Ruth Murray Essay Competition Winners
Awarded for the best essay written by a University of Chicago undergraduate or graduate student in the area of women's studies, feminist criticism or gender studies.
| Year | Name/Dep't | Essay Title |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Alexandra Schuman, Undergrad, Gender Studies and History | A Foucauldian Analysis of Detention of Prostitutes During World War I |
| 2009 | Brady Smith, Grad, English | Resisting Closure: Tregedy, Femininity, and Theater After Apartheid |
| 2009 | Nitya Das, Grad, Anthropology | Changing the Subject: New Perspectives on Widow Immolation 1999-2006 |
| 2009 | Joseph Fischel, Grad, Political Science* | Per Se or Power? Age and Sexual Consent *Honorable Mention |
| 2008 | S.J. Cohen, Undergrad, History |
"When a Birth Certificate is Completed…There are Different Levels of Truth": M.T. v. J.T., in re Ladrach, and the Hidden History of Transsexual Marriage Law |
| 2008 | Alix Lerner, Undergrad, Gender Studies and History |
Gendered Witnessing: Performative Identity and the World of Spectatorship, Regulation and Authority in the Murder Trial of Ephraim Avery, 1833 |
| 2008 | John Osburg, Grad, Anthropology |
"Entertaining is My Job": Masculinity, Sexuality, and Leisure Among Chengdu's New Rich Entrepreneurs |
| 2008 | Marcia Walker, Grad, History |
A Powerful Force for Change: Addie Wyatt and the Struggles for Labor, Civil and Women's Rights, 1941-1984 |
| 2007 | Lisa Furchtgott Undergrad, History | Talking in the City: Gender, Language and the Work of Rumor in the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference, 1949-1958 |
| 2007 | Emily Remus, Grad, History | Boarding and the Borders of Domestic Authority: Home, Market, and Manhood in Working-Class Chicago, 1870-1914 |
| 2007 | Honorable Mention: Sharony Green, Grad, History |
The River is Low: Fancy Girls and the Issue of Desire Around One Domestic Slave Trader |
| 2006 | Emily Alpert Undergrad, History |
Sapphires and Welfare Queens: Black Reaganites and the Political Utility of Black Female Stereotype |
| 2006 | Katherine Turk Grad, History |
'A Fair Chance To Do My Part of Work': Black Women, War Work and Fairness at the Kingsbury Ordnance Plant, 1941-1945 |
| 2005 | Lauren Beitler Undergrad, Mathematics |
Made-Up Identities, Seizable Tools: Re-Reading Makeup How-to Articles |
| 2005 | Naomi Sobel Undergrad, Gender Studies & Jewish Studies |
Doubtful Sex, Legislated Gender: Defining, Regulating, and Theorizing Sexual Ambiguity in the Oral Torah |
| 2005 | Jennifer Vanore Grad, History |
Fitter Families for Future Firesides: Uses of Nostalgia and Normalcy in Creating an American Ethos in 1920s America |
| 2004 | J. Michael Raley Grad, History |
On the Same Basis as the Men: The Campaign to Reinstate Women Messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention, 1885-1918 |
| 2004 | Briana Benner Undergrad, Gender Studies |
Women's Bodies in South Africa's Nation-Building Discourse |
| 2004 | Lucas Alvarez Undergrad, Spanish and Gender Studies |
La heterosexualidad obligatoria y la masculinidad de la mirada queer en Hable con ella |
| 2003 | Debra Michaud Grad, History |
Victorian Ladies, Mannish Monsters, and Sexual Transgressions: The Trials of Lillian Duer and the Making of a Modern Lesbian Scandal |
| 2002 | Elizabeth Everton Undergrad, History |
A Paradox in Female Activity: Female Action and the Closing of Women's Clubs during the French Revolution |
| 2002 | Debali Mookerjea Grad, S. Asian Lang/Civ |
Jyotirmoyee Devi: Disenfranchised Bodies |
| 2001 | Rafeeq Hasan Undergrad, Philosophy |
From the Micro/scope to the Micro/phone: On Micropolitics and Collectivity in the Work of Leo Bersani |
| 2001 | Michael W. Yarbough Undergrad, Sociology |
Moving Sex: From Economy Affect in Post-Apartheid Cape Town |
| 2001 | Elizabeth Perez Grad |
Red Medicine: Women and the Politics of Ifa Divination |
| 2001 | Erica Bleeg Grad |
Traditions: Lessons of Initiation in Benin, West Africa |
| 2000 | Marie Ann Choi Undergrad, Gender Studies |
A Pornography Debate: Does the Relationship between the Exposure of Pornography and Sexual Violence against Women in the United States Warrant Government Regulation (i.e. censorship) of Pornography? |
| 2000 | Melissa Feinberg Grad, History |
The Politics of Personhood: Gender and Citizenship in the Czech Lands, 1918-1945 |
| 2000 | Veena Iyer Undergrad, History |
Eliminate Inequality, Not Women: The Contradictions of the National Campaign against Sex Determination Tests in India, 1985-1994 |
| 2000 | Emily Shelton Grad, English |
Who Framed Hannah Cullwick? Photography, Authenticity, and Anxiety in the Arthur Munby Archive |
| 1999 | Caitrin Lynch, Grad, Anthropology | The 'Good Girls' of Sri Lankan Modernity: Moral Orders of Nationalism and Capitalism |
| 1998 | Katie Hasson Undergrad |
Gender Differences in the Ways College Students Envision Their Futures |
| 1997 | Janelle S. Taylor Grad, Anthropology |
Image of Contradiction: Obstetrical Ultrasound in American Culture |
| 1997 | Elizabeth Garland Grad, Anthropology |
With Gorillas in Our Midst: Nature and Culture at the Postcolonial Zoo |
| 1997 | Rebecca K. Lee Undergrad, Public Policy |
Romantic and Electronic Stalking in a College Context |
| 1996 | Mala de Alwis Grad, Anthropology |
Gender, Politics and the 'Respectable Lady' |
| 1996 | Beth Johnson Undergrad |
second-wave feminism as an extension of the civil rights movement |
| 1994 | Anna Sophia Ivy Undergrad |
Scarecrows, Female Men, and Feminist Subjects |
| 1994 | Rebecca J. DeRoo Grad, Art History |
Cindy Sherman's Masquerade in the Untitled Film Stills: The Play of the Fetish, Femininity, and the Photograph |