Department Awards
The American Studies Program offers two prizes to majors each year. Both carry the name of Charles W. Bassett, who established the major at Colby in 1971.
Charles W. Bassett Prize in American Studies
This prize honors Bassett’s intellectual vision and his memory as a beloved teacher at Colby. Each spring it is awarded to one or more graduating seniors for outstanding achievement in the major.
2023: Kale Sapiel
2022: Lauren Bendheim and Stella Gonzalez
2021: Blythe Romano
2020: Louisa Goldman
2019: E Hopf
2018: Kat Restrepo and Isabel Friedman
2017: Gianna Nappi and Aliza Van Leesten
2016: Lydia Nicholson
2015: Katie Daigle and Shadey Trinidad
2014: James Kim and Anna Mintz
2013: Jess Villella
2012: Nicole Sintetos
2011: Barbara Santos and Anne Wardwell
2010: Dell Perez
Phi Beta Kappa/Charles Bassett Award in American Studies
A total of $1000 is awarded to one or more majors to help defray the cost of conducting research and/or attending professional meetings in the field. This gift was endowed in honor of Charles and Caroline Bassett and is overseen by the Phi Beta Kappa Chapter at Colby. To apply for the Bassett Award, see the instructions at Funds and Opportunities.
2023: Olchey Tchavyntchak, to cover expenses for the Partners In Health 2023 Training Institute, August 12-14, Washington, DC
2022: Dominic Pelosi, research on tribal law and resource distribution in the Columbia River Basin under the supervision of Thomas Zeilman, lawyer for the Confederate Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation (federally recognized)
2020: Stella Gonzalez, “Kalinga Tattooing: Reclaiming the Body in the Filipinx-American Diaspora”
2019: Julia Grady, “What We Talk about When We Talk about Queer: LGBTQ+ Artistic Expression in Urban America”
Louisa Goldman, senior thesis research at CDC on anti-vaxxing movement
2018: Andrew DeStaebler, “Something Punny to Precede the Colon: Marking Whiteness and Exploring Blackness in Stand-Up Comedy”
2017: Isabel Friedman, “State of Leisure: Constructing Maine Tourism, 1840 to the Present”
2016: Michaela Morris, ILiADS, the Institute for Liberal Arts Digital Scholarship conference
2016: Isabel Friedman, ILiADS, the Institute for Liberal Arts Digital Scholarship conference
2015: Jesse Dritz, “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie: American Upper-Class Anxiety in the Comedies of Whit Stillman”