Library Research Prize Winners Recognized for 2020

The Weinberg Memorial Library announced the winners of the 2020 Bonnie W. Oldham Library Research Prize competition. The Undergraduate Foundational Winner was Eryn Boken, Pasadena, California, for the project, Coronavirus Concerns for the U.S. Economy, completed in the course WRTG 107: Composition, taught by Prof. Dawn D’Aries Zera, adjunct faculty member, English and theatre. The Undergraduate Upper-level Winner was Katherine R. Burke, South Abington Township, for the project, Towards an Ethics of Gendered Difference, completed in the course PHIL 382: Care Ethics in Japanese Film, taught by Prof. George Aulisio, professor and chair of the library. The Graduate Winner was Liam Mulvaney, Jenkintown, for the project, Historical Analysis: A Century of Progress in Adaptive Equipment, completed in the course OT 501: Leadership in Occupational Therapy, taught by Marlene Morgan, Ed.D., associate professor of occupational therapy.

The Weinberg Memorial Library inaugurated the prize in 2011 to recognize excellence in research projects that show evidence of significant knowledge of the methods of research and the information gathering process, and use of library resources, tools, and services. In 2017, the prize was named for Professor Emerita Bonnie W. Oldham, who founded the prize at the University in 2011. 

The Bonnie W. Oldham Library Research Prize was fully endowed in 2019 and consists of a prize of $500 awarded to winning projects in each of the three categories: Undergraduate Foundational (100-level projects), Undergraduate Upper-level (200- to 400-level projects), and Graduate. This year’s winning projects and descriptions of the research process submitted by student winners will be deposited into the University of Scranton Student Scholarship digital collection this summer.

Projects selected as Honorable Mention in 2020 in the three categories are as follows. Undergraduate Foundational Honorable Mentions: Brayden Druger, Ambler, for the project, Preliminary Military Health Screenings: Are They Worth It?, and Sydney Youngblood, Moscow, for the project, To Heal or To Kill, both completed for the course WRTG 107: Composition taught by Prof. Dawn D’Aries Zera, adjunct faculty member, English and theatre. Undergraduate Upper-level Honorable Mention: Sarah White, Brooklyn, New York, for the project, Constrained Women, Authoritarian Men, and Gender-Based Medical Treatments: Unequal Gender Roles and a Tragic Descent into Madness in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wall-paper”, completed for the course ENLT 265J: The American Literary Experience taught by Leonard Gougeon, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of English and Theatre. Graduate Honorable Mentions: Melissa Busch, Yardley, for the project, Occupational Therapy in the Hospital, completed for the course OT 501: Leadership in Occupational Therapy taught by Marlene Morgan, Ed.D., associate professor of occupational therapy; Emily Gilinger, Marlton, New Jersey, Tyler Huggins, Harleysville, Brian Gargiulo, Cheshire, Connecticut, and Joshua Taylor, Beach Lake, for the project, Recreational Activities Impact on Activity and Participation in Persons with Parkinson’s Disease: A Systematic Review, completed for the course PT 772/773: Scientific Inquiry II/III in Physical Therapy taught by Renée Hakim, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Physical Therapy.

Judges for this year’s competition were: Kelly Banyas, assistant professor, library; Marian Farrell, Ph.D., professor of nursing; Colleen Farry, assistant professor, library; Teresa Grettano, Ph.D., associate professor of English and theatre; Eugeniu Grigorescu, director of the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence; Wendy Manetti, Ph.D., associate professor of nursing; William Miller, Ph.D., faculty specialist, health administration and human resources; Linda Mlodzienski, faculty specialist, accounting; Ian O'Hara, assistant professor, library; Adam Pratt, Ph.D., associate professor of history; and Amy Simolo, Ed.D., faculty development specialist.