College of Arts and Sciences

Honors and Awards

Departmental Honors

alt="two honors students with their faculty mentor on stage in full regalia"
CAS Senior Awards Ceremony, May 2023 -  (from left) Goran Prize in American History 2023 Recipient - Lucas J. Newton; Paul D. Evans Award Recipient 2023 - John F. Harrington; Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies, David Massell.

Honors

Departmental Honors

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Professors nominate students who have submitted exceptional seminar papers (papers written for 4000-level courses). Should a person wish to accept nomination, he or she will then revise that paper, if it needs revision, along lines suggested by the professor usually over the course of a semester long independent study.

Submission to the committee: Whether revised or not, that paper will be submitted to a committee of three professors from the department who will examine the candidate. This examination, which will be an oral interview and which will last about one hour, will not only probe the paper's thesis and the methods of investigation and analysis employed by the student, it will also ask the student to place his/her work into a larger historiographical context.

Upon successful examination: Upon successful examination, the student will be awarded Departmental Honors provided that he/she is a History major and has a graduating average in all History courses of at least 3.3.
 

College Honors

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Students who have a GPA of at least 3.4 are eligible to apply for permission to undertake an honors research project during their senior year. Additional information is available in the Dean's office.

Awards

Goran Prize in American History

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The History Department annually recognizes an outstanding junior or senior major working in the field of American history. Candidates for the prize are nominated by faculty on the basis of academic achievement and all nominees are required to submit a major piece of academic writing in being considered for the award. Intended to honor the academic achievements of a student who hopes to pursue a career in history or the public humanities, the prize was established in 2014 by UVM alumnus Arnie Goran '54 and his wife Mariel.

Paul D. Evans Award

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The History Department annually recognizes its outstanding graduating senior history major with the strongest academic record (as measured by overall grade point average and grade point average in History courses) with the Paul D. Evans Award for Excellence in History. Paul D. Evans had a distinguished career as a professor of history from the 1930s until his retirement in 1972. Consideration is also given to the level of difficulty of the courses taken within the major and preference accorded to those students doing a senor honors thesis in History.

Arthur H. Miller and Cindy Orns Miller Award in U.S. History

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The History Department annually recognizes an outstanding junior or senior history major or graduate student in U.S. History. Priority is given to students who demonstrate a commitment to the study of the political and/or intellectual history of the U.S. Constitution and U.S. form of government, or the diplomatic and military history of the U.S. Established in 2024 by Arthur H. Miller ’75 and Cindy Orns Miller ’78, the award honors two outstanding teachers and scholars in the UVM History Department: Professors Mark A. Stoler and Samuel B. Hand.

Previous Recipients

Goran Prize in American History – Previous Recipients

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  • 2025 – Katherine Dipalma
  • 2024 – Emma C. Regan
  • 2023 – Lucas J. Newton 
  • 2022 – Holly Kuhn, Tess M. Hastings 
  • 2021 – Carmen Harris 
  • 2020 – Jason Goldfarb 
  • 2019 – Maggie A. Mahoney, John R. Suozzo 
  • 2018 – Kiara Day 
  • 2017 – Sarah A. Jauris 
  • 2016 – Rose Newton 
  • 2015 – Patrick Maguire

Paul D. Evans Award – Previous Recipients

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  • 2025 – Zoe E. Alpert, Grace C. Elston
  • 2024 – Meghan A. Hessler, Casey L. Murphy
  • 2023 – John F. Harrington
  • 2022 – Katie Wynn
  • 2021 – Theo Cutler
  • 2020 – Daniel Ortiz
  • 2019 – Hunter M. Heberg
  • 2018 – Hannah E. Johnson, Maria C. Koutsouris
  • 2017 – Hunter A. Colvin
  • 2016 – Erin A. Clauss, John M. Marchinkoski
  • 2015 – Emily Stoneking
  • 2014 – Michael R. Edmondson
  • 2013 – Eliza B. Kelsten
  • 2012 – Douglas A. Nelson III
  • 2011 – Bronwen Gulkis, Marshall McKenzie
  • 2010 – Kara L. DeDonato
  • 2009 – Kathryn Boolukos, Justine Trombley
  • 2008 – Kaitlynne Ward
  • 2007 – Elizabeth Ehrlich
  • 2006 – Adam S. Rostler
  • 2005 – Nicholas C. Bewley, Rose M. McGovern
  • 2004 – Oliver C. Inslee
  • 2003 – Kathryn Q. Hughes
  • 2002 – Jesse W. Lawson
  • 2001 – Christina E. Nolan, Maximilian P. Owre
  • 2000 – Benjamin D. Gordon, Kristina M. Jacobsen
  • 1999 – Timothy Ryan Ashe
  • 1998 – Aaron V. Stephenson, Kevin A. Young
  • 1997 – Rachael C. Diana, Kristina Pisanelli
  • 1996 – Nicole Y. Brumsted
  • 1995 – Michael K. Lantagne
  • 1994 – Shayne M. Jolie
  • 1993 – Ann M. Newell
  • 1992 – Jeffrey A. Iasilli, Steven J. Oatis
  • 1991 – Jonathan K. Balas
  • 1990 – William B.F. Steinman
  • 1989 – Jeanne-Marie Bates, Suzanne Marie Dressler
  • 1988 – Deborah Lynn Day
  • 1987 – Diane M. Saunders
  • 1986 – John F. Alexander, Cynthia L. Reid
  • 1985 – Mary Jane Peloquin
  • 1984 – Robert S. Steinberg
  • 1983 – Kathleen A. Kelleher
  • 1982 – Juanita B. Andrea, Robert L. Danyow
  • 1981 – Michael Cohen, Amanda Stedman
  • 1980 – John L. Kellner, Allison J. Kiffin
  • 1979 – Christine M. Dudley
  • 1978 – Susan Souther Curley
  • 1977 – Elizabeth F. Arms, Elaine C. Kilburn
  • 1976 – Ralph A. Barnes, J. Kevin Graffagnino
  • 1975 – Edward French, David S. Gonyau
  • 1974 – Craig N. Meurlin
  • 1973 – Valerie L. Lewis
  • 1972 – Melissa M. Lewis
  • 1971 – Carl E. Kormando

Arthur H. Miller and Cindy Orns Miller Award – Previous Recipients

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2025 – Olivia Alexandra Owen

Phi Alpha Theta Chapter Requirements

Undergraduate Students

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  • Junior or senior standing
  • 15 or more UVM credit hours in History (5 courses)
  • 3.6 GPA in History
  • 3.4 overall GPA

Graduate Students

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  • 15 or more UVM credit hours in History (5 courses)
  • 3.75 GPA in History

Further details are available from the Phi Alpha Theta faculty advisor, Professor Sean Field. Additional information about the National Honor Society is available on the Phi Alpha Theta National website.