intangible theories understandable while unveiling seemingly shallow texts to be profound and meaningful. Dr. Nel pushes his students to think in innovative and unconventional ways. We are excited to present the SAGE Graduate Faculty Award for Distinguished Teaching to Dr. Phil Nel!” (Delaney Sullivan, for the selection committee)

SAGE Graduate Faculty Award for Distinguished Service: Michele Janette

• “This year’s recipient was integral to the organization of Dr. Monica Trieu’s guest lecture for this year’s Cultural Studies Seminar. One nominator noted that they ‘also hosted the reception following this year’s Cultural Studies symposium. She and her family were outstanding hosts who opened their beautiful home to English Department students and faculty (and they also made delicious snacks for everyone!). This person went out of her way to support graduate students throughout this academic year.’ Despite not teaching a class during this academic year, this year’s recipient made graduate students feel incredibly supported. Graduate students spoke not only of the organization of events, but also with their fabulous contributions to Food for Thought. Finally, their attendance at the ‘An Evening of Resilience: Nurturing Queer and Trans Joy’ made the graduate student community feel seen, cared for, and safe. We are thrilled to present the SAGE Distinguished Faculty Award for Service to Dr. Michele Janette!” (Kinsley Searles, for the selection committee)

Excellence Award for Term Instructor: Hunter Scott

English Dept Award: Excellence in Advising: N/A for 2023-2024

English Dept Award: Excellence in Teaching: Roger Friedmann. Read the announcement.

Donnelly Faculty Award: Phil Nel. Read the announcement.

Our thanks to the faculty who assisted with selecting our awards, to our main office staff who helped assemble the certificates, and to the faculty and graduate students who contributed recognition for the award winners — and to all of the students and their families and friends who can celebrate their success!

— Karin Westman, Department Head