Commencement 2021
2021 History Department Diploma Ceremony
Commencement Weekends took place May 14-16 and 20-23. Congratulations to our graduate and undergraduate degree recipients!
Congratulations to our 2021 Graduates
June 15, 2021
View the 2021 diploma ceremony on YouTube.
Class of 2021 History Majors:
- Joshua McColl Allon
- Phanawat Ayanaputra
- Nicole Babkowski
- Forrest Emerson Burnham
- Jessica Chang
- Jordan Paul Clement
- Erin Dietrick
- Andrew Scott Dyen-Shapiro
- Shivi Gunawardane
- Edward Hock
- Ryan Holmes
- Hannah Marie Jaques
- Kaylee Kisselburgh
- Jesse Klauber
- Leonard Koblence
- Elaine Kupets
- Eleanor Eriko Tsuchiya Lenoe
- Peter Love
- Alyssa Nelson
- Sakhile Bafana Ntshangase
- Alma Petras
- Navid Sadjadi
- Hernan Sanchez Garcia
- Max Stern
- Samantha Torrellas
- Micaela Wallace
- Matthew Wheeler
- Ada Wightman
- Akeem Williams
Class of 2021 History Minors:
- Kelsey Bartlett
- Liam Bethlendy
- Sarah Boches
- Cathal Brannigan
- Grace Conheady
- Daniel Drury
- Qiyue He
- Maya Lippard
- Katya Mueller
- Mazid Muhit
- Hannah O’Connor
- Joshua Radin
- Ximena Reyes Torres
- Lucas Shapiro
- Matthew Trevisani
- Miranda Vasso
- Faviola Velazquez
- Hayden Williams
Undergraduate Prizes and Awards in History
Wilson Coates Senior Honors Essay Award in History
To the senior student who has written the best senior essay in the department this year.
Eleanor Eriko Tsuchiya Lenoe
“The Aum Affair: Censorship, Scholarship, and the Mass Media in Japanese Reactions to Terrorism”
N.B. Ellison Prize
To the members of the senior class concentrating in history who have done the best work in the department.
Eleanor Eriko Tsuchiya Lenoe and Alma Petras
History Seminar Prize
To the History major who has written the best HIS 300W level Seminar Paper.
Ellie Wasson “Slain for the Word of God: The Apocalyptic Beliefs of the Branch Davidians in Waco”
Eugene H. Webb Prize
To the undergraduate student who has done the best work in a course dealing with the Black experience in America.
Arul Malhotra
Herbert Lawrence Sadinsky Memorial Prize
To the best undergraduate history paper on an aspect of World War II.
Jessica Chang “Iris Chang and the Remembrance of Nanjing Massacre”
Hugh Mackenzie Memorial Prize
To the first-year women who have shown the highest achievement and interest in a history course, and to the first-year women who have shown the greatest improvement in a history course.
Amna Arain, Clare Bacak, Isabella Kelly, and Nadia Morales
Christopher Lasch Fellow in History
Each year, the department invites a select group of senior History majors to become Christopher Lasch Fellows. Lasch Fellows enroll in the demanding graduate level course Problems in Historical Analysis during the fall semester of their senior year.
Eleanor Eriko Tsuchiya Lenoe, Alyssa Nelson, and Alma Petras
Phi Beta Kappa
Ada Wightman
Phi Alpha Theta
Nicole Babkowski, Hannah Jaques, Alyssa Nelson, Ada Wightman
Congratulations to our Honors Program participants!
The Colloquium held on May 3, 2021, was the culmination of this year's Honors program and proof of the innovative historical research being carried out by our students.
Honors Students and Papers
Edward Hock
“Shadows and Delusions: The ‘Indian Burial Ground’ Superstition”
Abstract: A hallmark of horror cinema, campfire ghost stories, and bad omens in general, the “Indian burial ground” superstition emerged in something resembling its modern form during the early 1970s and has been a staple of American suburban folklore ever since. The central idea of the myth is malleable but distinctive: the presence of an “Indian burial ground” beneath white picket fence America holds the power to bring bad luck, produce supernatural phenomena, and/or cause unsuspecting non-Native people to become violent or murderous toward one another. The superstition is fundamentally married to the world of seventies and eighties horror, but it has proven resilient in the decades since, and it engages with powerful questions about place, indigeneity, colonialism, and violence that have been present in the American zeitgeist for centuries. My history honors thesis, Shadows and Delusions: The “Indian Burial Ground” Superstition, evaluates portrayals of indigenous grave sites in film, fiction, and academic literature throughout American history to understand the contemporary burial ground superstition, the issues it raises, and what it is to live on stolen land.
Kaylee Kisselburgh
“The Networks that United a Nation: British Innovation, British Designs, and the Making of Indian Identity, 1847-1947”
Abstract: Popular opinion commonly credits leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi, and Muhammad Ali Jinnah with the success of the Indian Nationalist Movement in 1947. However, these men would never have been able to achieve their goals without the construction of British technologies. During the 19th century, Governor-General, Lord Dalhousie, implemented a number of initiatives to improve India’s infrastructure including the creation of India’s railway and telegraph systems. These tools were meant to exert more control over the subcontinent by expanding their economic and military reach. However, the British did not account for how increasing mobility and communication would allow people from all over India to meet and share their ideas. This proved essential for the Indian Independence Movement because it led to the creation of a shared community. Before the British, the Indian subcontinent had never been culturally connected. British colonization and “improvements” gave the people of India a common enemy and tools to fight their oppression. Through the use of newspapers and early nationalist writings, this paper will strive to answer the question: how did the telegraph and railway ultimately unite the Indian people, create a shared Indian identity, and lead to the success of the Indian nationalist movement?
Elanor Eriko Tsuchiya Lenoe
“The Aum Affair: Censorship, Scholarship, and the Mass Media in Japanese Reactions to Terrorism”
Abstract: Despite the fact that Aum Shinrikyō’s 1995 sarin gas attack occurred in Tokyo, Japan, there are significantly fewer publications on the incident in Japanese than in English. Further, Japanese scholars and mass media treat the Aum Affair much differently than do their English-language counterparts: instead of investigating cultural or societal factors that caused Aum Shinrikyō’s rise and turn to violence, Japanese authors tend to focus on internal explanations, such as Aum’s use of brainwashing techniques, leaving any criticism of the Japanese government’s slow response to Aum out. Japanese scholars’ and journalists’ relative silence regarding the root causes of the Aum Affair points to a greater issue. Through an in-depth analysis of developments in Japanese scholarship and mass media reactions to Aum Shinrikyō, I suggest that the government’s relationship with the Japanese press resulted in news coverage that favorably portrayed the government’s response to the affair while condemning religious studies scholars for failing to warn the public about Aum’s dangers. This resulted in widespread self-censorship within the study of religion and a climate where both mainstream reporters and scholars shied away from deeper discussions about the societal problems that resulted in Aum Shinrikyō’s rise in the first place. These issues include a widespread mental health crisis, the sensationalism of news, and a culture of overwork. The lack of discussion on these issues also meant that journalists and scholars overlooked the ominous signs that trouble may be ahead, including teenage fangirls of Aum Shinrikyō and the rise of Aum’s splinter groups.
Alyssa Nelson
“Atonement and Reconciliation: Germany’s Path in Moving Forward with its Past”
Abstract: As Germany reunified in 1990, a new, national identity was established in reaction to their chaotic twentieth century past. Part of this identity was national memorial projects for citizens and tourists to learn about this appalling past. In my research, I focus on two of these national projects in the Memorial of the Murdered Jews of Europe and the Berlin Wall Bernauer Straβe Memorial. Both memorials are in Berlin and continue to be important monuments for the German people. I argue that Germany needed to acknowledge its horrific Nazi past to become a responsible, respected country. The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe stands as the central Holocaust memorial, and it serves as an impactful example of striving to atone. In another German remembrance theme, reconciliation is at the forefront of the Berlin Wall Bernauer Straße Memorial. The creators of this memorial fought for reconciliation by always striving for an agreement in design and collective identity. Memorialization was at the forefront of these conversations, and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe and the Berlin Wall Bernauer Straße Memorial are powerful symbols of a nation atoning for its horrifying past while reconciling its future. My methods to this research project included studying abroad in Berlin during the summer of 2019, researching newspaper articles reacting to the memorials, reading several historical books and journals about the Holocaust and the Divided Berlin Era, and examining photographs and videos of the memorials.
Alma Petras
“The Economic and Social Impact of HIV/AIDS on Female Sex Workers in Kenya”
Abstract: My history honors thesis addresses the question of how HIV/AIDS affected the lives of female sex workers in Kenya. To understand this impact, it is necessary to first understand the history of Kenyan women within the economy, the history of female sex workers as a marginalized and criminalized community, and, finally, the entire HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa. A discussion of these three topics reveals that, by 1984, when HIV/AIDS was officially announced as an epidemic in Kenya, female sex workers were perfectly poised to take-on the brunt of HIV/AIDS discrimination, blame, and economic loss. However, the virus also gave rise to a new generation of sex worker advocates whose human rights organizations have become internationally recognized. My thesis relies on both primary (such as interviews, HIV/AIDS posters, and Kenyan laws) and secondary sources authored by specialists in African history and sociology. Ultimately, with these sources, I hope to provide historical agency to a community that is underappreciated for the phenomenal accomplishments it has made despite a history of abuse and discrimination.
Samantha Torrellas
“Elizabeth Bentley and Judith Coplon: The Effects of Cold War Gender Roles on the Perception of Women Spies”
Abstract: The Cold War created an atmosphere of fear and distrust amongst United States citizens. However, despite this overwhelming fear, women spies in the United States were rarely legally prosecuted. This research project will focus on women spies during the Cold War considering the time's gender expectations. There are a plethora of women spies on both sides of the conflict during the Cold War that receive less attention than their male counterparts. Notable female spies that will receive deserved focus include Elizabeth Bentley, an American spy who defected from the Communist Party to work with the FBI. Her childhood under rigid education to be a chaste and virtuous woman pushed her towards espionage. Judith Coplon was a female spy that was intercepted during her time working for the US Department of Justice. Despite the overwhelming evidence against her, she overturned a conviction due to misuse of wiretaps. The media was enthralled by her trial and her story due to her gender. Both women created a media frenzy and helped define the conversation around women spies. A large amount of literature exists concerning each woman, however, they have yet to be considered in the larger context of gender expectations in the Cold War. Focusing on the American landscape, my thesis will consider the narrative surrounding women’s actions and their trials through the Cold War societal lens. The research I am conducting is looking at the language in trial transcripts, periodicals, and FBI documents, connecting this to the larger Cold War gender conversation. My overall sources consist mainly of biographies for each woman and discussions of women’s expectations during the period.
View a video of the Undergraduate Honors Colloquium Ceremony.
Graduate Degrees
MA Awarded:
- Claire Becker
- Daniel McDermott
- Brandon Pachman
- Sarabeth Rambold
- Kevin Sapere
PhD Awarded:
- Andrew Kless—“Infighting on the Front: The German Occupation of Poland, 1914-1915”
- Lyle Rubin—“The Invisible Left Hand: Adam Smith and the Liberal Socialist Tradition in America, 1776 to 1926”
Graduate Prizes and Awards in History
Harkins Prize: Justin Grossman
A prize in memory of William F. Harkins Jr. to a graduate student who has written the best seminar paper.
Donald Marks “Dexter Perkins” Prize: Claire Becker and Sarabeth Rambold
To perpetuate the name of Dexter Perkins and to encourage and assist a worthy student in their cultural and intellectual development.
Meyers Graduate Teaching Prize: Rhianna Gordon
To a graduate student who has excelled in teaching.
David Bruce Parker Memorial Prize: Marissa Crannell-Ash
To the graduate student who best represents the dedication and courage which characterized David’s participation in the graduate program.
Dorothy Rosenberg-Passer Fellowship: Katelyn P. Getchel
For the support of a graduate student pursuing a Master’s degree.
Lina and A. William Salomone Prize: Alyssa Rodriguez
To the graduate student who has done outstanding work in Modern European history.
Willson Havelock Coates Book Award: Ania Michas
To the graduate student having among other qualifications, a conspicuous gift for historical imagination and the capacity for sustained and accurate research (in British history, European intellectual history, or philosophy of history).
Aida DiPace Donald Fellowship: Justin Grossman and Kevin Sapere
To support graduate fellowships in American History
University Commencement
For more information on commencement visit the University of Rochester Commencement page.
Graduation Photo Collection
To view the entire 2021 graduation photo collection.