Honoring the late Joyce R. Durham, professor emerita of English, this contest invites submissions of nonfiction essays that explore issues concerning women and/or gender — from the personal reflection to the research paper, or an excerpt from an honors thesis. It is open to undergraduate students enrolled at the University of Dayton. Essays should do one or more of the following:
- Examine the intersection of race, class, and gender.
- Contribute to the revaluing of a female writer, artist, or historical figure.
- Incorporate feminist analysis.
- Consider the social construction of gender identities and/or roles.
- Link the practical with the theoretical, the personal with the political, and/or the imaginative with the critical.
The contest provides the winner with a monetary prize.
Submissions from 2024
Communicative Capacities of German Marriage Portraits: Portrait of a Daughter of Dietrich Bromsen, Victoria Brey
The Power of Females and Femininity in The Silmarillion, Madeline Shelly
Submissions from 2022
At the Same Time African Women and Mothers Resisted: Dialectical Constructions of Race and Gender in the Black Atlantic and Early Colonies of the New World, Anna L. Biesecker-Mast
Protofeminist Freedom to Choose Colonialism, Josie Forsthoff
Theories in the Flesh: Latina Feminist Philosophy Approaches to Identity, Sofia Garcia
Submissions from 2020
(In)security: Gendered and Bordered, Mary McLoughlin
"If You're Ugly, the Blackpill is Born with You": Sexual Hierarchies, Identity Construction, and Masculinity on an Incel Forum Board, Josh Segalewitz
Submissions from 2019
Bearing Witness to Sexual Violence as a Violation of Women's Rights, Josh Segalewitz
Submissions from 2018
Gendering Patriotism: Wartime Culture and Propaganda in WWI, Emily Elizabeth Haynes
Submissions from 2017
Feminist Futures, Julia Nicole Court
Submissions from 2016
Tripping on All the Faces: The Identity Work of Native American Women Artists, Amanda Dee
Submissions from 2015
F***** From the Start: Misogyny in Medieval Literature, Amanda Dee
Submissions from 2014
Gender Disparity within the Employment Sector in Saudi Arabia, Alyssa Bovell and Libby Durnwald
Submissions from 2013
Joan Jett in "I Love Rock 'n' Roll": Gender Boundaries and Female Address, Megan Colleen O'Mera
Submissions from 2012
Drag Kings: Performing Masculinity, Lauren Cummerlander
Extreme Pornography and Obscenity Legislation, Julianne Morgan
Food and Feminism, Ellie Myers
Submissions from 2011
The Myth of Choice: The Cultural Shift in Cosmetic Surgery, Kelly Neyer
Submissions from 2010
The Rhetoric of Writing for a Male Audience, Danielle Black
Portrayal of Women and Clothing in Domestic Housework Commercials, Julie Brady Ramaccia
Submissions from 2009
Medieval Romance and British Romanticism: Gender Constructions in Pullman’s "His Dark Materials" and Tolkien’s "The Lord of the Rings", Emily Elizabeth Howson
Submissions from 2007
Even the Good Guys Are Bad in Sin City, Melanie Woods
Submissions from 2006
A New Writer Indeed: Gender (Re)Imagined in Jack Conroy’s "A World to Win", Andrew Kopec
To Abandon Our Culture or Not? A Real Look at Indigenous Guatemalans, Allison A. Kretz
