Five students have won 2019-2020 University Libraries Undergraduate Research Awards
The students were selected for top prizes by a ten-member review panel made up of Libraries faculty and teaching faculty from across campus. The winners received prize packages that included a monetary award, a personalized award certificate, and University Libraries branded items that support the study experience.
This year’s winners are:
Garnet track (juniors and seniors)
First Place $500, Kylee Yturralde, a rising first-year medical student in the Baccalaureus Artium et Scientiae - MD
(Bachelor of Arts and Sciences - MD) program, for “Dr. Julius Hallervorden's Role
in Nazi ‘Euthanasia’,” for her South Carolina Honors College senior research thesis.
Saskia Coenen Snyder, Department of History, is the supporting faculty.
Second Place $400, Azalfa Lateef, a graduating senior and biochemistry major, for “Startle Response in Women with
the FMR1 Premutation and Risk for Anxiety Disorders,” for her Magellan research project
and South Carolina Honors College senior research thesis. Jessica Klusek, Arnold School
of Public Health, is the supporting faculty.
Third Place $300, Savannah Bagwell, a rising senior and history major, for “Hilde Bruch: Life, Contributions, and Legacy,”
a research paper for History 300, Introduction to the History Major: the Historian’s
Craft. Jessica Elfenbein, Department of History, is the supporting faculty.
Honorable Mention $150, Michael Christian, a rising senior and political science major, for“Viking Economies and Capitalism:
From Fifty AD to the End of the Viking Age,” for History 369, History of Capitalism
1: Ancient and Medieval World. Adam Schor, Department of History, is the supporting
faculty.
Black track (freshmen and sophomores)
Top Prize $150, Taylor Dorsey, a rising sophomore and business management major, for “Incarcerated,” for English
102, Rhetoric and Composition. Florencia Cornet, Trio Programs, is the supporting
faculty.
The University Libraries Undergraduate Research Awards reward excellence in undergraduate use of library resources and services, and demonstrate the contribution of the Libraries to student learning. They highlight the value of information literacy by requiring students to describe their research process as part of the application procedure, and encourage faculty to create assignments that engage students in the use of library resources. Since the start of the awards 13 years ago, 45 students have been recognized with more than $16,500 in monetary prizes.
To be eligible to win, applications must be received by the annual deadline and include:
- Application form
- 500-700 words describing their research process and use of library collections, resources and services
- Letter of support from a faculty member
- Final version of the research project
- Bibliography of all sources consulted
The winners will contribute their projects to Scholar Commons, the institutional repository to preserve, collect and disseminate the research and scholarship of the University of South Carolina.
Read more information about the USC Libraries’ Undergraduate Research Award, including past winners.