Previous Student Research Award Winners
2023 Recipients
Valerie B. Edmonds Student Research Award
- Allison Whitehead, Winner “Income-Based Policies for Reducing Poverty in Macon, GA” LPP 401 (Senior Research Seminar), with Dr. Lori Johnson as faculty support
- Daniel Stein, Runner-up “A La Mode: French Immigrants’ Influence on the Culture of Art in Early Augusta” HIS 295 (Historians Craft), with Dr. Matt Harper as faculty support
2022 Recipients
Valerie B. Edmonds Student Research Award
- Amelia Patrick, Winner “India’s Gender Gap in Secondary Education: An Analysis of Cultural Factors” IAF 400 (Senior Capstone), with Dr. Eimad Houry as faculty support
- Evelyn Johnson, Runner-up “Merge and Move Out: The Cultural Homogenization of the Russian Jewish Immigrant in World War 1” HIS 495 (Senior Research Seminar), with Dr. Abigail Dowling as faculty support
- Kendall Webb, Honorable Mention “Elaine: A Forgotten Legacy” HIS 295 (Historian’s Craft), with Dr. Matt Harper as faculty support
2021 Recipients
Monroe F. Swilley, Jr. Library Student Research Award
- Jordon Beasley, Winner “Establishing a School Counselor Program Evaluation Taxonomy: Where We Are and Where We’re Going”
- Yomi Adeyeye, Runner-up “Acute Pancreatitis: Evaluation and Management Recommendations in a Critical Care Setting”
Valerie B. Edmonds Student Research Award
- Bridget Silvert, Winner “For You Are All One in Jesus Christ? White Georgia Baptists Views on the Civil Rights Movement and Martin Luther King Jr” HIS 295 (Historian’s Craft), with Dr. Matt Harper as faculty support
- William Flammer, Runner-up “German-Americans During the Kulturkampf: The Influence of German Affairs in the United States” HIS 495 (Senior Research Seminar), with Dr. Abigail Dowling as faculty support
- Isabella LeBlanc, Honorable Mention “50 Shades of Race: An Analysis of Race Relations within Antebellum New Orleans’ Americanization” HIS 495 (Senior Research Seminar), with Dr. Abigail Dowling as faculty support
2020 Recipients
Monroe F. Swilley, Jr. Library Student Research Award
- David K. Henderson. Winner
“Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: Helping Students Understand Mathematics Through Its History” - Neha Chitre. Runner-up
“Assessing the Role of Dopamine in the Differential Neurotoxicity Patterns of Stimulants”
Valerie B. Edmonds Student Research Award
- Ashley Stephens. Winner
“Fundamentalism and the Fight for Academic Freedom: The Dismissal of Dr. Henry Fox from Mercer University in 1924”
HIS 295 (Historian’s Craft), with Dr. Matt Harper as faculty support - Elisabeth Colquitt. Runner-up
“Obstructing Quality Care: Barriers Faced by Nurses When Becoming SANE Certified”
SOC 495 (Independent Research in Sociology), with Dr. Laura Simon as faculty support
2019 Recipients
Monroe F. Swilley, Jr. Library Student Research Award
- Kathleen Bazile. Winner “Exploring Social Media Use and its Relation to Body Image Concerns of Midlife and Older Women” with Dr. Tyler Wilkinson as faculty support
- Courtney Knight. Runner-up
“Cannabidiol (CBD) as a Self Care Pain Management Alternative”
PA 680 (Ambulatory Care), with Dr. Diane Nykamp as faculty support
Valerie B. Edmonds Student Research Award
- Summer Perritt. Winner
“The Georgia Civil War Centennial Commission and the Exclusion of Slavery”
HIS 295 (Historian’s Craft), with Dr. Matt Harper as faculty support - Hannah Keller. Runner-up
“‘When Conflict Became Strategy: The Marriage of Edward IV to Elizabeth Woodville”
HIS 495 (Research Seminar in History), with Dr. Sarah Gardner as faculty support
2018 Recipients
Monroe F. Swilley, Jr. Library Student Research Award
Valerie B. Edmonds Student Research Award
- Brianna Stone. Winner
“And Their Song Will Not Go Unsung: The Marginalization of Black Midwifery
in South Georgia by the Georgia Department of Public Health”
HIS 295 (Historian’s Craft), with Dr. Matt Harper as faculty support - Gabrielle Hale. Runner-up
“‘Every Student Thinks Himself a Poet’: Higher Education in the Antebellum South”
HIS 495 (Research Seminar in History), with Dr. Sarah Gardner as faculty support
No Award Recipients in 2017
2016 Recipients
Valerie B. Edmonds Student Research Award
- Gabrielle Hale. Winner
“I’ll Make a Man Out of You: Male Higher Education in the Antebellum Era as Seen Through Mercer University,”
HIS 295 (Historian’s Craft), with Dr. J. Tom Scott as faculty support - Avery White. Runner-up
“Operation Overlord: The Planning and Execution of the landings on Juno Beach,”
HIS 495 (Research Seminar in History), with Dr. J. Tom Scott as faculty support
2015 Recipients
Valerie B. Edmonds Student Research Award
- Jeremy Reardon. Winner
“‘A Kind of Terror and Despair’: Problems in Civil War Medicine,”
HIS 495 (Research Seminar in History), with Dr. J. Tom Scott as faculty support - Deanna Smith. Runner-up
“Racial Perceptions Promoted in Legislation, Media, and Marketing After the Civil War,”
HIS 495 (Research Seminar in History), with Dr. J. Tom Scott as faculty support
2014 Recipients
Valerie B. Edmonds Student Research Award
- Sony Prosper. Winner
“Principle for Peace: Atlanta Student Movement and the Shift from Racial Uplift Ideology to Democratic Leadership,”
HIS 495 (Research Seminar in History), Fall 2013, with Sarah Gardner as faculty support - Colleen Closson. Runner-up
“The Cost of Secession: Civil War Prisons in American Periodicals,”
HIS 356 (Civil War & Reconstruction), Fall 2013, with Sarah Gardner as faculty support
2013 Recipients
Valerie B. Edmonds Student Research Award
- Audrey H. Hyde. Winner
Sophie’s Choice As a Cathartic Novel: An Analysis Using the Theories of Paul Ricoeur
Written for David Davis’ English course - Brittani Howell. Runner-up
The Tough Subject: Jo’s Dual Nature in Bleak House
Written for Jonathan Glance’s English course
2012 Recipients
Valerie B. Edmonds Student Research Award
- Sean Rayburn (English). Winner
Faulkner and the Old Testament: The Thematic Skeleton of Absalom! Absalom!
Written for David Davis’ ENG 301 course - There was no Runner-up for 2012.
2011 Recipients
Valerie B. Edmonds Student Research Award
- Stephen Kearse (English). Winner
Defying Objectivity: An Exploration of Ethnocentrism in Jonah’s Gourd Vine - Laurel McCormack (International Affairs). Runner-up
Modern Religious Missions: Western Imperialism or Natural Competition?
2010 Recipients
Valerie B. Edmonds Student Research Award
- Carl Lewis (Southern Studies/Journalism & Media Studies). Winner
Thomas Nelson Page’s Cultural Theft: “Marse Chan” and “Meh Lady” as Blackface Performance - Mitch Nutt (Music). Runner-up
“Synthesizing the Divine Arts”: A Study of Gesamtkunstwerk and Its Evolution
