{"id":760,"date":"2020-07-20T20:51:05","date_gmt":"2020-07-21T03:51:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/english.wsu.edu\/newsletter\/?page_id=760"},"modified":"2025-06-30T12:02:28","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T19:02:28","slug":"2019-2020-scholarship-awards","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/english.wsu.edu\/newsletter\/2019-2020-scholarship-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"2019-2020 Scholarships & Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"
\r\n \n
\r\n\t\n\n
\"English<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\r\n\n<\/div>\n\n
\r\n \n
\r\n\t\n\n

2019-2020 Scholarships & Awards<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
\n\n<\/div>\r\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n

University-wide Awards<\/h2>\n\n\n
\r\n \n
\r\n\t\n\n

Julian Ankney, WSU’s Association for Faculty Women (AFW) Founders’ Award<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"Julian
Julian Ankney<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Julian Ankney, <\/b>a master\u2019s degree student in the English department, is one of five women who received WSU\u2019s Association for Faculty Women (AFW) Founders\u2019 Award<\/em><\/strong>. Ankney is a Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) scholar and social justice activist whom the AFW recognized for her strong scholarly achievements, leadership, and professional potential. Ankney studies Indigenous feminism using the oral traditions of Nimiipuu and explores digital literary tools to tell Indigenous stories. Recently, she presented a paper at the Modern Language Association Conference in Seattle titled Decolonizing Digital Space Through Telling Stories,<\/i> highlighting digital tools that could help revitalize Native languages. Her work has significance for Indigenous language reclamation and for social justice awareness of gender inequality, decolonization, sovereignty, and human rights for Indigenous Peoples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information about the awardees, see the Association of Faculty Women\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WSU Division of Academic Engagement and Student Achievement (DAESA) Awards<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Washington State University Division of Academic Engagement and Student Achievement honored outstanding faculty, staff, and students for their contributions throughout academic year 2019-20 to its programs that promote student, teaching, and learning success and excellence University-wide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kate Watts, Richard G. Law Excellence Award for Undergraduate Teaching<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"Kate
Kate Watts<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Kate Watts<\/b> is the 2020 recipient of the Richard G. Law Excellence Award for Undergraduate Teaching<\/strong><\/em>. Watts is a senior instructor and assistant director of Composition in the English department. The annual award commemorates the high value WSU places on the faculty who teach University Common Requirements (UCORE) general education courses across disciplines at the University. Watts is commended for her commitment to and success with collective problem-solving; her focus on equipping students with the skills necessary for effective engagement as citizens and employees; her mentorship of colleagues in the delivery of English 101; and her deployment of innovative and student-centered pedagogy. Selection committee members noted that she is active and intentional in her professional development and that of her colleagues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nazua Idris, Learning Communities Excellence Award<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"Nazua
Nazua Idris<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The Learning Communities Excellence Award<\/b><\/em> was presented to Nazua Idris<\/b><\/a>, a doctoral student in the Department of English. The award recognizes First-Year Focus<\/a> faculty who made significant collaborative efforts to help first-year students make meaningful connections with their peers and faculty and the new ideas and experiences they encounter. Idris developed community among the varying level and living situations of her English 101 students by ensuring out-of-class activities were available to all. Coupled with her student-centered curriculum, Idris described her recent class as \u201cthe most active and successful in terms of my own experience as an instructor and my students\u2019 success.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2020 College of Arts and Sciences Awards<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Patty Wilde, Early Career Achievement Award<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"Patricia
Patty Wilde<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

CAS honored Patty Wilde<\/b>,<\/a> assistant professor of English, with the Early Career Achievement Award<\/em><\/strong> for her leadership in writing studies and feminist rhetorical studies across time. She focuses on the voices of those at the margins across gender, race, and class lines, from 19th-century female writers to contemporary students. As director of the Tri-Cities Composition Program, Wilde emphasizes deep interdisciplinary learning in the program\u2019s curriculum as well as in the content of her own classes. One former graduate student described Wilde\u2019s pedagogy as \u201cone of radical inclusion and infinite possibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tabitha Espina, Doctoral Student Achievement in Humanities Award<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"Tabitha
Tabitha Espina<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Graduate student Tabitha Espina<\/a><\/strong> received the college\u2019s Doctoral Student Achievement in Humanities Award<\/em><\/strong> for her research and personal efforts to support and empower communities. Espina\u2019s experience of growing up in Guam led her to compose a dissertation looking at the implications of identity and the multilayered complications of being a member of a settler colony within an American colony. As a member of WSU\u2019s first NextGen PhD cohort, she works with Humanities Washington to assist with identifying obstacles for underrepresented communities around the state of Washington, and participates in professional development workshops with the Modern Language Association. Espina possesses the qualities commensurate with a true leader: vision, humanity, and a desire to grow, so that she can give back to others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

English Department Awards<\/h2>\n\n\n\n


Avon J. Murphy Scholarship: <\/em><\/b>Kathryn Manis <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Avon J. Murphy Award is merit-based, and the selection criteria, in descending order of importance, include: (1) demonstrated promise for future academic achievement; (2) academic merit; (3) demonstrated academic leadership; (4) demonstrated creativity; and (5) demonstrated contributions to campus life and environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alexander Hammond Professional Development and Achievement Award: <\/em>Tabitha Espina<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Students honored with the Alexander Hammond Professional Development and Achievement Award have shown steady, consistent, and remarkable professional growth and achievement over the course of the completion of their PhD degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winners of Creative Writing Scholarships and Awards:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n