Outstanding Student Award
This award is given to a graduating senior who has accumulated an exceptional all-around record in Sociology. Factors that will be considered include Sociology GPA, overall academic achievement, involvement in class, fellowships and awards received, presentations at conferences and public meetings, and other efforts to bring knowledge from the field of Sociology to bear in the social world inside or outside of Penn.
2024 - Olivia Haynie and Max Yang (both winning a combined Outstanding Student & Service Award)
2023 - Ian Lee Ang
2022 - Rowana Miller
2021 - Shawn Kim
2020 - Chelsea Gardner
2019 - KaJaiyaiu Hopkins
2018 - Jenna Priore
2017 - Anya Hutter
2016 - Elizabeth Schwartz
E. Digby Baltzell Senior Thesis Award
Awarded for the best senior thesis submitted by a sociology major during the year.
2024 - Taussia Boadi, "The Shadow of Trauma: Examining the Relationship between Adverse Childhood Experiences, Birth Outcomes, and Resilience in Black Women." Advisor: Courtney Boen
Honorable Mention:
Tristan Ly, "Missing the Boat: How Exclusive Network-Rich Clubs and Disparities of Ease and Engagement in Professional Systems Cause Social Class Inequalities in Finance Internship." Advisor: Annette Lareau
2023 - Sylvie Tuder, "'Like sardines in a can': The association between jail crowding & excess mortality in the United States from March 2020- March 2022." Advisors: Professor Courtney Boen & Jason Schnittker
2022 - Catalina Ruiz, "K-5 Literacy Loss During the Pandemic:
Indicators of Deterioration in Literacy at Philadelphia Neighborhood Schools." Advisor, Prof. Emilio Parrado.
2021 Co-recipients:
- Lucia Pallotta "Attitudes Towards People Undergoing Eviction: A Conjoint Analysis." Advisor, Prof. Wendy Roth.
- Marion Standefer "Testing Parental Commitments: How COVID-19 Illuminated the Ramifications of School Choice." Advisor: Prof. Annette Lareau
Honorable Mention:
Mariko Lewis "Ivy League Students’ Experiences with Incarceration." Advisor, Prof. Melissa Wilde
2020 Co-recipients:
- Chelsea Gardner, "Exploring the Role of Skin Tone Among Black, Low-Income, College Students." Advisor, Wendy Roth.
- Cindy Luo, "Linguistic Trajectories and Heritage Language Journeys: Patterns of Language Maintenance & Language Shift in Second Generation Chinese Americans." Advisor, Betsy Rymes.
2019 - Seyeon Kim, “The Role of Test Scores in the Students’ Occupational Aspirations.” Advisor, Hyunjoon Park.
2018 - Benjamin Pollack, "Clinical Socialization and Engagement of Adolescent Male Patients within the Medical System." Advisor: Prof. Charles Bosk.
2017 - Golda Kaplan, "'Now it’s just normal': Anticipatory Socialization in Adolescent Girls’ Sexual Behavior." Advisor, Prof. Annette Lareau.
2016 - Aliza Caplan, "From Employment to Retirement: A Study of West Philadelphia Senior Community Center (WPSCC)." Advisor, Dr. Robin Leidner.
2015 - Chloe Sigal, "Cashing In Versus Being Dangerous: The Class-Mediated Nature of Social Movement Coalition Identity: A Case Study of Two Philadelphia Black Lives Matter Coalitions." Advisor, Dr. Amada Armenta.
Outstanding Service Award
Awarded to a student who has demonstrated exceptional service to the program, Penn, and the outside community.
2024 - Olivia Haynie and Max Yang (both winning a combined Outstanding Student & Service Award)
2023 - Laila Shadid
2022 - Eva Lewis
2021 - Margaret Tebbe
2020 - Mckayla Warwick
2019 - Cathy Tran
2018 - Tiffany Yau
2017 - Tiffany Rodriguez
Best Paper Award:
This award is given to any Penn undergraduate in recognition of the best paper submitted to any undergraduate Sociology class at Penn. Faculty are asked to submit no more than two papers per year for consideration. Self-nominations are not allowed. Papers written in the previous Fall and Spring will be considered.
2023 - Maya Pratt-Freedman, "Race and police relations: Student attitudes towards Penn Police." Instructor: Tessa Huttenlocher, SOCI 2000: Sociological Research Methods. Instructor: Tessa Huttenlocher, PhD Candidate in Sociology.
2022 - Ellen Manford (Economics Major, '22), "Black Women and Desirability: The Intersection of Race and Gender"
SOCI 122: Sociology of Gender, Prof. Robin Leidner.
2021 - Co-recipients:
- Hannah Lottenberg "Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Work." SOCI 117: Sociology of Work, Prof. Robin Leidner.
- Joanna Kim (History and Health and Societies major) "Race and Communication." SOCI 100: Introduction to Sociological Research, Prof. Melissa Wilde.
2020 - Sophia Lindner (’20): "Through Their Eyes: Revisiting the First Great Migration to Philadelphia - A Digital Exhibit." SOCI 660, Exhibiting Black Bodies, Tukufu Zuberi.
2019 - Nathaniel Redding, "Building Men’s Friendships: Mechanisms by which Men Achieve and Maintain Closeness." SOCI 222, Field Methods, Annette Lareau.
2018 - Co-recipients:
- Julia Tolmachyov (Finance major) "Body Consciousness in Female Adolescents: A Case Study." Sociology of Gender, Fall 2017, Prof. Robin Leidner
- Cathy Tran "First-generation students: Navigating the College Experience through Peer Influence." Field Methods, Spring 2017, Prof. Annette Lareau.
2017 - Rebecca Brown, "They’re Still With Her: Student Volunteers Discuss the 2017 Presidential Election, Their Passionate Selves, and Professional Futures" (SOCI 517: Work and Identity, Prof. Robin Leidner).
2016 - Max Meis, "Las Maquiladoras y la Immagración: A Failure by the Mexican Government." (SOCI 431: Modern Mexican Society, Instructor Dr. Juan Manuel Lombera)
Students who graduated with Honors in Sociology ('17-present):
2024: Taussia Boadi, Olivia Haynie, Tristan Ly, Shobhit Prasad,
2023: Ian Lee Ang, Maria Bellacosa, Jin Byun, Sunwenxi Huang, Anya Miller, Maya Pratt-Freedman, Leslie Roman, Asger Theiden, Sylvie Tuder
2022: Omar Bakri, Emily Campbell, Rowana Miller, Jenna Pollack, Catalina Ruiz, Dallas Ryan, Rachel Thomas
2021: Eliza Jane Becker, Shawn Kim, Mariko Lewis, Audrey McQuietor, Lucia Pallotta , Marion Standefer, Margaret Tebbe
2020: Rachel Fromer, Chelsea Gardner, Sophia Lindner, Cindy Luo, Peter Maisano, Mercedes Morgante-Guiliani, and Ángel Ortiz-Siberón
2019: Luis Bravo, Belden Carlson, Jenny Choi, KaJaiyaiu Hopkins, Seyeon Kim, Anea Moore, Cathy Tran
2018: Benjamin Pollack, Tiffany Yau
2017: Louisa Baidoo, Michael Coyne, Anya Hutter, Golda Kaplan, Tiffany Rodriguez, and Francine Stephens