We are so excited to celebrate our Fall 2024 Lunsford Award and Boothe Award winners! You can read their award-winning essays and watch recordings of their presentations through the Boothe Prize and Lunsford Award websites.
Fall 2024 Boothe Prize Winner: Anura Bracey
For “To Be Young, Defective, and Black: Adultification Bias, Maternal Morbidity, and Black Femininity as Defective Adulthood,” written in Nora Kassner’s course Rhetorics of Childhood
Anura shares,
I am a pre-law Public Policy and Linguistics double major from New York City. I am passionate about language, history, politics, and the classics. At Stanford, I am a policy analyst for the Cardinal Policy Group and express my creative side as a stylist for Mint Magazine and as a member of FashionX. Moreover, as a runner and former high school track athlete, I am on Stanford's competitive club running team. Off the farm, I love eating, traveling, and consuming various media (books, movies, music, podcasts, TV shows—you name it).
My childhood as a Black girl shaped my experience in PWR1; when I signed up for "Rhetorics of Childhood," I knew I wanted to engage with adultification bias in some way. Moreover, spending eight years overseas made me aware of differing cultural perceptions of Blackness; in fact, my little brother was born abroad, and my mother had a vastly more positive experience during his birth than mine here in the States. These experiences, coupled with Dr. K's encouragement to explore their hardly-researched intersections, shaped my RBA.
The RBA writing process boosted my confidence, both as a writer and an analytical thinker; Dr. K encouraged me to form a novice argument bridging two seemingly distinct research communities and topics. I am excited to use the skills I learned in PWR1 throughout the rest of my academic career!
Fall 2024 Boothe Prize Honorable Mention: Chelsea Duyen Ma
For “Beyond Self-Advocacy: Sustained, Equitable Support for First-Generation Low-Income Students” written in Ruth Starkman’s ESF course What Can You Do for Your Country?
Chelsea says,
I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to my mentors, Raul Ibañez, Jasmine Peña, Brenda Magaña, and Pasadena City College Upward Bound. Their work has served as inspiration for this essay, and without them, my educational journey would have never been possible in the first place. In a class called What Can You Do for Your Country? I believe they represent the true American spirit, dedicating their lives to making the American dreams of others possible. They demonstrate that everyone, regardless of their background, should have the opportunity to achieve their aspirations through determination and support. By believing in and uplifting high-achieving first-generation students, they embody the nation’s ideals of opportunity, perseverance, and equity, proving that success is attainable for all who strive for it.
As the child of Vietnamese immigrants whose education never went beyond middle school, I was taught from a young age that education was the key to upward mobility. Through my RBA, I was able to critically analyze this mindset and explore the unique contributions that first-generation students bring to college campuses. The process of writing this paper and taking this class challenged me to grow both as a scholar and an individual. There were many moments of frustration when I struggled to articulate my ideas effectively. What helped most was taking advantage of the vast amount of writing resources here offered at Stanford such as through talking with the Hume Center’s peer tutors who guided me through my writer’s block.
Finally, I think what I found most fulfilling about writing this RBA was the opportunity to critically engage with a topic so deeply personal to me, my friends, and my community. This experience reinforced what makes Stanford so special to me, its recognition and academic validation of students' diverse backgrounds, and despite recent developments, I hope they continue to do so. With my passion for advocacy, I can see many skills from this experience carrying over into my classes and future career, most importantly, the ability to communicate effectively in a way that ensures my ideas are received openly, especially when working with people in positions of power.
I would also like to thank my interviewees, Bryan Mendez, Alondra Martinez, Bigbai Flores, Haein Shim, Mahalit Sisay and Nhi Nguyen for sharing their genuine and vulnerable experiences as FLI students.
Fall 2024 Lunsford Award Winner: Breanna Burke
For “Decolonizing AI: Reclaiming Marginalized Narratives Through AI and Art” presented in Mutallip Anwar’s PWR 2 course, The Rhetoric of Generative AI.
Breanna is a sophomore from Kingston, Jamaica, studying Computer Science on the AI track. Through her work, she explores the intersection of art and technology, particularly how they can collaborate to drive meaningful solutions.
Beyond the classroom, Breanna is a tour guide in training at the Cantor Museum and serves as Co-Director of the DEI team for Stanford’s Women in Computer Science (WiCS). Outside of Stanford, she enjoys photography, writing poetry, and crocheting.
About her PWR 2 experience, Breanna says,
Dr. Anwar created an incredibly engaging and inspiring environment. He emphasized the importance of “entering a conversation with existing scholars” by bringing fresh perspectives to established ideas. His enthusiasm and support for passion-driven projects made the class not just about improving research and presentation skills but about truly enjoying the process of learning. His teaching sparked curiosity, encouraged creativity, and made the experience both meaningful and unforgettable.
Fall 2024 Lunsford Award Winner: Arya Shadan
For “Hidden Figures: The Late Development of Female Representation in the STOP AIDS Project’s HIV/AIDS Prevention Campaign” presented in Nissa Cannon's PWR course, Discovering the Past: The Rhetoric of Archival Exploration
Arya Shadan is a second-year undergraduate student majoring in Political Science and minoring in Iranian Studies. Born and raised in the Bay Area, he transferred to Stanford University from Cañada College, a community college in Redwood City, CA.
Arya says, “During the fall quarter, PWR2 led me to the dusted boxes of the STOP AIDS Project—the first and most prominent HIV/AIDS prevention campaign in the Bay Area and beyond. My time with the archives, in harmony with PWR2's structured research journey, inspired a passion to immerse myself in a campaign that empowered San Francisco's queer community and ultimately saved thousands of lives. Through archival exploration, public speaking, and argumentative writing, PWR2 has equipped me with the skills to become a more intentional researcher and advocate."
