Yearly Awards
Each year, the History Department recognizes outstanding students with several different awards. Student prizes may be split among more than one winner; in which case the money will divided equally among them.
Hearst Foundation Undergraduate Scholarship in History
This $400.00 award is given annually to the strongest non-senior History major with an Americas concentration. Winners are chosen by the department and must have been in residence at Northwestern for at least six quarters by the end of their junior year.
Grace Douglas Johnston Award
This award is given to the best Senior Honors Thesis presented to the History Department. The amount of this prize is $1000.00, but may be split in the event that two winners are selected. Additionally, honorable mention awards are often given.
The Wilks Prize in African History
Ivor Wilks, a distinguished scholar of West African History, was for many years a Professor in the History Department before retiring to his native Wales. Prize of $400.00 to be awarded for an outstanding undergraduate essay submitted as a course requirement in African History. Essays to be submitted by nomination from the professor for whose class they were written.
Jacob Lassner Prize
Professor Jacob Lassner, a prolific specialist in the history of the Middle East, divided his time at Northwestern between the Departments of History and Religious Studies. Prize of $400.00 for the best undergraduate essay in Jewish or Islamic civilization written for any department or program.
First-Year Seminar Essay Award
This $400.00 cash award is given annually for the best History first-year seminar final paper.
Josef Barton Research Seminar Essay Award
Josef Barton served on the faculty of the History department for several decades. He is a scholar of enormous range, comfortable in half a dozen languages and an exceptionally broad range of research methodologies. This $400.00 cash award is given annually for the best 395 research seminar final essay. This prize may be split and awarded to more than one student per year.