Hannah Peckham ’23 and Ph.D. student Ella Hadacek win the History Department's prizes for outstanding scholarship by a graduate student
The History Department has awarded its two prizes for outstanding written work in 2023–24 by a graduate student. Below are the winners and the justification given by the prize committees. (Past Winners)
(1) The John Highbarger Memorial Award for the best doctoral dissertation
Hannah M. Peckham (Pre-Award Program Manager, Notre Dame Research, University of Notre Dame), “American Outposts: Rethinking U.S. Higher Education Abroad, 1908-1972”
“Hannah Peckham’s dissertation is an outstanding piece of historical research and writing. Spanning the greater part of the twentieth century, it traces the growth and transformation of the loose network of American Protestant colleges and universities in Asia and the Middle East. Drawing on a rich base of archival and published sources, Peckham explores how these schools evolved from the eve of the First World War to the 1970s. Overseas, the schools’ campuses were buffeted by two world wars, the communist revolution in China, the Cold War, and decolonization, while at home, the institutions supporting them in the United States confronted profound shifts in religious life, higher education, and the role of government in American society. Founded in the nineteenth century to spread the sectarian religious teachings of diverse Protestant churches, they developed into instruments of US cultural diplomacy in the service of promoting American-style liberal democracy. Peckham’s elegantly written and cogently argued dissertation unpacks this complex history and tells a convincing overarching story about the American university and its role in the modern world.”
(2) The Vincent P. DeSantis Prize for the best unpublished paper
Ella Hadacek, “‘Our Joan of Arc, Margaret Haley’: Gender, Union Busting, and the Fear of Catholic Power in the Loeb Affair, 1915-1917”
“This paper examines the efforts of women teachers in the Chicago Public Schools to Unionize and join the Chicago Federation of Labor at the turn of the last century. The author expertly weaves together the histories of gender, religion, and nineteenth-century Irish immigration to shed light on an old story in surprising and compelling new ways. The paper is based on research in newspapers, and archival records, and deftly integrates this research into a thorough and competent presentation of the views and contributions of other scholars. It is a model piece of work.”
Originally published by history.nd.edu on October 14, 2024.
atLatest Research
- Notre Dame Law School's Exoneration Justice Clinic welcomes new legal fellowNotre Dame Law School’s Exoneration Justice Clinic (EJC) has recently hired a new full-time legal fellow, Matt Binder. Initially, Matt will be working on all EJC cases, but he will eventually focus…
- Q&A with Arun Agrawal, Sustainability Initiative director and new Keough School faculty memberThe University of Notre Dame recently announced the appointment of Arun Agrawal, a renowned scholar of environmental politics and sustainable development, as the inaugural director of the Just Transformations to Sustainability…
- Summer NDnano opportunities give undergraduate students in-depth research experienceNotre Dame Nanoscience and Technology (NDnano) welcomed 21 students to campus over the summer as part of the NDnano Undergraduate Research Fellowship (NURF) program. The 2024 cohort included students from the University of Notre Dame, Purdue University, Ball State…
- de Nicola Center presents 24th annual Fall Conference, “Ever Ancient, Ever New: On Catholic Imagination”More than 1,200 scholars, students, and guests from around the world registered to attend the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture’s 24th annual Fall Conference, “Ever Ancient, Ever New: On Catholic Imagination.” The conference, which begins Thursday, October 31, and concludes on November 2, will feature more than 175 papers, panels, and performances across three days of conversation on the enduring and inexhaustible nature of the Catholic imagination.
- Ethical leadership program unites MENA innovators for regional prosperity and collaborationThis summer, innovative leaders from the Middle East and North Africa gathered together at the University of Notre Dame’s campus to partake…
- Berthiaume Institute announces 2024 Technology Development Fund awardeesThe Berthiaume Institute for Precision Health at the University of Notre Dame has announced the awardees of its Technology Development Fund for 2024. Four projects received funding, each of which aims to enhance a key area of knowledge at the frontier of science and engineering for health. …