Social Science student Emma Rose Bonanno and 26 Western student colleagues were named recently among the international winners of The Undergraduate Awards, a worldwide competition recognizing top undergraduate work.
In total, Western boasted 30 papers from across 14 categories cited as ‘highly commended’ (among the top 10 per cent) in their fields. Western had the second highest number of ‘highly commended’ recipients in the world, behind only Trinity College Dublin.
“We take enormous pride in the fact our students are demonstrating their exceptional talent among the world’s most creative thinkers and problem solvers,” said Janice Deakin, Provost and Vice-President (Academic). “This year’s results show that our students can compete with and excel against their peers from some of the world’s top-ranked institutions.”
Through the competition, student work in 25 categories was judged against peers from 255 universities, across 39 countries. Winners were selected out of more than 5,000 submissions.
Bonanno received ‘highly commended’ in three categories – Education, Media & Journalism and Social Science – a feat achieved by only one other student in the world.
“I am absolutely honoured and grateful to receive recognition in such a prestigious, international competition. I am looking forward to being inspired by other students across the globe, as well as representing Western at the Global Summit in Dublin,” Bonanno said.
Two of the Western students, Arts & Humanities student Taylor Rodrigues and graduate student Jennifer Komorowski, who made this year’s ‘highly commended’ list were similarly cited for their entries last year.
Two Western students were named overall winners in their categories. Jane Hutchison earned the top prize in the Education category for her paper, Bringing Neuroscience to the Classroom: A Case for the Value of Mind, Brain and Education; Michelle Harder earned the top prize in the Literature Pre-1710 category for her paper, As Lauce Leues of Pe Boke: Cleanness and the Perils of Vernacular Reading.
A complete list of Western student winners and their categories:
- Education – Emma Rose Bonanno and Jane Hutchison;
- Gender Studies & Anthropology – Allison Taylor;
- Law – Sydney Kruth;
- Life Sciences – Cynthia Yeung;
- Literature Pre-1710 – Michelle Harder;
- Literature 1710-Present –Theresa Bailie, Luke Jennings, Jennifer Komorowski, Jessica MacDonald and Cynthia Yeung;
- Media & Journalism – Charlotte Yun and Emma Rose Bonanno;
- Medical Sciences – Justine Baek and Peter Grin;
- Music, Film, Theatre & Art History – Kelsey Perreault, Rebecca Shaw and Tamara Spencer;
- Philosophy & Theology – Brittany Cartwright, David Hakim and Curtis Sell;
- Politics & International Relations – Taylor Rodrigues and Claire Windsor;
- Psychology – Daniel Kharlas, Cisse Nakeyar and Ana Ruiz Pardo;
- Social Sciences – Emma Rose Bonanno, Melissa Hughes and Aramide Odutayo; and
- Visual Art & Design – Emily Copeland.
Western honorees are invited to attend the Global Summit in Dublin.