This prize, established in memory of Suzanne M. Huffman, Class of 1990, is awarded annually to a certificate student in our program whose senior thesis shows a deep commitment to the dilemmas raised by feminism and an extraordinary empathy for the problems and struggles of women.
Suzanne M. Huffman died in 1991 after a yearlong battle with Hodgkin’s disease. Today, we keep her memory alive through the Huffman Prize, honoring her contributions to the University community. At Princeton, Suzanne’s accomplishments ranged from the establishment of her own jewelry business to the art classes she taught for young children. We also honor her for her senior thesis, which she wrote for the history and women’s studies (now GSS) departments. This outstanding work focused on the political radicalization of the Christian woman’s movement.
2024 Thesis Prize Recipients
- First Place co-winner: Alice McGuinness, History (Adviser: Divya Cherian) for “CARCERAL KIN: Motherhood, Personhood, and Colonial Law in Bengal c. 1860–1900”
- First Place co-winner: Mirabella Smith, Politics (Adviser: Melissa Lane) for “The Political Heterosexual Matrix - Gender and Political Office as Co-Constituting Sites of Performative Subjectivity”
Past Thesis Prize Recipients
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- First Place: ANNABELLE DUVAL, History (Adviser: Margot Canaday) for "Politics in the Clinic: Reproductive Health Services and Legal Strategies in the Association to Repeal Abortion Laws, 1966-1973"
- Second Place Co-Winner: RACHEL STURLEY, English (Adviser: Maria DiBattista) for "'The Body Intervenes': Narrating Illness at the Turn of the Twentieth Century"
- Second Place Co-Winner: WILL HUNT, Religion (Adviser: Bryan Lowe) for "'We Are All Children of God, in Case You Forgot': Reclaiming Queer Voices in Contemporary Christian Music"
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Joshua A. Babu, Molecular Biology: "Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy for Transgender Youth: Telomere Homeostasis, Psychological Wellbeing, and Barriers to Research." (First Place)
- Cammie Lee, English:
"The Entropy of Smell Theorizing a Logic of Olfaction Through the Art and Literature of Asian Women." (Second Place) - Ana C. Prange, Economics:
"The Impact of Financial Access to Abortion on Women’s Economic Outcomes: Evidence from Medicaid Coverage." (Second Place)
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2021
- Sophia Cai, Department of Politics: “Speech, Power and Identity: An Intersectional Approach to Gendered Violence Against Women in Politics.” (First Place)
- Glenna Jane Galarion, Department of Anthropology: “'Honor': Rapping and Representing Asian America.” (Second Place)
- Seoyoung Hong, School of Public and International Affairs: “Evaluating the Inclusion of Women’s Voices and Feminine Framings on Climate Change in The New York Times.” (Second Place)
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2020
- Madison P. Werthmann, Department of Sociology: “I Love My Gay Couplings! An Analysis of Online Female Readership of Queer Boys in Young Adult Literature.” (First Place)
- Aoife M. Bennett, School of Public and International Affairs: “Legalizing Abortion in Ireland: Success and Failure in The First Years of Reform.” (Second Place)
- David G. San Miguel-Tasch, Department of Psychology: “Liberating Repressed Male Femininities: A Psychological Framework for Understanding Drag Queens.” (Second Place)
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2019
- Jamie O'Leary, Department of Anthropology: “Duma Doyal Ci Maam Maryaama: Ins and Outs of Gendered Embodiment in a Senegalese Daara.” (First Place)
- Katherine Fleming, Department of History: “Borders, Bridges, And Burdens: Latinas Navigate Our Bodies, Ourselves, 1969-Present.” (Second Place)
- Feyisola Soetan, Department of Anthropology: “Princeton Stories: Political Activism Through Ethnographic Theater.” (Second Place)
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2018
- Liam D. Fitzgerald, Department of Sociology: “Queer Ingress: Constructing LGBTQI and HIV Asylum Claims in the United States Immigration System.” (First Place)
- Jessica Quinter, School of Public and International Affairs: “Mature Enough to Have a Baby, But Not an Abortion: The Rhetorical Production of Stigma in Alabama Judicial Bypass Opinions.” (Second Place)
- Miles D. Carey, Department of English: “trash mermaids a queer/ecological riff on a familiar tale.” (Third Place)
2017
- Katherine Kulke, Department of English: “Mad Science: Madness, Gender, and Scientific Discourse and in Rivka Galchen’s Atmospheric Disturbances and Blake Crouch’s Dark Matter.” (Tied for First Place)
- Colleen O’Gorman, Department of Politics: “Lessons from Emily Doe: A Survivor-Centric Approach to Sexual Assault.” (Tied for First Place)
- Nadia Diamond, Department of History: “From ‘Great City Institution’ to ‘House of Horrors’: Performance, Place, and Public Interaction with Magdalen Laundries in the Republic of Ireland, 1900- Present.” (Runner Up)
- Emilly Kraeck, Department of History: “’A Spirit in Salt Lake Valley which no Legislation Can Crush’: Polygamy, Statehood, and Woman Suffrage in Late Nineteenth-Century Utah.” (Runner Up)
- Lafayette Matthews, Department of History: “Exhibiting Difference, Constructing Norms: Gender & The American Sideshow, 1829 – 1926.” (Runner Up)
2016
- Morgan E. Young, Department of English: “The Way He Makes Me”: Authority and Negotiations of Womanhood in Contemporary Film.” (First Place)
- Nathalie Ellis-Einhorn, Department of English: “I.M. LOST! A Show About Clowns.” (Runner Up)
- Erica S. Turret, School of Public and International Affairs: “The Politics of Medicaid Expansion: A Comparison of the Policy Debates in Arizona and Texas.” (Runner Up)
- Adin S. Walker, Department of English: “If We Be Friends”: Queering the Fairy Tradition.” (Honorable Mention)
- Hannah N. Schoen, School of Public and International Affairs: “Solid Findings from the Rockies: An Evaluation of the Colorado Family Planning Initiative.” (Honorable Mention)
- Jarron D. McAllister, Department of History: “Producing the Family in Egypt: Mass Media, Family Planning, and Egypt’s Population Crisis 1977-1994.” (Honorable Mention)
- Anna C. Mazarakis, Department of Politics: “The Gender Politics of Journalism: Who Tells the Story and How It Matters.” (Honorable Mention)
2015
- Nicholas J. Williams, Department of History: “The Food Problem is Fundamental to the Welfare of the Race” The New England Kitchen, Women, and Food Science, 1890-1894." (First Place)
- Christina M. Chica, Department of Sociology: "The Globalization of LGBT Rights: A Comparative Look at Brazil and China." (Second Place)
- Rebecca E. Basaldua, Department of Politics: "Justice Untested, Crime Unsolved: An Analysis of Reported Forcible Rape to Law Enforcement, Number of Sexual Assault Kits Collected by Law Enforcement, and the Number of Sexual Assault Kits that Remain Untested in Agencies’ Storage Rooms." (Honorable Mention)
2014
- Caroline A. Kitchener, Department of History: "Provocative Behavior: Administrative Response to Campus Sexual Assault at Princeton University and the University of New Hampshire from 1986-1990.” (First Place)
- Benjamin J. Wainwright, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology: "Modeling High Priority Interventions to Reduce Aggregate Maternal and Infant Mortality in India." (Honorable Mention)
- Abby Williams, Department of English: "As its babies, so is the nation: Eugenics, Film, and the Shifting Landscape of Individualism in the Twentieth Century United States." (Honorable Mention)
- Estela B. Diaz, Department of Sociology: "Do You Feel Like A Princess? Gender and Childhood Identity Formation in Preschools." (Honorable Mention)
- Brandon A. Zamudio, Department of Politics: "Seen on Screen: Shifting Frames in Entertainment Television and Public Opinion on Gay and Lesbian Rights, 2006-2013." (Honorable Mention)
- Julia D. Festa, Sociology: "The Persistence of Poverty: A Bourdieusian Analysis of Medical Managed Care and Reproductive Health Disparities." (Honorable Mention)
- Anne S. Coventry, Department of Classics: "Hos Gunaiki Gamete: Ptolemaic Marriage Contracts and Women's Historiography." (Honorable Mention)
- Rebecca L. Newmark, Department of Anthropology: "The Fruit of Their Labor: Placentophagia and Embodied Meaning-Making Among American Women." (Honorable Mention)
2013
- Catherine K. Ettman, School of Public and International Affairs: "What Women Want: Women's Policy Preferences for Balancing Work and Family." (First Place)
- Sajda Ouachtouki, School of Public and International Affairs: "Hymens and Headscarves: The Arab Awakening and the Struggle for Sexual Dignity in Morocco and Tunisia." (Honorable Mention)
- Ashley E. Halkett, Department of Psychology: "Gender Stereotyping in Early Childhood: Knowledge, Endorsement, and Perception of Parental Attitudes." (Honorable Mention)
2012
- Lauren M. Brachman, Department of Sociology: “FYI, I’m IVF.” Making Meaning in the In Vitro Fertilization Clinic.” (First Place)
- Lydia C.C. Dallett, Department of Politics: “Combat is Best, Sister' The Integration of Women Into Israeli Combat Units.” (Honorable Mention)
2011
- Kelley Sternhagen, Department of Psychology: “Knowledge is Power: Alleviating the Negative Effects of Benevolent Sexism Through Education.” (Tied for First Place)
- Kaitlyn Janelle Hamilton, Department of Anthropology: “Reclaiming Birth After Cesarean: An Ethnographic Study of the Beliefs and Practices of Midwives in the 21st Century.” (Tied for First Place)
2010
- Elizabeth Rosen, Department of Anthropology: "Public Girls, Separate Prep: Single‐sex Public Education in New York City." (Tied for First Place)
- Suleika Jaouad, Department of Near Eastern Studies: “From the Patriarchal Family to the Patriarchal State: The ‘Woman’s Question’ in Contemporary Tunisian History.” (Tied for First Place)
2009
- Joelle Milov, Department of Art and Archeology: "Titian's Nude: A Study in Blank Form."
2008
- Larisa Baste, Department of Politics: "Vote Like an Egyptian: Islamism, Feminism, and Women of the Muslim Brotherhood."
2007
- Lauren Hedinger, Operations Research and Financial Engineering: "The Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus Vaccine: A Cost-benefit Analysis of Cervical Cancer Prevention Strategies."
2006
- Shelly Kellner, English: “Absence Breeding Autonomy: Incompetent Fathers and their Unconventional Daughters in Jane Austen's ‘Pride and Prejudice,’ ‘Emma,’ and ‘Persuasion.’”
2005
- Kathleen Coggshall, Department of English: "A Creature of Conformity: The Housewife in the Post-War American Literature of Shirley Jackson, Sylvia Plath, and Anne Sexton."
2004
- Jessica Ashlee Brondo, School of Public and International Affairs: "Family-Friendly America?: Confronting the Contradictions in the United States Leave Policies."
2003
- Lauren Ayres Teichner, Department of Religion: "Biblical, Controversial, and Contestable: A Constructive Evangelical Feminist Critique of the Promise Keepers' Pro-Family Values."
2002
- Sarah Aejin Seo, Department of History: "Betweeen Angry Women and Bad Governments: The Contested Historical Memory of the Korean Comfort Women."
2001
- Courtney Lauren Weiner, Department of History: "Her Side of Paradise: The Seven Sisters Schools and Youth Culture in the 1920s."
2000
- Kathryn L. Stewart, Department of Politics: "Heightened Judicial Scrutiny for Gays, Lesbians, and Bisexuals within Equal Protection Jurisprudence."
1999
- Noushin Heidary, History: "The Children's Bureau: The Role of the Women's Movement in Public Health Reform, 1910-1930."
1998
- Melissa B. Crane, English: "Muse Over! Contemporary American Women Poets Re-Make Literary Tradition."
1997
- Carrie M. Lane, Department of Anthropology: "Getting Screwed: An Analysis of Discourses on Adolescent Sexuality and Gender Differences in and About Kids."
1996
- Amy Kapczynski, Department of Politics: "Sisterhood is Mythical: Political Socialization and Identity as Obstacles to the German Women's Movement After 1989."
1995
- Nsenga L. Lee, Department of History: "Crossing the Color Line: Racial Passing in Early Twentieth-century America."
1994
- Meighan Woods Elder, Department of History: "Frightful Torments': 19th Century Constructions of Breast Cancer and the Genesis of the Halsted Radical Mastectomy."
1993
- Miriam I. Ticktin, Department of Anthropology: "Sisters in Contention: Voices from Women of Muslim Algerian Origin in France." (Tied for First Place)
- Angela D. Bell, Department of Classics: "Women, History, and Speech in the Odyssey." (Tied for First Place)
1992
- Kristina M. Sessa, Department of Religion: "Eunuchs for the Sake of the Kingdom of Heaven: Sanctity, Sexuality, and Gender Ambiguity in the Motif of the Female Transvestite Saint."