Winesett Awards for Library Research winners honored
The 2017 winners of the Winesett Awards for Library Research were announced and honored in McConnell Library on April 28.
Funded by the Hazel Grove Winesett Endowment and administered by the Radford University Foundation, the awards are made annually at the end of the spring semester to recognize the academic year’s most creative and original library research by undergraduate students.
Top prizes are granted to the students whose projects best illustrate the use of McConnell Library’s tools and available resources.
Upper division winners (juniors and seniors):
- Sidney Green for “Unmasking agony,” nominated by Professor Amy Rubens
- Lizzy Kunde for “The effect of Russian nationalism on the emulation of foreign musical styles: An analysis of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker Ballet and Pkofiev’s Cinderella,” nominated by Robert Glarner
Lower division winners (freshmen and sophomores):
- Josh Hessing for “Perceptions effect change,” nominated by Professor Catelin Turman
- Julia Kell for “Political correctness is hurting comedy,” nominated by Professor Guy Axtell
Winesett Awards for Library Research winners and finalists stand with Joe Scartelli (left), and Steve Helm (center), dean of McConnell Library.
Finalists:
- James “Brandon” Dunford for “The caste system in India,” nominated by Professor Kay Jordan
- Regan Chancellor for “A case study of Isabella Stewart Gardner: Of the modern gothic,” nominated by Professor Carlee Bradbury
- Caroline Keevey for “Correlation of psychological state of mind and violence in interpersonal relationships,” nominated by Professor Jason Watson
- Amanda Mills for “Prison nurseries: A rehabilitation method,” nominated by Professor Katherine Smith
- Courtney Ward for “Representation of African American men in advertising within the shoe industry,” nominated by Professor Jane Manchin
Honorary Distinction:
- Rachel Jones for “Crossing the line: Adolescent driving safety concerns for Dinwiddie County,” nominated by Professor Margaret Bassett
In 2017, the Winesett Awards for Library Research included a special honor for Radford University student Rachel Jones, who was injured in a car accident earlier in the semester.
“Nursing student Rachel Jones had planned to submit an application for these awards, but due to the car accident, was unable to do so," said Candice Benjes-Small, head of Information Literacy and Outreach. "The judges found her completed paper worthy of distinction and it will be published permanently in the library’s archives.”
Joe Scartelli, interim provost and vice president of Academic Affairs, delivered the keynote speech as the 2017 Library Champion.
“We really are proud of you and thank you for your work and effort, as well as the faculty mentors that you’ve had. There’s an integrity to real research and a critical need for it in our society. It’s no small task in which you are engaging,” Scartelli said. “You are in the right place at the right time doing the right thing. I congratulate the award recipients and the honorees.”
Hessing, one of the lower division winners, said the award “reaffirmed” his writing. “It’s a good reminder that my writing means something and my paper and time I put in was worth it,” he said.
Kunde said that the award was “really validating.”
“Coming from the College of Visual and Performing Arts, other than performances, we’re often forgotten about. Being able to put research out there that people enjoyed and found meaning in is incredible,” Kunde said.
The annual library research contest was named in honor of 1938 alumna Hazel Winesett, a lifelong educator from Pulaski who was remembered as a woman with a warm and modest heart who loved to travel. On her death in 2002, Winesett left the McConnell Library an $820,000 endowment, the largest such gift to-date that the library has received.
Her gift allowed the library to implement many projects, including the Winesett awards. In addition to the annual library research award contest, the Winesett endowment has been used to help fund numerous initiatives, such as expanding resources, upgrading furnishings and equipment and establishing the McConnell Library Archives and Special Collections' annual Winesett Book Collecting Contest.
Copies of this year's prize-winning papers will be permanently housed in the McConnell Library University Archives and can be digitally accessed online from the Winesett Awards for Library Research Collection.
A reception followed the announcement of the winners.