by Sara Bartsch (Contributor)
The Writing Centre held an awards ceremony to celebrate the accomplishments of UFV students who have produced an exceptional piece of writing in their field of study. The event took place on September 29 on the Abbotsford campus.
While the Writing Centre has held the competition for many years, this is the first time that an event was held so that students could receive public recognition for their work.
The Vice President of Students Karen Evans introduced the event, and each winner was invited to share a brief description of their work with the audience. According to Gloria Burrows, an organizer of the event, everyone at the Writing Centre had been working toward the event for a long time.
Shurli Makmillen said that she believed that the Writing Centre awards are important because they encourage students by recognizing their hard work, and it pushes them to take their own writing more seriously. Having won such an award, students are driven even harder to excel and consider their writing on a professional level. Evans pointed out that university writing is important because it engages the community in knowledge.
Papers are submitted to the competition by professors who believe a particular paper written by a student in their class is exceptional. Every year, the Writing Centre and faculty convene a meeting where they choose volunteers to judge entries. “We give them food first so they feel obligated,” Makmillen joked. Organizers of the event made sure to thank all of the faculty members who took time out of marking papers to mark yet more papers. Awards are given in different categories, and in disciplines running the gamut from social work to math. The competition is specifically designed to be as inclusive as possible to all UFV students.
Presentations ranged from an upper level analysis of literature in French to a sociology paper about the unique relationship between a woman and her foetus. One presentation was from a UFV student who had previously been a journalist in Hong Kong. She shared with the audience her struggle to write again after brain damage caused by a car accident. Her achievement was made all the more remarkable due to the fact that she had won an award for writing in her second language.
Professors who worked with students on their winning papers collected awards for students who could not be present at the ceremony. Recipients of the awards received a cash prize as well as recognition by the school.
The UFV Writing Centre is located in the Peter Jones Learning Commons. Students can go there for one-on-one feedback on writing they are doing for a UFV course.
UFV Writing Centre Writing Prize Competition Winners 2009/2010
Upper Level Process/Policy Analysis
Christina Henderson
“Securing Abortion Rights: An Examination of Historical and Contemporary Policy”
SOWK 493
Instructor: Georgina Marsom
Lower Level Short Fiction
Kam Fung Li
“Chicken or Egg: A Food Story of a Family Custom”
English 081
Instructor: Susan DeLong
Upper Level Critical Analysis in French
Katey Stickle
“Huis Clos et la theorie existentialiste”
Français 315
Instructor: Betty-Joan Traverse
Upper Level Critical Analysis
Michelle Hamel
“Women Within the Black Panther Party: A Historiographical Treatment”
History 370
Instructor: Sylvie Murray
William Brooke
“Richard Rorty’s Children”
Philosophy 364
Instructor Anastasia Anderson
Upper Level Discourse Analysis
Alison MacNamara
“An Anti-Racist Critique of Avatar”
SOWK 320
Instructor: Lisa Moy
Lower Level Film/Play Analysis
Brett Pardy
“The Effects of the Remnants of Fascism in Fassbinder’s Ali: Fear Eats the Soul”
Film 120
Instructor: Lorette Clement-Smith
Upper Level Research
Nik Zimmerman
“1948 and All That: How the Refugee Problem Became the Root of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict”
History 335
Instructor: Steven Schroeder
Upper Level Literary Analysis
Matthew Loewen
“The Nature of Tragedy in Lorca’s Blood Wedding”
English 338
Instructor: Miriam Nichols
Lower Level Research
Barbara Hallam
“Video Games in Public Libraries: Game On”
Library Technology 200
Instructor: Jan Lashbrook Green
Upper Level Research Reports
Bradley W. Carss
“The Measurement of Transformational Leadership Skills in the Workplace: The Path towards Innovative and High Performance Teams”
Business 430
Instructor: Joe Ilsever
Lower Level Critical Analysis
Cindy Phillips
“Final Report”
Philosophy 100
Instructor: Moira Gutteridge
