The annual Wyndham Robertson Library Undergraduate Research Awards spotlight exemplary student research projects completed in Hollins courses. The research projects showcase extensive and creative usage of the library’s resources; the ability to synthesize those resources in completing the project; and growth in the student’s research skills.

The awards feature a cash prize of $300 for winners and $100 for finalists.

The 2023 winners are:

• Hailee Brandt ’25 in the First-Year/Sophomore category for The Forced Effeminization of Male Chinese Immigrants and the Consequences of This Process, recommended by Ruth Alden Doan Assistant Professor of History Christopher Florio;
• Elizabeth Klein ’23 in the Junior/Senior category for Jewish Pioneers in the Service of Christian Whiteness in the 19th-Century American West, also recommended by Florio.

This year’s finalists include:

• Ari Cogswell ’26, Sylvia Guillet ’26, and Alyssa Lawhorn ’26 in the First-Year/Sophomore category;
• Mars McLeod ’23, Paramita Vadhahong Painter ’23, and Caylin Wigger ’23 in the Junior/Senior category.

The Undergraduate Research Awards are cosponsored by the library and the Office of Academic Affairs. This year’s judges were Assistant Professor of Psychology Seung-Hee Han; Assistant Professor of Film Nathan Lee; Professor of Art Emerita Kathleen Nolan; Library Student Assistant Milo Ramirez Pacheco ’25; Director of the Writing Center Brent Stevens; and University Librarian Luke Vilelle.