Department announces graduate award winners
The Department of English congratulates the following graduate award winners on their outstanding accomplishments. The recipients of these awards include any Ohio State graduate student who has earned an award for any of our department programs/concentrations, for our special graduate prizes and for select external programs.
For an outstanding graduate student conference presentation, publication or dissertation on professional communication.
Winners
CREATIVE WRITING
$100 for the best essay or nonfiction book chapter by a graduate student.
Winner
Honorable Mention
- Margie Sarsfield
$1,000 for the best short story by a student in the MFA Program in Creative Writing.
Winner
- Margie Sarsfield
Honorable Mention
$1,000 for the best poem or group of no more than three poems by a graduate student.
Winner
Runner-Up
Honorable Mentions
$600 for the best body of fiction by a second- or third-year student in the MFA Program in Creative Writing.
Winner
$600 for the best body of nonfiction by a second- or third-year student in the MFA Program in Creative Writing.
Winner
$600 for the best body of poetry by a second- or third-year student in the MFA Program in Creative Writing.
Winner
DIGITAL MEDIA STUDIES
For the recognition of outstanding digital media project(s) completed by a graduate student in the Department of English, either in a seminar or as part of the student's research or creative work.
Winners
Formerly in memory of Eric Walborn, coordinator of the Digital Media Project (formerly Computers in Composition and Literature) from 1987-1993, this award is intended to recognize excellence and innovation in computer-supported teaching and/or the development of digital media instructional materials in any area of English studies by a graduate teaching assistant.
Winner
FIRST-YEAR WRITING
For a first-year graduate teaching assistant who demonstrates excellence in teaching First-Year Writing, based upon student evaluations and observations of teaching. Sponsored by Cengage Publishing.
Winners
SECOND-YEAR WRITING
For demonstrated excellence in teaching Second-Year Writing by an experienced graduate teaching assistant, based upon review of syllabi, assignment prompts, student evaluations and teaching philosophy.
Winner
GRADUATE SCHOLARSHIPS, GRANTS AND AWARDS
John M. Muste (1927-2002) was a long-time member of the department. He worked in twentieth-century literature and culture and, like Marlene Longnecker, was a stalwart citizen of the department, serving as Director of Graduate Studies and Vice Chair. Before retiring in 1986, he served as Associate Dean of the College of Humanities. Upon retiring, John and the College of Humanities established this fund which the department named in his honor.
Winner
The Robert M. Estrich Fellowship Fund was established October 5, 1990, by the Board of Trustees of The Ohio State University, with gifts to The Ohio State University Development Fund from Alice E. Estrich of Columbus, Ohio, colleagues, friends, and former students in memory of Robert M. Estrich (M.A., English ‘29; Ph.D., English ‘35), Professor Emeritus, The Ohio State University Department of English. Robert Estrich was chair of the Department of English from 1952 to 1964, during which he presided over the department’s enormous WWII growth. In both his brilliant hiring and his democratizing of internal governance, he was instrumental in transforming the department into both a model within the university and a national presence in the academic profession.
Winner
The Sheldon Sacks Award has been given since 1997 when James Phelan established it as a way to honor the teacher who introduced him to narrative theory. After receiving his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago in the late 1950s, Sheldon Sacks taught at the University of Texas and the University of California Berkeley before returning to Chicago in 1968, where he remained until his death in 1979. He is best-known as the author of Fiction and the Shape of Belief, the founding editor of Critical Inquiry, and an inspirational teacher and advisor.
Winner
Established by the Department of English Human Rights Working Group in Autumn 2014, the English Graduate Human Rights Award is given to the best academic paper or multi-modal project produced in a Department of English graduate course or independent study in the past year. Submissions should demonstrate a critical engagement with the literature, rhetoric, narrative, folklore, histories, laws, and/or cultural practices of human rights.
Winner
EXTERNAL AWARDS
This award, granted by Ohio State’s Graduate School, is the university’s highest recognition of the exceptional teaching provided by graduate students at Ohio State. Award winners receive $1,500.