Students
Learn more about the department prizes and hear from alumni
Prizes
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.
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. Learn more about recent recipients of the award below and how to apply in 2020-2021.
Recent recipients include:
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
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”
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. Recent recipients include:
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
Alumni
Graduates of the American Studies Program have gone on to hold jobs in a wide variety of Industries, including media production, healthcare, education, marketing, law, politics, and project management. Some have left Colby to pursue graduate degrees in education, law, or the humanities. Others have worked for employers such as the Mayor’s Office of the City of New York, ProPublica, The Atlantic, Country Music Hall of Fame, LinkedIn, L.L. Bean, Disney, and Major League Baseball.
Watch some of our recent graduates talk about what drew them to the program and how it shaped their professional goals.