The George C. Casey Prize
The George C. Casey Prize awards $300 for the best undergraduate essay on any topic relating to the situation of gender and society. Papers written in any course, in any department or program within the university are eligible. Papers may not exceed 4,000 words, excluding notes and bibliography, and must be accompanied by a memo from the instructor of the course for which the paper was written attesting to the student's enrollment. Papers from Spring 2008, Fall 2008 and Winter 2009 are eligible for this year's Casey Prize. The deadline for this year's Casey Prize is has already passed. Please check back here for information about next year's prize.
Elizabeth Coffin-Karlin won the 2009 Casey Prize for her essay "Who are women born women? : Womyn-only spaces and conflict over the Trans body."
The Betty Jo Teeter Dobbs Prize
The Betty Jo Teeter Dobbs Prize is given to an outstanding senior thesis written in the 
Gender Studies Program.
Ashley Keyser won the 2009 Dobbs Prize for her thesis: “Songs of Exceeding the Self: Mark Doty's Queer Visionary Poetics"
Past Dobbs Thesis Award recipients include:
2008 - Katherine Gorringe, for her thesis entitled “When She Sings, I Hear Revolution: Radical Feminist Demands on Women in Popular Music, 1969-1973.”
2007 - Jessica Mathiason, for her thesis entitled "Trans Hollywood Blockbusters and teh Genital Reveal."
2006 - Abigail Rogosheske, for her thesis entitled "Pineapples and Politics: Ugandan Women and the Road to Empowerment."
2005 - Thanh Nguyen, a senior History/Gender Studies Major, won both the 2005 George C. Casey Prize for best undergraduate essay and the 2005 Dobbs Prize her thesis, entitled "Beyond Borders: Brides, Grooms, & Brokers in Viet-Dai Marriages."
Gender Studies honors theses are available for reading and check-out in the Gender Studies Library.
The Rae Arlene Moses Leadership Award
In honor of her career-long dedication to women at Northwestern, the Gender StudiesProgram, along with its affiliates and friends, established the Rae Arlene Moses Leadership Award in Gender Studies. The award is presented each spring to a graduating senior who has fostered initiatives and demonstrated leadership, both within the classroom and in co-curricular activities sponsored by the Gender Studies program.
Past Moses Leadership Award recipients include:
2008 - Sharlyn Grace
2007 - Julie Keller and Jessica Mathiason
2006 - Corey Robinson
2005 - Annie Lee
Honors in Gender Studies
Gender Studies majors can choose to write a thesis in their senior year. Outstanding theses are awarded honors by the Gender Studies Honors Committee. The thesis that was awarded honors in 2009 was:
- Ashley Keyser, "Songs of Exceeding the Self: Mark Doty's Queer Visionary Poetics."
2008 honors theses included:
- Katherine Gorringe, “When She Sings, I Hear Revolution: Radical Feminist Demands on Women in Popular Music, 1969-1973.”
2007 honors theses included:
- Jessica Mathiason, "Trans Hollywood Blockbusters and the Genital Reveal"
- Rupali Sharma, "Colonial Myths, Gendered Realities and Hyphenated Identities: An Analysis of Muslim-American Women's Veiling Practices after 9/11"
- Poornima Yechoor, "Can the HIV-postive Hindu Woman Speak?: Sex, Tradition, and AIDS in Contemporary Bollywood Cinema"
All of these excellent theses are available for reading in the Gender Studies library (Kresge 2-321).
