2023 Writing Flag Award Winners

Thank you to Texas ScholarWorks at the University of Texas Libraries, for publishing our award winners in an archived, searchable public database.

Creative/Reflective Category

First Place: Emily Engelbart, writing for John Schwartz’s class, “Reporting on the Environment”

Gulf Coasters Work to Restore the Bay’s Kidneys

Second Place: Alexis Reyes, writing for Abigail Burns’s class, “Rhetoric of Allyship”

Reimagining Allyship: A Love Letter

Third Place: Catherine Cahn, writing for Peter Lasalle’s class, “Advanced Fiction Workshop”

Where Do All the Jews Go?

Honorable Mention: avery scogins, writing for Krzysztof Piekarski’s class, “Rhetoric of the Essay”

that which remains

Honorable Mention: Ashley Rummel, writing for Deborah Unferth’s class, “Short Story Workshop”

The Artists

Honorable Mention: Leigha Forrest, writing for Matt Valentine’s class, “Writing Narratives”

My Battlefield Skin

Critical/Persuasive Category

First Place: Norah De Zwart, writing for José G. Izaguirre III’s class, “Principles of Rhetoric”

Remembering Barbara Jordan: A Missed Opportunity

Second Place: Cherry Chu, writing for Shetal Vohra’s class, “Students, Policy, and Action”

Title 25 Policy Review: Windowless Housing in West Campus

Third Place: Teresa Brod, writing for Medhi Haghshenass class, “What We See, What We Believe”

Colorism as a Result of Colonization and Global Ramifications

Honorable Mention: Anna Grace Holloway, writing for Daniel Bonevac’s class, “Ethical Theories”

Reality Check: On Bentham’s Preclusion of Reality’s Effect on the Value of Experience

Honorable Mention: Samantha Spencer, writing for Enzo Vasquez Toral’s class, “Performance as Public Practice”

Big Top Risk for Reward: An Argument of Transdisciplinary Injury Prevention for Circus Performers

Honorable Mention: Laura Li, writing for Taylor Johnson Karahan’s class, “Unburied: Ancestral Remains”

Museum of Intolerance: Domestic Unburial and American Influences in the Desecration of Mamilla Cemetery

Research – Humanities Category

First Place: Nina Datz, writing for Bruce Hunt’s class, “Capstone in History”

Galileo’s Brush with Artistry: The Intersection of Art and Science in Seicento Italy

Second Place: Brian Earle, writing for Todd Curtis’s class, “Great Works in Medicine”

Joseph Lister’s Approach to Popularizing Antisepsis and Its Applications to Modern Surgical Advancement

Third Place: Princess Ojo, writing for Robert L. Reece’s class, “Race, Science and Race Science”

Shading Schizophrenia: An Analysis of Schizophrenia Overrepresentation Among Black People in America

Honorable Mention: Makayla Baughman, writing for Teri Fickling’s class, “Women, Gender, Literature, and Culture”

A Gothic Portrayal of Mothering in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

Honorable Mention: Yves Santoy, writing for Astrid Runggaldier’s class, “Architecture and Sculpture in the Maya World”

Maya Portals: Mirrors, Divination, and The Underworld in Maya Visual and Material Culture

Research – Lab Category

First Place: Payton Antonacci, writing for Katie Bruner’s class, “Laboratory Experience in Genetics”

Unraveling the Genetic Tapestry of Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder: Insights into Immune-Mediated Mechanisms

Second Place: Caroline Whitmarsh, writing for David Gilden’s class, “Experimental Psychology”

Examining Working Memory and Forgetfulness Through Serial Position Curves

Third Place: Sabrina Reyes, writing for Katie Bruner’s class, “Laboratory Experience in Genetics”

Current Analysis of Color Separation of Chiral Enantiomers via Pyrogallol Red Indicator and UV-Vis Spectrophotometry and Future Applications for Chiral Identification

Honorable Mention: Isabel Herrera, writing for Louis Waldman’s class, “Art and Social Justice”

The Paradox of the Mexican-American Border: Being Stuck in the Middle of a Unity Where Coexistence Refuses to Exist

Honorable Mention: Jazhiel Segura-Monroy, Ayan Gupta, and Yash Totlani, writing for Shyamal Mitra’s class, “Geometry of Space – Freshman Research Initiative”

Classifying Emission-Line Galaxies using a Dense Neural Network & Support Vector Machine

Honorable Mention: Lanchi Pham, writing for Katie Bruner’s class, “Laboratory Experience in Genetics”

LDLR, APOB, and PCSK9 Increasing The Risk of Hypercholesterolemia Among Asian Populations

Watch the Ceremony