{"id":59,"date":"2016-04-07T14:34:31","date_gmt":"2016-04-07T21:34:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.uci.edu\/empire\/?page_id=59"},"modified":"2026-01-05T10:51:47","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T18:51:47","slug":"awards","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/core.humanities.uci.edu\/index.php\/awards\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"UROP
Some of the UROP 2019 award winners<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Arts Competition<\/a><\/h3>\n

Our annual arts competition recognizes student-created works of art on a course-related theme.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Website Project in Multimodal Writing<\/h3>\n

\"Personal<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Karen Bruce won the award for outstanding Multimodal Writing for the 2024-2025 academic year for her\u00a0Worldbuilding Digital Archive<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\n

\"Large<\/a><\/p>\n

Zo\u00eb Chang won the award for outstanding Multimodal Writing for the 2023-2024 academic year for her Digital Archive worldswalking<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

To explore another excellent student creation, visit:<\/div>\n
\n
\"White<\/a>
Taylor Huynh, 2024<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

\"Website<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Brianna Smith won the award for outstanding Multimodal Writing for the 2022-2023 academic year for her Digital Archive Worldbuilding<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

To explore more excellent student creations, visit:<\/div>\n
\n
\"Website<\/a>
Odalys Vasquez-Lopez, 2023<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Screenshot<\/a>
Lara Verret, 2023<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

\"Image<\/a><\/p>\n

Rushika Weerackoon won the award for outstanding Website Project for the 2021-2022 academic year for her website Womanimal<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

To explore more excellent student creations, visit:<\/div>\n
\n
\"Screenshot<\/a>
Lillian Dunn, 2022<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Screenshot<\/a>
Hannah Lee, 2022<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Screenshot<\/a>
Kelly Pham, 2022<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/a>
\nThe inaugural award for the outstanding Website Project in Multimodal Writing for the 2020-2021 academic year went to Jonathan Le for his Humanities Core website The Lightbulb Moment<\/em>, https:\/\/sites.google.com\/uci.edu\/humcore-site<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This award is funded by the generous donors to the 2021 Zotfunder campaign.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

Nora Folkenflik Memorial Essay Awards<\/h3>\n

Winners featured on the Campus Writing Contests page<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

UROP Research Paper Awards<\/h3>\n

Humanities Core and the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) have combined efforts to recognize excellence in undergraduate research. Each spring, instructors nominate outstanding research papers on an independently chosen topic in the course theme, and a panel of instructors selects the ten best. To request copies of papers, email Humanities Core<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2025 Award Winners<\/strong><\/p>\n

Karen Bruce, \u201cTweeting Through Catastrophe: Digital Poetics and Post-3\/11 World(re-)building in Pebbles of Poetry\/Shi no Tsubute\u201d (nominated by Amalia Herrmann)<\/p>\n

Lisa Hood, \u201cSelling the Sisterhood: Feminist Branding and Consumerism in Cosmopolitan Magazine\u201d (nominated by Gretchen Short)<\/p>\n

Elizabeth Kim, \u201cSelf as Prisoner: Surveillance, Identity, and Emotional Alienation\u201d (nominated by Sharareh Frouzesh)<\/p>\n

Caden Lee, \u201cInvisible Cities and Boundaries: A Subversive Architecture\u201d (nominated by Larisa Castillo)<\/p>\n

Benjamin Li, \u201c\u2019Animus Orientalism\u2019: Orientalism and Authenticity in Assassin’s Creed: Shadows<\/em>\u201d (nominated by Ben Garceau)<\/p>\n

Joline Mai, \u201cCity of Dreams, Lens of Exclusion\u201d (nominated by Daniel Siakel)<\/p>\n

Brianna Min, \u201cComic Relief or Ideological Evasion? Gender, Race, and the Failure of Critique in Mashle<\/em>: Muscles and Magic\u201d (nominated by Katharine Walsh)<\/p>\n

Christine Pan, \u201cTransforming Beyond the Binary: (De)constructing Gender and Queer Worldbuilding in Transformers: EarthSpark<\/em>\u201d (nominated by Ghada Mourad)<\/p>\n

Hazelyn Phonesavanh, \u201cThe Peaceful Panacea: Death Anxiety and Terror Management in Hyper Light Drifter <\/em>(2016)\u201d (nominated by Robin Stewart)<\/p>\n

Julian Tang, \u201cBatman Through a Theological Lens: A Need for Faith and Absurdity\u201d (nominated by Christine Connell)<\/p>\n

Grace Tseng, \u201cA Story that Belongs to Nobody: Ling Ma\u2019s \u2018Peking Duck\u2019\u201d (nominated by Ben Garceau)<\/p>\n

2024 Award Winners<\/strong><\/p>\n

Josephine Bhadran, “Revisionary Mythmaking: How Madeline Miller\u2019s Circe<\/em> Creates a Feminine World”\u00a0(nominated by Daniel Siakel)<\/span><\/p>\n

Lynn Choi, “Glee<\/em>\u2019s American Dream: the Racial Politics of ‘Asian F'” (nominated by Amanda Malone)<\/span><\/p>\n

David Diaz, “Queer Worldmaking in Steven Universe<\/em>” (nominated by Kurt Buhanan)<\/span><\/p>\n

Adhi Kona, “The Grammatics of Empire: How Language Captures History & Power in the Colonial Value Systems of RF Kuang\u2019s Babel<\/em>” (nominated by Katharine Walsh)<\/span><\/p>\n

Annika Lee, “Racism, Family Triangulation, and Gender: How the Intersection of Orientalism and the Patriarchy Frames Yu Ziyuan in The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation”<\/em> (nominated by Sharareh Frouzesh)<\/span><\/p>\n

Simon Li, “Toward a Genuine Feminism: Confucianism, the State, and Women in Ang Lee\u2019s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon<\/em>” (nominated by Susan Morse)<\/span><\/p>\n

Emi Mangalindan,\u00a0“Surrealism in Paprika<\/em>: A Portal Into the Psyche” (nominated by Kurt Buhanan)<\/span><\/p>\n

Janaki Nair, “Appropriating the Arts: The Death of Sadir, the Birth of Bharatanatyam, and a 21st-Century Narrative” (nominated by Brook Haley)<\/span><\/p>\n

Anh Nguyen, “Dark Souls<\/em> and Existentialism: How community defines a genre” (nominated by Robin Stewart)<\/span><\/p>\n

Niva Phueklieng, “Assimilation Ideology in League of Legends<\/em>: Crafting and Dismantling Constructed Identities on Summoner\u2019s Rift<\/em>” (nominated by Katharine Walsh)<\/span><\/p>\n

2023 Award Winners<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bryce Bitetti, “Morality and Intended Play in Interactive Worlds: How Neocolonialist Ideology is Constructed in Breath of the Wild<\/em><\/span>” (nominated by Ben Garceau)<\/span><\/p>\n

Julia Black, “The Myth, the Man, and the Monster: The Evolution of Black Sails<\/em>\u2019 Captain Flint<\/span>” (nominated by Shoshanna Lande)<\/span><\/p>\n

C\u00e9line Dahlstrom, “Artificial Authenticity: The Role of Whiteness in Dimming the Sparkle of Samba” (nominated by Brook Haley)<\/span><\/p>\n

Dena Falahati, “Empathetic AI: Reflecting Humanity and Combating Isolation through Hybridization and Posthumanism in Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman\u2019s Illuminae<\/em><\/span>” (nominated by Sharareh Frouzesh)<\/span><\/p>\n

Liam Harrington, “Modern Transcendentalist Vision: How Video Game Red Dead Redemption 2<\/em> World Builds Visions of America\u2019s Environmental Past and Future<\/span>” (nominated by Robin Stewart)<\/span><\/p>\n

Sarah Hernandez, “Race, Genre, and Beauty: A Close Reading of Helen Oyeyemi\u2019s Boy, Snow, Bird<\/em>, a Loose Snow White Retelling that Explores the External Forces that Define One\u2019s Story<\/span>” (nominated by Susan Morse)<\/span><\/p>\n

Cali Hess, “Mapping Dreams: The Force Behind Mobility in the Joseph Narrative” (nominated by Gretchen Short)<\/span><\/p>\n

Roger Nguyen, “Mattel’s Barbie: An Exploration of Consumer-Brand Worldbuilding and The Ethics of Female Fantasization” (nominated by Ghada Mourad)<\/span><\/p>\n

Janice Park, “Paint the Town Red or Climb the Concrete Jungle: How Street Art Can Defy or Fail to Escape the Disciplinary Apparatus of Capitalistic Control in the Art Market” (nominated by Sharareh Frouzesh)<\/span><\/p>\n

Vidhya Pillai, “Intersection of Art and Capitalism: Challenging Dichotomy of Form and Message and Regaining Artistic Autonomy” (nominated by Katharine Walsh)<\/span><\/p>\n

2022 Award Winners<\/strong><\/p>\n

Colin Bolik, “Thinking Inter-Diegetically: A Renewed Model for Realizing Dr. Seuss\u2019s\u00a0The Lorax<\/em>\u00a0as Figuring Subjective Experience and an Ethic of Care”\u00a0(nominated by Christine Connell)<\/p>\n

Yunmeng Cai, \u201cFemale Underrepresentation in Patriarchal Male Fantasy Animation is Negatively Affecting Children:\u00a0Fantastic Mr. Fox” <\/em>(nominated by Kurt Buhanan)<\/p>\n

Meha Datar, “Cyborg or Robot?: Technological Art Pieces\u2019 Entanglement with Their Human Creators” (nominated by Daniel Siakel)<\/p>\n

Andrew Diep,\u201cHeed the Coyote Gospel: Understanding Cruelty Through Grant Morrison\u2019s\u00a0Animal Man<\/em>\u201d\u00a0(nominated by Amalia Herrmann)<\/p>\n

Teresa Marie Hempen, “Making Machines, Becoming Animals: The Mechanics of Psychic Numbing in Kurt Vonnegut\u2019s\u00a0Slaughterhouse-Five<\/em>” (nominated by Giovanna Fogli)<\/p>\n

Jewel Loya, “Doves and Damsels: Patriarchy vs. Feminine Agency in ‘Cinderella'” (nominated by Jie Zhuang)<\/p>\n

Kevin Ma, “A Humanist Tale Told by Nonhumans: How\u00a0Nier: Automata<\/em>\u00a0Resolves the Existentialist Crisis” (nominated by Susan Morse)<\/p>\n

Karen Phan, “Becoming Popinpobopian: Defining the Self Through Abjection, Metamorphosis, and (Re)Production in\u00a0Earthlings”\u00a0<\/em>(nominated by Ben Garceau)<\/p>\n

Jennellee Samkhem, “Cuteness & Capitalism: the Tamagotchi\u2019s Role in ‘Cool Japan\u2019s’ Reinvention”\u00a0(nominated by Brook Haley)<\/p>\n

Emily Tottori, “The Herd and the Neighsayers: Exploring Anxieties and Transgressive Expressions in Brony Fanfiction” (nominated by Sharareh Frouzesh)<\/p>\n

2021 Award Winners<\/strong><\/p>\n

Shaylah Davis, “Spongebob Squarepants<\/em>: How a Sea Sponge Became a Vital Member of the LGBTQIA+ Community”\u00a0(nominated by Mary Schmitt)<\/p>\n

Roseanne De Guzman, “The Othering of the Igorots by the Imperial Archive: Bontoc Eulogy<\/em>‘s Reversal”\u00a0(nominated by Giovanna Fogli)<\/p>\n

Andrew Lee, “Beyond the Anthropocene: Becoming-Animal and A Thousand Plateaus<\/em>”\u00a0(nominated by Larisa Castillo)<\/p>\n

Kawain Lo, “Tailored Bodies and Reconstructed Illusions: The ‘Authentic’ Transgender Figure in The Silence of the Lambs<\/em>”\u00a0(nominated by Ben Garceau)<\/p>\n

Beatriz Lopez Galeana, “Living with Nature: Miyazaki Films as Fantasies and Frameworks of a Human-Nature Coexistence” (nominated by Susan Morse)<\/p>\n

Laine Matkin, “Musical Metamorphosis” (nominated by Alice Berghof)<\/p>\n

Sammy Merabet, “Conservative and Radical Madness Narratives in Creepypasta and Petscop<\/em>“\u00a0<\/em>(nominated by Tamara Beauchamp)<\/p>\n

Lauren Sayat, “Reshaping the Narrative: How Media Misrepresentations Frame Indigenous\u00a0Issues” (nominated by Ben Garceau)<\/p>\n

Dorothy Truong, “Capitalist Mindset: Root of Speciesism and Sexism in Okja<\/em>”\u00a0(nominated by Margaret Speer)<\/p>\n

Enya Walker, “The Human-Animal Construct: Social Perceptions as a Basis for Personhood in Isle of Dogs<\/em>”\u00a0(nominated by Amalia Herrmann)<\/p>\n

2020 Award Winners<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alejandra Garcia Ceja, \u201cDisney\u2019s 2016 Film Zootopia<\/em> as Postracial Utopia Created by the White Imaginary\u201d<\/p>\n

Emma Cho, “A Tiger\u2019s Divine Wisdom and the Uneducated Commonfolk: Minhwa<\/em>\u2019s\u00a0Extraordinary Abilities of Dynastic Upheaval”<\/p>\n

Kristian Chung, \u201cBojack Horseman: A Cynic\u2019s Hollywood\u201d<\/p>\n

Nirvana Guzman,\u00a0\u201c\u2018Cannibalize the Colonizer\u2019: Manifesto Antrop\u00f3fago<\/em>\u2019s Brazilian Utopia and Narcissism\u201d<\/p>\n

Rishik Lad, \u201cThe Paradox of Animal & Human Rights in Nazi Germany\u201d<\/p>\n

Maya Lenrow,\u00a0\u201cA Beginner\u2019s Guide to the Human-Guide Dog Relationship\u201d<\/p>\n

Christopher Nagelvoort,\u00a0“Becoming Anti-Human: How Lovecraftian Horror Philosophically Deconstructs Otherness”<\/p>\n

Emily Schoeff, \u201cThe Damsel and the Dominatrix: How Catwoman in Batman Returns<\/em> Serves Simultaneously As a Feminist Icon and a Victim of the Male Gaze\u201d<\/p>\n

Flor Solano, \u201cAnimalized Enfreakment: The Elephant Man\u201d<\/p>\n

Ainsley Vanzyl, \u201cRe-Humanizing the Dead or How Films Transform the Abject Zombie Figure\u201d<\/p>\n

2019 Award Winners<\/strong><\/p>\n

Joseph Cheung, \u201cNostalgic Futures: The Self-Fashioning of Victoria Harbor in Film Posters\u201d<\/p>\n

Soo Bin Cho, \u201cOwning Identity by Reclaiming History: Korea and its National Treasure, the Oegyujanggak Uigwe<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Faraz Fardi, \u201cExamination of the Orientalist Derogation of the Iranian People and Nation Presented in the 1991 Film, Not Without My Daughter<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Edith Guadalupe Garcia, \u201cA Fairy Tale for Troubled Times: Guillermo del Toro’s Reconstruction of Humanity in The Shape of Water<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Jacob Huang, \u201cBoston, The Soiling of Old Glory<\/em>, and the Role of Race in Conflating Busing with Desegregation\u201d<\/p>\n

Lam Kha Huynh, \u201cNineteenth-Century Perceptions of Chinese Immigrants and Chinatown through the Principal Chinese Theatre\u201d<\/p>\n

Aiden Lovell, \u201cThe World’s War as Seen in Jamaica: Racial Oppression Reflected in Reggae\u201d<\/p>\n

Nghi Uyen Ly, \u201cThe Warren Cup: Male Sexual Transgression and Resistance in Ancient Rome\u201d<\/p>\n

Cheyenne Tanner, \u201cThe Captive Life of a Puritan Woman: Mary Rowlandson’s Captivity Narrative\u201d<\/p>\n

Steven Young, \u201cA Call to Action: Using Theological Language Against Apartheid Rule in the 1985 Kairos Document<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

2018 Award Winners<\/strong><\/p>\n

Masaa Al-moukdad, “Ruins of Bosra”<\/p>\n

Demetria Baxter,\u00a0“The Stolen People: Race, Slavery, and the African-American Identity in Black Panther”<\/p>\n

Jesse Chong, \u201cA Photograph\u2019s Exemplification of Borderless Christian Hakka Identity\u201d<\/p>\n

Sophia Costa, “Rosie Revealed: The Problematic Portrayal Produced by the Pop Culture Icon”<\/p>\n

Delia Cruz Kelly, \u201cThe Disavowal of Black Motherhood and Its Complexes: Thomas Satterwhite Noble\u2019s \u2018Margaret Garner\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Leeanne Qussiny, “The Immortal Refugee Child”<\/p>\n

Reema Saad, \u201c<\/a>“The Afghan Girl\u2019s Role in Creating a Pathway for White Feminism and American Intervention in Afghanistan”<\/p>\n

Maven Sinaguinan, \u201cThe Ideological Resistance within Jos\u00e9 Rizal\u2019s El Filibusterismo<\/em>: Deconstructing a Post-Colonial Schema\u201d<\/p>\n

Michelle Tran, \u201cThe Romances of Ishi<\/em>: A Mark of Civilization or Savagery?\u201d<\/p>\n

Michelle Trinh, “Den Lille Havfrue<\/em> against The Little Mermaid<\/em>: The Female Other\u2019s Induction into Patriarchy”<\/p>\n

2017 Award Winners<\/h4>\n

Gouri Ajith, “The Immolation of Sampati Kuer: Hindutva and the Defining of Volition and Agency in Sati”<\/p>\n

Matthew Chong, “Pilipino Paradox: Carlos Bulosan’s Vision of Identity in American is in the Heart<\/em>”<\/p>\n

Ying Chow, “1984: Seeking Humanity in a Heartless Society”<\/p>\n

Isabel Galvez, “Into the Shadows of Identity: On Gloria Anzaldua’s Borderlands\/La Frontera: The New Mestiza<\/em>”<\/p>\n

Kimberly Hu, “Frankenstein<\/em>–from Humanity to Monstrosity”<\/p>\n

Katie Lynch, “Walls and Waiting: The Power of Expectations in Access Denied<\/em>”<\/p>\n

Alice Nguyen, “Its own Worst Critic: Language’s Self-Analysis in George Orwell’s Animal Farm<\/em>”<\/p>\n

Gwynette Paez, “Seeking its Hidden Identity Within Contemporary Japan”<\/p>\n

Michelle Wan, “Beyond Visualizing Homelessness: Ethics of the Aesthetic Production of the Homeless”<\/p>\n

Philip Wilkinson, “The Chiasmus of the Augustus of Prima Porta and its Propagandistic Utility”<\/p>\n

2016 Award Winners<\/h4>\n

Samiha Ali. \u201cThe Birangona Women of Bangladesh: Analyzing Representations of Sexual Violence during the 1971 Liberation War.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sean Beall. \u201cHow Martin Luther Killed Mars: The Effects of On War Against the Turk<\/em> on the European Psyche.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michelle Bui. \u201cBeckett and Brecht: Thoughts on the Human Condition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Erika Higbee. \u201c<\/i>Ip Man 2<\/em> <\/i>as a New Discourse: Challenging the Existing Hegemonic Order.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stephanie Matsuno. “The Kamikaze of Individual Dreams: A Film Analysis of Hayao Miyazaki\u2019s The Wind Rises<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aidan McGeath. \u201cFantastical Conflicts: War as Storytelling Tool in Glen Cook\u2019s The Chronicles of the Black Company<\/em>.<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n

Nicole Nguyen. \u201cMedia Representations of the Nanking Massacre.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dominique Oei. \u201cConstructing Magneto: the (Anti)-American Vision of the Holocaust.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meghan Osato.\u00a0 \u201cProving Loyalties: The Japanese American Struggle for Agency During World War II.\u201d<\/p>\n

Darlene Vales. \u201cHamilton: Bringing Together the Past and the Present.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Awards<\/h3>\n

See also prize-winning essays from previous years<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Arts Competition Our annual arts competition recognizes student-created works of art on a course-related theme.   Website Project in Multimodal Writing   Karen Bruce won the award for outstanding Multimodal Writing for the 2024-2025 academic year for her\u00a0Worldbuilding Digital Archive. Zo\u00eb Chang won the award for outstanding Multimodal Writing for the 2023-2024 academic year for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/core.humanities.uci.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/59"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/core.humanities.uci.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/core.humanities.uci.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/core.humanities.uci.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/core.humanities.uci.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59"}],"version-history":[{"count":77,"href":"https:\/\/core.humanities.uci.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/59\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12882,"href":"https:\/\/core.humanities.uci.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/59\/revisions\/12882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/core.humanities.uci.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}