Outstanding Graduate Student Awards Announced at UA

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama Graduate School has announced the recipients of the 2011 Outstanding Graduate Student awards to be presented during UA Honors Week, April 3-8.

Dr. John Schmitt, associate dean of the UA Graduate School, coordinates the awards process and said that three committees reviewed nominations from the University’s colleges and schools.

From those students who had won an award in their respective college or school, the University committees selected the winners of the seven University-wide awards. Committees of faculty emeriti selected the winners of the awards for outstanding thesis and outstanding dissertation. A faculty committee from the Graduate Council chose the winners of the five teaching, research and service awards.

The committees selected the following award winners:

Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation – Dr. John Latta, College of Communication and Information Sciences, department of journalism, for “The River God as a Necessary Horizon: Myths of Origin as Hegemonic Influences in Feature News Journalism.” His dissertation chairperson is Dr. Shuhua Zhou, associate dean for graduate studies and professor of journalism. Latta’s dissertation is a study of underlying narrative assumptions that shape American feature news stories.

Outstanding Master’s Thesis – Benjamin J. Hollars, College of Arts and Sciences, English department, for “Thirteen Loops: Race, Violence and the Last Lynching in America.” His thesis chairperson is Dr. Michael Martone, professor of English. This thesis is the second publication by Hollars and is considered “a hybrid of investigative journalism, history, the novel and the memoir,” the faculty nomination noted. The creative, nonfiction work will be published by the UA Press.

Excellence in Teaching by a Master’s Student – Christopher Thawley, College of Arts and Sciences, department of biological sciences. He has been described as an “absolutely outstanding” classroom instructor.  Students recognized Thawley for facilitating their learning and providing a high level of one-on-one assistance designed to help them learn. Thawley also worked in the lab of Dr. Leslie Rissler on the genetics and bioclimatic modeling of two invasive frog species.

Excellence in Teaching by a Doctoral Student – Skye Cooley, College of Communication and Information Sciences, department of communication studies. He has received accolades from the students he has taught in three different course areas, and faculty describe his teaching as superbly organized, dedicated, effective and highly enthusiastic. More than half of the students who rated his teaching skills judged him to be the best instructor they have ever had.

Excellence in Research by a Master’s Student – Daniel A. Mullins, College of Arts and Sciences, department of anthropology, receives the award for what faculty in his department describe as an “outstanding volume and quality” of research work. Mullins conducted extensive research in South India centered on cognitive science of religion in relation to the Minimal Counterintuitiveness theory. He independently executed this research, along with receiving Oxford University’s Clarendon Scholarship.

Excellence in Research by a Doctoral Student – Brittany G. Travers, College of Arts and Sciences, department of psychology, for her research on autism spectrum disorders. Her work includes numerous convention presentations, three published articles, two published chapters, two manuscripts under review and four journal submissions in preparation. Travers was recognized for her work on the cognitive neuroscience of motor functioning in autism at the International Meeting for Autism Research.

Outstanding Service by a Graduate Student – Abigayl M. Perelman, College of Arts and Sciences, department of psychology. She has mentored students and volunteered with the Betty Shirley Clinic as a therapist; the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program; the Federal Court; UAH campus, developing crisis counseling; the Alabama Department of Corrections; the UA Law and Psychology Review; and the Salvation Army. She is described as a person of social conscience, one who uses professional principles with a commitment to people in multiple communities.