The College Writing Program recently celebrated the 2024 winners and finalists of the James E. McLeod First-Year Writing Prize.
The award, given to one student in Arts & Sciences and one student in another undergraduate division, recognizes meaningful research related to race, gender and identity. It is named after McLeod, who served as vice chancellor for students and dean of Arts & Sciences before his death in 2011, and who encouraged students to connect intellectual endeavors with their own lived experiences.
Lydia Marie Pita, a sophomore majoring in environmental studies, won first prize in Arts & Sciences for her research on queer representation in postapocalyptic media, focusing on the 2023 HBO series “The Last of Us.” Amelie Maltz and Alex Bonham Walsh, both students at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, jointly won the other first prize award. Maltz wrote about environmental racism and park disparities along the Delmar Divide, and Walsh studied gender in modern children’s media.
Kate Theerman Rodriguez, in Arts & Sciences, and Astrid Burns, who is studying in the Beyond Boundaries program, were named runners-up. Myla McGhee, in Arts & Sciences, received an honorable mention.
Read more about the prize and winners on the Ampersand webpage.
