Canadian Undergraduate Essay Contest in British Studies

2007-08 NACBS Undergraduate Essay Contest

The North American Conference on British Studies sponsors an essay contest for the best ten essays written for course requirements by undergraduate students at Canadian universities during the academic year.

The contest is open to all areas of British studies, broadly defined, including (but not limited to) art history, cultural studies, history, literature, and political thought.

Essays may be submitted by the student or the course instructor. Each submission must include a letter of nomination by the course instructor. Maximum of one submission per student. Each submission should include the student's permanent contact address.

One paper copy of the 'clean' essay and the nomination letter must be sent to each of the following three adjudicators, postmarked no later than 30 April 2008:

• Professor Krista Kesselring, Department of History, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, B3H 4P9.
• Professor Jennifer Gustar, Creative and Critical Studies, 3333 University Way, University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, BC, V1Y 1V7.
  
• Professor Dan Gorman, Department of History, University of Waterloo, Hagey Hall, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1.
  

The awards will be announced in September 2008. The value of each award is $100.

All inquiries should be directed to the chair of the adjudication committee, Dr.
Krista Kesselring (krista.kesselring@dal.ca).

Results of the 2006-07 British Studies Undergraduate Essay Contest (Canada)

The North American Conference on British Studies is pleased to announce the winners of the 2006-2007 Canadian Undergraduate Essay Contest in British Studies, sponsored by the North American Conference on British Studies.

This year's committee and judges--Professor Sandra den Otter, Department of History, Queen's University; Professor Jennifer Gustar, English and Women's Studies, University of British Columbia, Okanagan, and Prof. Krista Kesselring, History, Dalhousie University-- congratulate the winners of the Canadian Undergraduate Essay Contest in British Studies, who are listed alphabetically with the essay title and name of the faculty nominator.

• Paul Faber, University of Calgary (English), Mary Polito, "The Food of Memory: Shakespeare's Use of Balladry�h"
• Lisa Hainsworth , Dalhousie (English), Ann Martin, "Encountering the Subject and Text as �'Thou': Reading Virginia Woolf with Martin Buber and Julia Kresteva�h"
• Tim Harrison, St. Michael's College, University of Toronto (English), John J. O'Connor,� "Conrad, Levinas and Achebe: Heart of Darkness and the Ethics of Difference�"
• Bronwyn Haslam, University of Calgary (English),� "'It was the Flesh she must control': Disembodiment, disordered Consumption and the female Psychopathologies of Protest in Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway "
• James Daryn Henry   University of   Western Ontario (History). Barbara C. Murison, "Echoes and traditions: On the Anglica Historia and Polydore Vergil as a Source for Early Tudor History�"
• Christa Hunfield, Department of History, Dalhousie University. Krista Kesselring,� "'My Aim is that Ye may understand me as I am': Female Quaker Authors of 17th Century England�"
• Reina Mistry, University of British Columbia (History) Coll Thrush,� "Eating Empire: Examining the naturalization of Curry into British Cuisine from 1750-1850�"
• Padraic Scanlon, McGill University (History), Brian Cowan,� "The Toffs, the merchants and the mob: Class, sex and the Wilkite Movement, 1762-1770�"
• Rachel Williams, Queen's University (History) Sandra den Otter, "gJuvenile Literature and the Great War�"
• Haymen Leong, University of British Columbia (English/History), Miranda Burgess, "�'Strangers filling their place': Jane Austen and the Decline of the Landed Order�"

Results of the 2005-06 British Studies Undergraduate Essay Contest (Canada)

The North American Conference on British Studies is pleaded to announce, in alphabetical order, the names of the ten winners, the titles of their essays, their university affiliations, and the names of the course instructors.  Congratulations to all, and sincere thanks to everyone who participated.

• Nicole Bourbonnais, "Saving Our Eastern Sisters? Mary Francis Billington, Victorian Women Writers, and India", History, UBC (Professor J Dixon).   
• Louis Fagnan, "Hats Off to the Empire: Les music-halls, la classe ouvriere et l'imperialisme britannique", History, McGill (Professor E. Elbourne).   
• Catherine Gilbert, "Nationalism, Revisionism, and the Anglo-Irish War: Contasting Tom Barry's Guerilla Days in Ireland and Michael Hopkinson's The Irish War of Independence", History, Queen's (Professor K Madden).   
• Julia Grandison, "Home swa Hit Na Waere ('as It Has Never Been'): Subversions of the Domestic in 'Wulf and Eadwacer' and 'The Wife's Lament' ", English, Toronto (Professor D Klausner).   
• John Hillman, "Anglo-Scottish Relations in the Later Middle Ages", History, Dalhousie (Professor C Neville).   
• Nora Hutchinson, "Plague in Bombay: A Colonial Epidemic", History, McGill (Professor E Elbourne).   
• Murad Idris, "France and the 1925 Bombardment of Damascus as British Political Narrative: Thoughts on the Discourse of Mandates, Masculinity, and Metaphor", History, Carleton (Professor A Bennett).   
• Cher Li, "Aural Fictions: Eve's Dream as Imaginitive Perversion of Scripture", English, Toronto (Professors P Simmons and P Stevens).   
• Samantha Sandassie, "Medical Consistency in Early Modern England: A Search for the Medical Profession Through a Study of Mental Illness", History, McMaster (Professor J Alsop).   
• Megan Scott, "Death-in-Life and Life-in-Death: An Exploration of Christian Baptism in Eliot's The Waste Land", English, Saskatchewan (Professor H Morelli).

Results of the 2004-2005 Essay Contest 

The North American Conference on British Studies is pleased to announce the winners of the 2004-2005 Canadian Undergraduate Essay Contest in British Studies, sponsored by the North American Conference on British Studies and the British Council. 

This year's committee and judges--Professor James Alsop, Department of History, McMaster University; Professor Sandra den Otter, Department of History, Queen's University; Professor Lynn Wells, Department of English, University of Regina--congratulate the winners of the Canadian Undergraduate Essay Contest in British Studies, who are listed alphabetically with the essay title and name of the faculty nominator:

• Simone Cruickshank. Paper Title: "`Incomprehensible Good Fellowship' and the Call of Commodities: The Gentle Craft, Part I, The Shoemaker's Holiday and Late-Elizabethan Economy and Society." Nominator: Wes Folkerth, McGill University.
• Sarah Johnson. Paper Title: "Othello in the Renaissance Public Playhouse, Othello on the Kathkali Stage, and their `Obvious' Similarities." Nominator: Irena Makaryk, University of Ottawa.
• Amanda Lucier. Paper Title: "`amiable grace...': Androgyny and the Image of the Hermaphrodite in Spenser's Fairie Queene." Nominator: Scott Morgan Straker, Queen's University.
• Tara MacDonald. Paper Title: "King Edward VII and the Making of the Entente Cordiale: The Royal Visit, 1903." Nominator: Aleksandra Bennett, Carleton University.
• Samuel Martin. Paper Title: "The Road Goes On: The End is Not Yet." Nominator: Douglas Loney, Redeemer University College.
• Shannon McSheffrey. Paper Title: "Violence: A Fact of Life in Early Modern English Society." Nominator: Barbara Murison, University of Western Ontario.
• Erin Reynolds. Paper Title: "Resistance and Conformity in Shakespeare's Hamlet: Reshaping Tragedy for a New Society." Nominator: Fred Tromly, Trent University.
• Robert Stansel. Paper Title: "Scandalous Libellers and Abominable Nonsense." Nominator: Christopher Frank, University of Manitoba.
• Rebecca VanDoodewaard. Paper Title: "The Four Feathers, Adventure Stories, Costume Dramas and the 1930s." Nominator: Dermot McCarthy, Huron University College.
• Katherine Walker. Paper Title: Beyond Childbirth: Midwives as Social Actors in Early Modern England." Nominator: Kevin Siena, Trent University.

Results of the 2003-2004 Essay Contest 

The North American Conference on British Studies is pleased to announce the winners of the 2003-2004 Canadian Undergraduate Essay Contest in British Studies, sponsored by the North American Conference on British Studies and the British Council. 

This year's committee and judges, Professor Deborah Gorham, Department of History, Carleton University (Chair), Professor Lynn Wells, Department of English, University of Regina, Professor James Alsop, Department of History, McMaster University, congratulate the winners of the Canadian Undergraduate Essay Contest in British Studies, who are listed alphabetically with the essay title and name of the faculty nominator:

• Collins, David, "Reading Shelley's Tombstone: Death and Failure in PB Shelley's 'Adonais,' Hellas and 'The Triumph of Life"": Submitted by Submitted by Prof. Sarah Maier, English, University of New Brunswick
• Greaves, Dora, "Earnest's Two Personalities: Homoeroticism Versus Heterosexisms, and Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest": Submitted by Prof. Lisa Surridge, English, University of Victoria
• Heinrich, Rachel, "Critical Masculinities in Lady Audley's Secret": Submitted by Prof Mary Elizabeth Leighton, English, University of Victoria
• Miller, Tenyia, "The Portrayal of Illness in Early Modern England: A Comparison of the Correspondence, Diaries and Autobiographic Writings of Clergymen, Laymen, and Laywomen": Submitted by Prof. J.D. Alsop, History, McMaster University
• Muir, Angela, "Parochial Customs, Fundraising and the English Reformation: the decline of church ales in sixteenth-century England": Submitted by Prof. John Craig, History, Simon Fraser University
• Murphy, Tara, "the Duty of Ghosts: Passion, Language, Paradox and Mystery in T.S. Eliot's 'Ash Wednesday'": Submitted by Prof Tom Grieve, English, Simon Fraser University
• Newfield, Tim, "Death and Weather Anomalies: Smallpox in Eighteenth-Century England": Submitted by Prof. Jeanette Neeson, History, York University
• Pongray, Derek, "Navies and Neutrality: The Findings of the Haldane Mission": Submitted by Prof. Y. Aleksandra Bennett, History, Carleton University
• Valley, Myra, "Newsworthy or Not? Reporting on Health Care Issues in Early Modern England": Submitted by Prof. J.D. Alsop, History, McMaster University
• Young, Kate, "Both, or Neither? Sex, Gender and the Hermaphrodite in Early Modern England": Submitted by Prof. J.D. Alsop, History, McMaster University
  

Results of the 2002-2003 Essay Contest 

The North American Conference on British Studies is pleased to announce the winners of the 2002-2003 Canadian Undergraduate Essay Contest in British Studies, sponsored by the North American Conference on British Studies and the British Council. 

This year's judges, Deborah Gorham, Professor of History at Carleton University, Robert Tittler, Professor of History at Concordia University, and Lynn Wells, Assistant Professor of English at the University of Regina, congratulate the winners of the Canadian Undergraduate Essay Contest in British Studies, who are listed alphabetically with the essay title and name of the faculty nominator:

• Eva Ash (York), "Vanity Fair, a Novel of Three Genres." Faculty: John Bell. 
  
• Susan Dusel (Regina), "Romantic Yearnings in a Postmodern Age; Truth, Beauty and (Uncertain) Meaning in Ian McEwan's Amsterdam." Faculty: Lynn Wells.
• Domenica Goduto (Dalhousie), "Scottish Identity in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries." Faculty: Cynthia Neville. 
• Laurie Jacklin (McMaster), "Englishmen in the East India Company's Factory in Hirado, Japan, 1613-1623." Faculty: Jim Alsop. 
• Jennifer McDermott, (McGill). "Perceiving Shakespeare: A Study of Sight, Sound and Stage." Faculty: Leonore Lieblin. 
• Elizabeth Scott (Saskatchewan), "Children's Bodies and Children's Medicine in Early Modern England." Faculty: Lisa Smith. 
• Tim Smith (Manitoba), "Man of his Own, an Analysis of William Pitt the Younger's political Influences." Faculty: Greg T. Smith. 
• Nathalie-Nicole Sroka-Filion (Concordia), "Origin and Evolution of the Oriel in the Domestic and Religious Architecture of Early Modern England." Faculty: Robert Tittler.
• Kirsten Weld (McGill), "'We Reinvented Culture the Way We Wanted it–With Great Big Shoes', Glam Rock, Glitter, and the Iconography of Gender in 1970s Britain." Faculty: Brian Lewis. 
• Eileen Wennekers (Calgary), "Putting Universal Knowledge to Legitimate Use: the Science of early Modern English Imperialism, 1580-1620." Faculty: Ken MacMillan. 

The 2002-03 essay contest had a total of 27 finalists from seventeen different colleges and universities:  Alberta, Brock, Calgary, Concordia, Dalhousie, Glendon College of York University, Manitoba, McGill, McMaster, New Brunswick, Regina, Saskatchewan, St Thomas More College, St. Francis Xavier, Victoria (BC), Windsor, and York.  Though most essays were completed in History and English courses, Art History, History of Medicine and Scottish Studies programmes were also represented.

Results of the 2001-2002 Essay Contest

The North American Conference on British Studies is pleased to announce the winners of the 2001-2002 Canadian Undergraduate Essay Contest in British Studies, sponsored by the North American Conference on British Studies and the British Council. 

This year's judges, Robert Tittler, Professor of History at Concordia University, Deborah Gorham, Professor of History at Carleton University, and Lynn Wells, Assistant Professor of English at the University of Regina, congratulate the winners of the first Canadian Undergraduate Essay Contest in British Studies, who are listed alphabetically as follows:

• Andrade, Debbie, "Reading Three Portraits of Queen Elizabeth I," Department of Art History, Concordia University, Montréal, Québec.
• Bentley, Stephen C., "'In the Wake of Freedom,' Labour, Capital and Empire in Rural Jamaica, 1838-1865," Department of History, McGill University, Montréal, Québec.
• Blouin-Gagne, Isabelle, "Bloody Protest for a Glorious Thing? The Mind of Easter 1916," Department of History, McGill University, Montréal, Québec.
• Cohn, Sara, "Shakespeare's Richard III and his Early Sources," Department of History, McGill University, Montréal, Québec. 
• Crawshaw, Tim, "Oliver Cromwell, Life and Legacy," Department of History, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia. 
• Jacklin, Laurie, "'A Policeman's Lot is not a Happy One': Wage Labour Trade-off in the New Job of Policing in Victorian England," Department of History, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario.
• King, Noelle, "Home is Where the Heart is: The Ambiguities of Domestic Space in Great Expectations," Department of English, U. Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia.
• Malecki, Jeffrey, "Re-Writing History in Reverse: The Crisis of Linear Time in Time's Arrow," Department of English, U Waterloo, Waterloo, Ont..
• Robertson, Jennifer, "A Loose Thread Unraveled: British Propaganda and the Irish in the Civil War Years," Department of History, U. of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Sask.
• Weir, Erin, "Economic Theory and National Defense; the Impact of the Classical and Historical Schools on Economic Preparations for War in Britain and German During the l930s," Department of Economics, University of Regina,, Regina, Saskatchewan.

The 2001-2002 competition received thirty-four entries from across Canada:  from Brock, Concordia, Lethbridge, McGill, McMaster, Ottawa, Regina, St. Francis Xavier, St. Mary's, Saskatchewan, University College of Cape Breton, Victoria (BC), Waterloo, Western Ontario, and Windsor. They were submitted from courses in four fields: History (18); English (14); Art History (1) Economics (1). Though most of our submissions were from upper level courses, we were surprised to receive some submissions from first and second year courses as well. Length varied from 9 pages to 104 pages.

The selection committee determined four criteria on which to make the awards: a) originality and creativity; (b) writing: structure and style; (c) content; and (d) documentation and persuasiveness. The three members of the committee assigned individual rankings and averaged the results to arrive at the ten highest cumulative scores.

The selection committee would like to thank Professor Linda Peck (who supported this initiative wholeheartedly in her last year as NACBS President), the Executive Committee and Council of the NACBS, and especially Mr. Peter Chenery, Director of British Council for Canada, who generously agreed to sponsor this contest for an initial two years until corporate sponsorship may be found.

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