Peter Rotter Essay Prize

The Peter Rotter fund awards two prizes each year in the Humanities Division to the undergraduate students who have written the finest paper for a regular or Special Studies course offered during the current academic year. One of the prizes is awarded for the finest paper written by a first-year student.

2021 Winners

The 2021 prize winners were honored via a virtual awards ceremony. Please view the presentation here. 

Peter Rotter First Year Writing Prize ($500)
WINNER: Devon Whalen, “Hockey Pucks and Comet Stuff: How Life (May Have) Started Through Shock Synthesis” nominated by Briley Lewis for Cluster 70

Peter Rotter Essay Prize ($1,000)
WINNER: Jackson Combe, “Suspicious Theory and Critic as Translator, Sage, Revolutionary” nominated by Christopher Mott for ENGL 184.4

2020 Winners

The 2020 prize winners were honored via a virtual awards ceremony. Please view the presentation here. 

Dido Wang (nominated by Dr. Sarah Morris, Classics) “Descending God, Ascending Man: A Study of the Mycenaean Gold Masks from Grave Circle A”

First-year Writing Prize: Charisse Vu (nominated by Professor Gosch in Cluster 73A, “Mind over Matter”) “Sentience in Cephalopods: What Could this Imply about the Origins of Consciousness?”

Congratulations to all our award winners!