Outstanding Master's Thesis or Research Project Award
Overview
The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences' Committee on Graduate Studies has established two Outstanding Thesis/Research Project Awards. Each award carries a $750 stipend. One awardee is selected from among Summer and Fall graduates and a second from among Spring graduates. For more information and profiles of recent recipients, please visit https://coga.ku.edu/outstanding-masters-thesis-or-research-project-award.
Call for Nominations
Eligibility:
Students must be nominated by their thesis or research project advisor with the endorsement of either the Director of Graduate Studies or the Chair of the department.
Nomination Instructions:
Departments are strongly encouraged to select no more than one nominee for each cycle of the award. However, multiple nominees from a single department will be accepted if a department determines that more than one student truly warrants the nomination. In these cases, a separate letter is required for each nominee. Letters must be explicit about the relative merits of each.
Each nomination must include the following:
- A letter of support prepared and signed by the student's advisor and endorsed by the Director of Graduate Studies or Chair of the department. The letter should address the following award criteria:
- The overall quality of the thesis or research project (e.g., research design, organization of material, clarity of writing, interpretation of findings)
- The methodological rigor and/or innovation of the thesis or research project
- The significance and/or originality of the thesis or research project to the field: Why is the work "outstanding" by disciplinary standards? The thesis or research project should be described so that an audience outside of the field can understand the significance.
- The letter may also address the following, as appropriate:
- The trans-disciplinary/interdisciplinary nature of the research
- Resulting publications, presentations, and performances (or the promise thereof)
- Receipt of departmental honors or other awards
- An abstract of the thesis or non-thesis project
- An electronic copy of the thesis or research project document. Print copies will not be accepted.
If you have questions or need more information, please email coga@ku.edu or call 864-4201.
Current Year Winners
Jordan Cortesi, Psychology (2024)
(Mis)perceptions of Racial Wealth Inequality: The Role of Colorblind Racism and Implications for Public Policy
Cortesi’s research focuses on the (mis)perception of racial progress and ignorance of racial inequality
within a cultural psychology and critical race psychology framework. Cortesi’s thesis builds off previous research demonstrating White Americans tend to consistently overestimate progress toward racial equality on a variety of indicators. Cortesi explored the role of colorblind racism in White American’s perceptions of racial wealth disparities as well as the implications these perceptions may have for support of public policy that would address racial economic inequality. Cortesi found that White Americans’ investment in colorblind racial ideology (CBRI) predicted underestimation of the Black-White, Latinx-White, and Asian-White wealth disparities. In turn, the smaller the wealth gap perceived, the lower support expressed for policies that address racial economic inequality such as race-relevant affirmative action, reparations, and redistributive policy. Perceptions of the three wealth gaps also partially mediated the relationship between investment in CBRI and (lack of) support for racial inequity-reducing policy. Findings suggest that such misperceptions of racial inequality may directly contribute to the reproduction of Black-White wealth inequality itself to the extent that they influence engagement with remedial policy. More broadly, these studies provide evidence consistent with the idea that colorblind racism functions as an epistemology of ignorance: That is: everyday information ecologies (particular the ones White Americans inhabit) may afford, through colorblind discourse, ignorance of racial inequality and denial of racism.
Cortesi’s research focuses on the (mis)perception of racial progress and ignorance of racial inequality
within a cultural psychology and critical race psychology framework. Cortesi’s thesis builds off previous research demonstrating White Americans tend to consistently overestimate progress toward racial equality on a variety of indicators. Cortesi explored the role of colorblind racism in White American’s perceptions of racial wealth disparities as well as the implications these perceptions may have for support of public policy that would address racial economic inequality. Cortesi found that White Americans’ investment in colorblind racial ideology (CBRI) predicted underestimation of the Black-White, Latinx-White, and Asian-White wealth disparities. In turn, the smaller the wealth gap perceived, the lower support expressed for policies that address racial economic inequality such as race-relevant affirmative action, reparations, and redistributive policy. Perceptions of the three wealth gaps also partially mediated the relationship between investment in CBRI and (lack of) support for racial inequity-reducing policy. Findings suggest that such misperceptions of racial inequality may directly contribute to the reproduction of Black-White wealth inequality itself to the extent that they influence engagement with remedial policy. More broadly, these studies provide evidence consistent with the idea that colorblind racism functions as an epistemology of ignorance: That is: everyday information ecologies (particular the ones White Americans inhabit) may afford, through colorblind discourse, ignorance of racial inequality and denial of racism.
Qixin Pan, Sociology (2024)
A Psychological Contract or a Golden Chain? Revisiting a Case Study of Kansas Power & Light Workers, 1956-1958
Pan's work is concerned with the interplay between labor relations and culture. Based on archives in Topeka and elsewhere, Pan's thesis examines why labor relations in Kansas were characterized by industrial peace in the 1950s, despite Kansas laborers’ earlier reputation for militancy in the early twentieth century. It explores historical contingencies and social patterns surrounding labor processes, managerial ideology, governance, and unions. For his next project, Pan plans to combine archival methods with ethnographic study to investigate creative occupations and labor relations in China, focusing on roles such as those of chefs in fine restaurants.
Pan's work is concerned with the interplay between labor relations and culture. Based on archives in Topeka and elsewhere, Pan's thesis examines why labor relations in Kansas were characterized by industrial peace in the 1950s, despite Kansas laborers’ earlier reputation for militancy in the early twentieth century. It explores historical contingencies and social patterns surrounding labor processes, managerial ideology, governance, and unions. For his next project, Pan plans to combine archival methods with ethnographic study to investigate creative occupations and labor relations in China, focusing on roles such as those of chefs in fine restaurants.
Kim Conger, Physics & Astronomy (2023)
Investigating Environmental Processing of Galaxies in the Virgo Cluster
Kim Conger's work involves nearby galaxies in and surrounding the Virgo Cluster to determine how their environments affect how efficiently they can form stars. These environments can range from dense galaxy clusters to filamentary strands that connect and feed the clusters, to largely isolated fields. Conger uses a modeling tool to measure the spatial extent of warm dust emission in galaxies using data from the WISE satellite, which traces where active star formations are occurring. Conger then normalizes this size with the spatial extent of the stars in the galaxies, which allows her to more directly compare galaxies of different sizes. Current results indicate that galaxies located in the cluster show a lower amount of star formation in their outskirts compared to the field galaxies; however, the sample Conger has now is too small to understand how the more "intermediate" environments, like filaments and groups, affect the overall activity of galaxies. The next phase of this project is to expand the sample size by about a factor of 10 to hopefully be better able to identify whether there are any trends in these regimes.
Kim Conger's work involves nearby galaxies in and surrounding the Virgo Cluster to determine how their environments affect how efficiently they can form stars. These environments can range from dense galaxy clusters to filamentary strands that connect and feed the clusters, to largely isolated fields. Conger uses a modeling tool to measure the spatial extent of warm dust emission in galaxies using data from the WISE satellite, which traces where active star formations are occurring. Conger then normalizes this size with the spatial extent of the stars in the galaxies, which allows her to more directly compare galaxies of different sizes. Current results indicate that galaxies located in the cluster show a lower amount of star formation in their outskirts compared to the field galaxies; however, the sample Conger has now is too small to understand how the more "intermediate" environments, like filaments and groups, affect the overall activity of galaxies. The next phase of this project is to expand the sample size by about a factor of 10 to hopefully be better able to identify whether there are any trends in these regimes.
Past Recipients
- Jenna Williams, Chemistry (2023)
- Chondroitin Sulfate Glycosaminoglycans Inhibit CNS Myelination with Molecular Specificity
- Jacob Z. Tindan, Atmospheric Science (2023)
- Day-night Differences and Long-term Trends in Dust Activities Over the Dust Belt of North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia in the Early 21st Century.
- Laura Muñetón, Sociology (2023)
- Whose Work is Essential? Rethinking Class in a Time of Crisis
- Sharon Mugg, English (2022)
- Rethinking Art and Virtue in Shakespeare's As You Like It
- Keana Koun Tang, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (2022)
- Uncovering the early diversification of core eudicots in western North America: structurally preserved fruits from Late Cretaceous deposits of Sucia Island
- Jennifer Babitzke, Sociology (2022)
- The Cumulative Cost of Care: Caregiving Over the Life Course and Severity of Depression
- Rebecca Woolbert, Applied Behavioral Science (2021)
- Teaching Graphing Using Enhanced Written instruction: Does Chunk Size Matter?
- Alexis Exum, Psychology (2021)
- Culturally-Informed Theory for Disordered Eating in Black Women
- Nick Banach, English, Creative Writing (2020)
- Case Study: Becoming
- Morgan McComb, English (2020)
- "Everything is Here and Now": The Polyvocal Poetry of Naomi Long Madgett
- Erin Bojanek, Clinical Child Psychology (2019)
- Postural Control Processes During Static and Dynamic Activities in Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Austen McGuire, Clinical Child Psychology (2019)
- The Association between Dimensions of Maltreatment and Academic Outcomes for Youth in Foster Care
- Lucas McMichael, Geography & Atmospheric Science (2018)
- Assessing the Mechanisms Governing the Daytime Evolution of Marine Stratocumulus Using Large-Eddy Simulation
- Che-Ling Ho, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (2018)
- First Finding of Succulence and c4/CAM-Cycling Photosynthesis in a Grass: Ecophysiology on Spinifex littoreus in Coastal Region of Taiwan
- CJ Grady, Geography & Atmospheric Science (2018)
- Delineating Sea-Level Rise Inundation: An Exploration of Data Structure and Performance Optimization
- Carolina Bejarano, Clinical Child Psychology (2017)
- Motivation and Hedonic Hunger and Predictors of Self-Reported Food Intake in Adolescents: Disentangling Between-Person and Within-Person Processes
- Melissa Gilstrap, English (2016)
- Re-Placing the Prostitute: Ruth Hall and the Spatial Politics of the Streetwalker
- Meghan Kelly, Geography (2016)
- Mapping Syrian Refugee Border Crossings: A Critical, Feminist Perspective
- Joshua Meisel, Geography (2015)
- Historical Demographics, Student Origins, and Recruitment at Off-Reservation Indian Boarding Schools, 1900
- Elizabeth Adams, Classics (2014)
- Esse videtur: Occurrences of Heroic Clausulae in Cicero's Orations
- Laurie Gayes, Clinical Child Psychology (2014)
- A Meta-Analysis of Motivational Interviewing Interventions for Pediatric Health Behavior Change
- Gopolang Mohlabeng, Physics & Astronomy (2013)
- A Redshift Dependent Color-Luminosity Relation in Type 1a Supernovae
- Jeanne Tiehen, Theater (2013)
- Frankenstein on Stage: Galvanizing the Myth and Evolving the Creature
- Laurie Petty, Sociology (2012)
- Department Chairs and High Chairs: The importance of perceived department chair supportiveness on faculty parents' views of departmental and institutional kid-friendliness
- Steven Roels, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (2012)
- Not Easy Being Mead's: Comparative Herbivory on Three Milkweeds, Including Threatened Mead's Milkweed (Asclepias meadii), and Seedling Ecology of Mead's Milkweed