The annual Iwanter Prize for Undergraduate Research recognizes graduating seniors who, through the senior thesis and general academic distinction, demonstrate outstanding humanities-based scholarship of a broad and interdisciplinary nature. This prize is made possible by a gift to the UW Foundation by Sidney E. Iwanter, an alumnus of the College of Letters & Sciences (B.A. ’71, History).
This year, the Iwanter Prize was awarded to two History majors. The first-place prize went to Matthew Strupp (B.A. ’22), whose thesis was titled Where Lies the New Moment? Wang Hui and the Retreat From Class. This thesis deals with the Chinese New Left, a group of thinkers who are critical of China’s market turn since the later 1970s.
The second-place prize went to Samantha Sharpe (B.A. ’22), whose thesis was titled A Jewish Cold War: The Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee and American Jewish Organizations, 1941-1989. Samantha’s thesis focuses on the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, which was created in the Soviet Union in 1941 to influence international public opinion and organize support for the Soviet fight against Nazi Germany.
Congratulations to both Matthew and Samantha on this great accomplishment.