Awards

Honoring Outstanding Student Achievement

The next round of scholarship applications will appear in the CSAS portal on Nov. 1, 2023. The deadline to apply is Feb. 1, 2024. Click here to apply!

History Awards 2023

The George & Agnes Heltai Award in History: Anna Walter

The Heltai award is presented annually to the graduating senior whose academic achievement in their discipline merits the highest distinction. This award honors Dr. George G. Heltai, Professor in the department of History from 1967 to 1986, and Mrs. Heltai, his wife, for their devotion to the students, the faculty, and the intellectural and cultural life of the College. It is a gift from Dr. Malcolm Clark, Professor of History Emeritus.

Anna Walter - A member of the Honors College, with two majors in history and international studies. Anna has a distinguished academic record, which includes a SURF-grant funded summer research project that led to a peer-reviewed article co-authored with Professor Cara Delay in New Hibernia Review. Anna received a scholarship to study abroad in Florence, Italy in spring 2022, where she studied Italian motherhood, Renaissance women's clothing, and sumptuary laws. Most of her research at CofC has focused on Irish women's history in the twentieth century with an emphasis on pregnancy and birth. She has analyzed Irish women's reproductive storytelling in the past and present and has asked how emotions such as trust and betrayal affected reproductive women's interpersonal relationships.

The Douglas & Elizabeth Clark Memorial Scholarship: Allison Morris

The Clark Scholarship is awarded to a rising junior or senior selected on the basis of academic excellence.

Allison Morris - Allison is pursuing an AB degree (with expectations in advanced work in both Latin and Greek), with two majors in History and English: Creative Writing and two minors in Women and Gender Studies and African American Studies. She has a very high GPA.

Alexander C. Dick Endowed Scholarship in Pre-Law: Abraham Valero

This award is presented to a student with a serious interest in attending law school. The student must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.4 or higher, and possess all the attributes that go into making an outstanding member of the law profession.

Abraham Valero - Abraham is a double major in History and Political Science, with a minor in Russian Studies. With interest in public service and politics, Abraham has been interning for Senator Tim Scott for the past year. This summer he is taking a Maymester course that will take him to Poland, Germany, The Netherlands to explore Nazi Holocaust.

The William Moultrie Cup: Jordyn Spraker

The Rebecca Motte Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution presents this cup and certificate to a History major in recognition of excellence in advanced study in American History.

Jordyn Spraker - Jordyn graduated last December with a major in History, minors in Hospitality and Tourism and Women and Gender Studies. This award comes as recognition of the superior research project she did in Professor Ingram’s fall research seminar. Jordyn analyzed American Childbirth Practices since 1900, exploring how the increased regulation and criminalization of midwifery, especially black midwives have limited birthing choice for women and led to material health disparities.

Robert Hartman Quasi-Endowed Scholarship in History: Dystinee Lyons and Caroline Peters

This honor is awarded to a rising sophomore or junior History major with a GPA of 3.0 or higher.

Dystinee Lyons - Dystinee is pursuing two degrees: an AB degree with History as major and a BS with major in Anthropology, and minors in Medical Humanities and Linguistic. To complete her studies while maintaining her high GPA, she will have to stay beyond the 4 years covered by grants, so we are glad to help.

Caroline Peters - Caroline is a major in History with a minor in Political Science. She maintains a very high GPA while working full time to pay for school beyond the state grants and loans she is receiving.

John Winthrop Study Abroad Scholarship in History: Madison McKnight

This scholarship is awarded to History majors with clearly articulated plans for how study abroad will further their educational goals. The scholarship is named after John Winthrop, who established the Winthrop Roundtable in 1989. It is now run by the Friends of the Library at the College of Charleston and has featured speakers just as Secretary of State John Kerry; journalist Cokie Roberts, and Senator Ernest F. Hollings. As the Friends of the Library took financial responsibility of the Winthrop Roundtable in 2016, John Winthrop has requested that the remaining in the Roundtable Endowment be converted to a history study abroad endowed scholarship to benefit students majoring in history – a passion of Mr. Winthrop’s – to have study abroad experiences they may not otherwise be able to enjoy due to financial circumstances.

Madison McKnight - Madison is a member of the Honors College and pursues two majors, in History and International Studies, and a minor in Spanish. She will spend an entire year at the University of Stirling, in one of the best-preserved medieval cities in Scotland. The location will enable her to study the 1603 Union of the Crowns, which brought Scotland into the UK. In preparation, she is completing an IS with Dr. Coy.

The Albert R. Simonds Special Merit Award in History: Francesca Gibson

The Simonds Award is presented to a rising senior in History selected on the basis of academic excellence.

Francesca Gibson - Francesca is an Honors College member who is pursuing two degrees: BA in History and BS in Psychology. She combined her interests in a SURF funded research project with Dr Coy on witch-hunts in Early modern England. This work was featured on the COFC podcast and accepted for publication by the Columbia Journal of History. Francesca also received a recognition for beset paper at the Phi Alpha Theta conference we hosted earlier this spring.

Outstanding History Student Award: Katie Gardner

This honor is presented to the graduating student with the highest GPA in the Department of History.

Katie Gardner - Katie is majoring in History and minoring in Spanish. She completed an internship in Fall 2022 with Magnolia Plantation. She has had a formidable, if quiet, intellectual presence in each of the 12 history classes she has taken.

Outstanding History Student Service Award: Micah Shull

This certificate is awarded to students with minimum GPAs of 3.5, with service to the Department of History.

Micah Shull - A history major with a minor in Jewish Studies, Micah is the president of the History Club and part of the Honors College. Utilizing his fluency in Hebrew, he completed a Bachelor’s Essay with Professor Phyllis Jestice, studying Christian-Jewish interactions in medieval Europe. Having taken a record number of 15 history courses, he has maintained an almost perfect GPA in the discipline. A dedicated student of history, he has been a long-serving member of the History Club, playing a leadership role as vice-president and now president of this student organization, deservedly earning the Outstanding History Student Service Award. In early 2022 he was inducted in the National History Honors Society, Phi Alpha Theta. He has taken full advantage of the opportunities opened by this membership, by presenting his work at the last two regional conferences. Most recently, in April 2023 he presented his BE research at COFC EXPO and the History Department’s annual Student Colloquium and Awards ceremony. His academic excellent and research potential have won him an acceptance in University of Edinburgh’s MA program, where will continue his studies in Medieval History.

HSS Scholars Award in History:

The School of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) Scholars Awards Ceremony is an annual event that celebrates the top two students in each of the 11 undergraduate major programs within HSS.

2023 - Micah Shull and Anna Walter

2022 - Kennedy Caldwell and Lilly Fair

2021 - Jonathan Dattilio and Irene Pasquino

2020 - Elizabeth Burgher and Hillary Clark

2019 - Morgan Byars and Mills Pennebaker

2018 - Carolyn Dorey and Grace Hall

2017 - Hannah Edwards and Cora Wright

2016 - Anthony Gaspar and Madeleine Ware

2015 - Clerc Cooper and Benjamin Schaffer

2014 - Edgar Chopper Johnson and Danielle Winter

2013 - Amber Grace Joyner and Joseph Michael Bradshaw

2012 - Cassandra Hope Falk and Mary Hoyle