History's Outstanding Huskies: Awards Day 2025 | Department of History

Submitted by Nick Grall on May 21, 2025 - 10:55 am

Each May, UW History hosts its favorite event of the year, Awards Day, where faculty, staff, alumni, family, and friends come together to celebrate the academic and service achievements of our students. This year, we are overjoyed to announce that more than $475,000 in scholarships and prizes were awarded to forty-four undergraduates and five graduate students, as well as one outstanding Washington high school history teacher. Thank you to our UW History alumni and friends whose generous and unwavering support makes all of this possible.

Research Prizes

John and Linda Ravage Prize

This prize is given in recognition of an outstanding paper or project by an undergraduate on the history of African Americans, with a preference for African Americans in the American West. This year’s winner is Harjot Singh for his essay “Navigating Marginalization: Seattle’s Communities of Color in the Twentieth Century”. A sweeping history of interrelations between Seattle’s Black and Asian American communities, particularly those having to do with labor organizing, housing, and the struggle for civil rights, this paper examines change across the twentieth century. It is an impressive work of research!

Thomas M. Power Prizes for Excellence in History

Established in memory of UW alumnus Thomas M. Power, the Excellence in History awards recognize exemplary scholarship in history and encourage study in the discipline. This award acknowledges undergraduates and graduates who have produced outstanding research papers within a UW history course.

Undergraduate

Jacob Krell “Through Different Eyes: Alexander M. Wade and the Deaf Experience” (first place)

Alexander M. Wade was born in 1872 in West Virginia, and as a child, moved with his family to Grays Harbor, Washington. After attending a state-run school for the deaf, he married, got work in the lumber industry, and became a node in a network of deaf people in the region and an activist on behalf of the deaf community as a member of the Puget Sound Association of the Deaf. In this paper, Krell uses Wade’s diaries – which are in UW special collections – to chronicle his life and to paint a rich portrait of Wade and, through him, of deaf communities in the Pacific Northwest during the late 19th and early 20th century. Krell deftly examines how deafness shaped Wade’s life, in ways that might surprise a hearing person, how he faced down challenges, and how he and others built a deaf community in the Pacific Northwest.

Gabrielle Lundquist “The Exclusivity of Trauma: Psychiatric Care of Colonial Soldiers in the French Empire, 1914-1945” (honorable mention)

Like all wars do, the First World War traumatized the people who fought in it and survived. The First World War, however, coincided with the rise of psychiatry as a profession, and the treatment of war neurosis fascinated a generation of psychiatrists and captured public attention all over the world. Lundquist’s fascinating essay asks how Black French soldiers played a role in this story. Black soldiers served in World War I in large numbers: in particular, the French conscripted soldiers from France’s west and north African colonies. Yet, as Lundquist shows, those soldiers had to contend with vitriolic racism from white French psychiatrists who were investigating war neurosis. This paper is a very nuanced study of racism, psychiatry, and the military, which helps to correct the historical record by integrating the stories of Black soldiers in the First World War.

Graduate

Ziquian Wang, “Legal Transformations and Practice of ‘Raping Young Girls’ in Modern China” (first prize)

As Wang writes in this exceptional essay, during the era of Mao’s rule in China, the government focused on a few particular categories of crime. Two, you would probably guess what they were – counterrevolution and corruption. One, you might not guess, and it is the focus of this study: sexual assault of girls. The insightful question guiding this paper is why this crime got particular attention. The essay examines the reasons, looking at the broad context of law and revolution, as well as in-depth at the complexities of a single case that began in 1965.

Barshana Titir, “Messbaris as Microcosm of Middle Classness: Colonial Construction and Postcolonial Continuities” (honorable mention)

In this paper, Titir examines how messbaris, boarding houses, in colonial and post-colonial Calcutta, were places where people struggled to form middle-class identity as well as anti-colonial consciousness. It draws on a project to document messbaris, which are falling into decline, in Calcutta today.

Sachraa Sergelong, “Law, Sexuality, and Social Anxiety: Qing Regulations and Community Perceptions on Mongol Monks in the Nineteenth-Century Inner Mongolia” (honorable mention)

This paper takes a detailed look at monks in Mongolia from the seventeenth to early twentieth century, when the region was under the rule of the Qing Empire, and shows how Qing law sought to regulate the sexuality of monks in ways that did not correspond to local understandings – regulating monks was a way in which the Qing asserted their power and became more lenient once they consolidated their rule.

Burke Prize

Named after Pacific Northwest historian and former faculty of the University of Washington Department of History, Robert Burke, this prize is given to the graduate student deemed to have amassed the most meritorious record during the year they complete their MA in U.S. history.

Jordan Ferrand-Sapsis completed the MA under the supervision of Professors Josh Reid and Moon-Ho Jung, combining interests in Pacific Northwest history and issues of race and empire. Her seminar paper, “The Food Supply is Insufficient: The American-Canadian Fisheries Conference of 1918 and its Impact on Indigenous Fishing Rights,” examined the competing jurisdictional interests of the U.S. and Canadian governments and the economic interests of the local fishing and canning industries, with indigenous people’s long-standing use of marine resources. Jordan has now been promoted to the history PhD program to continue studies and research into U.S. history.

Service Awards

Thomas M. Power Award for Excellence - Outstanding Graduating Senior

Jacob Krell (history and political science, majors; international studies, minor) graduates with a 4.00 grade point average in both of his majors as well as a cumulative UW grade point average of 4.00, and he completed this in a very short period of time after arriving at UW as a transfer student. He was nominated for this award by several faculty, one of whom stated, “I worked with Jacob in the History Honors Seminar. He was an absolute pleasure to work with. His research essay is an extraordinary piece of scholarship.” Another instructor praises the methods of Jacob’s research while writing his honors thesis–he deciphered a secret code found in Alexander Wade’s diaries. “What a truly extraordinary piece of work from a thoroughly creative, thoroughly original student.”

Thomas M. Power Award for Excellence - Outstanding Student Leader

This award recognizes the student who has demonstrated outstanding work at integrating the study of history with community and public engagement.

Kiran Yadav has been a fantastic member of the history community. She is currently an intern at the University of Washington’s Burke Museum where, for the last year, she reaches out to different history classes and heritage communities on campus to match them with artifacts the museum owns in order to write short project reports and create better curatorial practices for those items at the Burke. Kirin also just completed her honors in history project where she did a great job reminding our history community about the central place of community building, outreach, and public history as an important part of our profile as a profession.

Thomas M. Power Award for Excellence - Outstanding Teaching Assistant

Sebastián Blas is a fourth-year PhD student with a specialization in the histories of Latin America, Mesoamerica, and the Caribbean under the supervision of Professors Adam Warren and Ileana-Rodriguez-Silva. In addition to serving as a TA for classes within his own areas of specialization, Sebastian has taught with a number of History faculty in courses as varied as medieval European history, Southeast Asian history, and witchcraft in colonial New England.

His teaching supervisors describe him as “phenomenal,” “a fine teacher, ”and “a wonderful teaching partner.” “He is always prepared beyond all expectations…and generous to the faculty, other TAs, and students with his knowledge and time.” A student commented that Sebastian was “crucial” to their understanding of course materials, and the discussion sections “were always open and interesting spaces of discussion.” His faculty supervisors praise Sebastian’s far-ranging knowledge, enthusiasm, reliability, and organizational skills both inside the classroom and out. “He was a valuable source of feedback and new ideas” to improve courses and to identify core skills that students needed help with. Sebastian is invariably rated as an excellent TA by his faculty supervisors, who look forward to the opportunity to work with him again. One faculty member was “delighted” to have him again as a TA: “He was an absolute rock star.”

Excellence in Teaching Award

Thomas and Cameron Pressly Prize for Excellence in Secondary Education

Named for late UW History emeritus professor Thomas Pressly and his wife Cameron, this prize recognizes remarkable teaching of history and social studies at the high school level in the state of Washington. Nominations are made each year from undergraduate and graduate students through short essays in support of the outstanding teacher who contributed to their study of history. This year, it gives us great pleasure to recognize Angela Peck of Ingraham High School in Seattle.

Ms. Peck is, as her principal Martin Floe put it, an outstanding educator who is adored by her students and respected and admired by fellow teachers. Each year, the Ingraham graduating class chooses a member of staff to receive the John C. Maxey award for the person who has had the biggest impact on them and has done the most to contribute to their success. Peck has won it more times than any other educator in the award’s sixty-year existence (she won in 2020, 2022, and 2024).

In 2021, Peck researched, wrote, and piloted the LGBTQIA+ World History curriculum for Seattle Public Schools. This is one of the few curricula in the country, we think, that includes the world in LGBTQIA+ history, going beyond the history of LGBTQ people in the United States.

Peck was nominated by an undergraduate student in a history class, who wrote that Peck had a big impact on them and helped them succeed. They wrote that her class “formed a community unlike any other class I’ve ever taken and she truly came to have a relationship with every student…she showed up with jokes and stories and engaging assignments to improve our experience…all of her students had the ability to succeed because she laid a path for us….she was a personal mentor to me throughout high school and she became someone I could truly rely on for advice or just to listen…I can truly say she changed my life for the better.”

Scholarships

Burke-Erickson Fund for Foreign Language Study

This award was established to support students in the study of foreign languages and cultures of the Middle East.

Anna Berner

James Bicknell Fund for Academic Travel

Established by Professor Emeritus Daniel C. Waugh in memory of his maternal great-grandfather, this fund provides travel aid for students studying the languages and cultures of Russia, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Near and Middle East, and North Africa.

Zinnia Hansen for study in Istanbul, Turkey
Eleanor Hoffman for study in Bangalore, India

Dale Roger Corkery Scholarship

Established in memory of UW alum Dale Roger Corkery, this fund honors his love of history by offering support to undergraduate history majors studying ancient history.

Cassandra Benson
Kristor Cummings
Willa Hoey

Dennison-Kernaghan Scholarship

Established in recognition of a friendship spanning over twenty years, it is the hope of this donor that the support provided by this fund will help students as they gain rich experiences through their education.

Katherine Hoffman

Freedman Remak Family Scholarship in History

Nancy (Freedman) and Ben Remak began this scholarship to assist history majors who face the high cost of non-resident tuition. Nancy herself had come to the UW from out of state and recognizes the financial burden such students face.

Olivia Pruden

UW Department of History Scholarship

This scholarship is made possible through generous contributions made by our alumni and friends.

Sydney Sabourin

Meder-Montgomery Family Student Support Fund in History

UW History alumna Marilyn Montgomery began this award to support undergraduate history majors in their studies.

Jackson Sutton

Bryan Phillips Scholarship

This scholarship was established in memory of Bryan Phillips, a history major who passed away in 2001 due to complications from muscular dystrophy.

Kyle Clark

Jonathan and Elizabeth Roberts Scholarship

This scholarship is given to incoming first-year students with a demonstrated interest in history.

Maxime Girou

Maurice D. and Lois M. Schwartz Scholarship

This scholarship fund was created in 1977 through the generosity of Maurice and Lois Schwartz to support the study of non-Western history at the University of Washington. The Schwartz Fund has been a vital source of tuition support for students of the department for many decades, and now thanks to a final bequest from their trust, the impact of their generosity is even stronger. This year, we are able to award the equivalent of sixty-nine quarters of resident tuition to thirty-two students, just shy of $300,000.

Sonya Bates
Alec Benson
Anna Berner
Kyle Clark
Wyatt Clarke
Remy Cogan
Kristor Cummings
Grant Deines
Sophie Dzyban
Ayden Erickson
Maxime Girou
Avery Greenwood
Adeline Hahnke
Avery Hallum
Eleanor Hoffman
Katherine Hoffman
Matea Houle
Kendall Imus
Diego Irias
Allison Jones
Aiden Knudsen
Evan Maudlin
Alyssa Mormile
Matthew Nguyen
Madelyn Price
Olivia Pruden
Sydney Sabourin
Kaya Suraci
Ashutosh Thapa
Aaron Tolberd
Sophia Van Beek
Jaz Wacker

Larry Lee Sleizer Scholarship

Herman and Rose Sleizer endowed this scholarship in memory of their son, Larry Lee Sleizer, with the hope that supporting many future generations of students would serve as a fitting memorial to his name.

Ayden Erickson
Avery Greenwood
Avery Hallum
Willa Hoey
Eleanor Hoffman
Katherine Hoffman
Kendall Imus
Diego Irias
Allison Jones
Alexis Lewis
Julia Lofqvist Traum
Evan Maudlin
Kaitlin Medina
Matthew Nguyen
Madelyn Price
Sydney Sabourin
Kaya Suraci
Jackson Sutton
Sophia Van Beek

Faye Wilson Scholarship

This scholarship is made possible through the generosity of Faye Wilson, who directed that a portion of her estate be used by the UW Department of History to assist outstanding undergraduates with tuition costs.