The Hoefer Prize-winning writing presented below represents excellence across the disciplines, spanning all areas of undergraduate study. We are pleased to share these essays with Stanford students, faculty, and the larger Stanford community.
2014-2015 Hoefer Prize Winners
Humanities
Laura A. Figueroa, "The Modern Nation in Colonial Korea: The Literary Construction of the Peasant Class as the Source of National Identity" (Korean General 120, Narratives of Modern and Contemporary Korea / Instructor: Dafna Zur)
Pearle Lun, "Being Matteo Ricci: Secular & Spiritual Pathways of a Jesuit in China" (History 209S, Research Seminar for Majors / Instructor: Nancy Kollmann)
Claire Patterson, "“The beginning is hers, the ending, mine”: Cross-Cultural and -Generational Communication in The Woman Warrior" (American Studies 160, Perspectives on American Identity / Instructor: Judith Richardson)
Social Sciences
Abby Fanlo, "Ethno-Religious Composition of Colonial Security Forces and Post-Independence Civil Wars" (Political Science 212C: Civil War and International Politics: Syria in Context / Instructor: James Fearon)
Sciences
Candice Kim, "Methylation in Plants: The Chromatin-Remodeling Factor PICKLE in Arabidopsis Development" (Biology 137, Plant Genetics / Instructor: Virginia Walbot)
Engineering
Samuel Cady, "Quantifying Microbial Production of Fatty-Acid-Derived Biofuels" (Chemical Engineering 185A: Chemical Engineering Laboratory A / Instructor: Elizabeth Sattely)
Math
Brett Harvey, "The Delian Problem and Other Geometric Impossibilities of Antiquity" (Mathematics 120, Groups and Rings / Instructor: Ravi Vakil)
2013-2014 Hoefer Prize Winners
Humanities
Keegan Boyer, "Fanatics or Freedom Fighters? The Tomochic Rebellion in the Porfirian Press" (History 209S, Research Seminar for Majors / Instructor: Jennifer Burns)
Meredith Wheeler, "Moral Citizens: Coeducational Transformation at Stanford" (History 209S, Research Seminar for Majors / Estelle Freedman)
Samuel Klotz, "The Sublime, Terror, and the Mind" (Art History 294, Writing and the Visual / Instructor: Bryan Wolf)
Social Sciences
Jason Willick, "Human Dignity and the Limits of Toleration" (Ethics in Society 171, Justice / Instructor: Joshua Cohen)
Sciences
Amy Lanctot, "Engineering Future Foods: Methods of Transgene Targeting and Excision in GMO Technologies" (Biology 137, Plant Genetics / Instructor: Virginia Walbot)
Engineering
Karan Handa, Bryan Lopez, John McMordie, & Marco Solis, "If it Swims Like a Duck..." (Mechanical Engineering 112, Mechanical Systems Design / Instructor: Mark Cutkosky)
2012-2013 Hoefer Prize Winners
Humanities
Leow Hui Min Annabeth, "Rape, Religion, and Female Sexuality in Works by Artemisia Gentileschi and Tori Amos" (Feminist Studies 153, Women and the Creative Imagination / Instructor: Valerie Miner)
Bianca Dang, "Critical of Compromise: Henry McNeal Turner and the Rise of the Emigration Movement in Post-Civil War America" (History 209S, Research Seminar for Majors / Instructor: Allyson Hobbs)
Kelly Nguyen, "Les exilés de Troie à Paris" (French 132, Literature, Revolutions, and Changes in 19th- and 20th-Century France / Instructor: Biliana Kassabova)
John Steinbach, "Robert H. Jackson, Nuremberg, and the Spectacle of Wartime Tyranny" (History 209S, Research Seminar for Majors / Instructor: Carolyn Lougee Chappell)
Social Sciences
Benjamin Mercer-Golden, "Explaining Endless War: International Intervention and Centralized Power in Afghanistan" (Political Science 215, Explaining Ethnic Violence / Instructor: James Fearon)
Sciences
Corey Stein, "Defining the Riemann Integral and the Lebesgue Integral Through Abstract Metric Space Techniques" (Mathematics 171, Fundamental Concepts of Analysis / Instructor: Andras Vasy)
Daniel Trugman, "Get it Right or Go To Jail: A Review of Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis" (Geophysics 199, Senior Seminar: Issues in Earth Sciences / Instructors: Simon Klemperer and David Bird)
Guo Alfred Zong, "Determining the speed of light by measuring the beat frequency between adjacent axial modes of a He-Ne Fabry-Pérot laser" (Physics 107, Intermediate Physics Laboratory II: Experimental Techniques and Data Analysis / Instructor: David Goldhaber-Gordon)
2011-2012 Hoefer Prize Winners
Humanities
Nicholas Gardner, "Immediately Homer's Divinities" (Classics 176, Majors Seminar / Instructor: Jennifer Trimble)
Cassandra Nader, "The Performance of Mourning: Elegiac Conventions in Merill's 'Farewell Performance'" (English 160, Poetry and Poetics / Instructor: Christopher Rovee)
Kiah Thorn, "Algún Día’, pero no hoy: El racismo callado en Perú y el caso del Negro Mama" (Spanish 102, Composition and Writing Workshop / Instructor: Vivian Brates)
Social Sciences
Alexandra McKinney, "Lost, Found, and Lost Again? Crafting an Efficient Solution to Disputes over Stolen Art" (Public Policy 106, Economics of Legal Rules and Institutions / Instructor: Bruce Owen)
Sciences
Ian Ball, "Classification of Finite Abelian Groups" (Mathematics 120, Modern Algebra / Instructor: Soren Galatius)
Engineering
Daniel Reynolds, "Going Nuclear: Expanding nuclear power at V.C. Summer Nuclear Station, Jenkinsville, South Carolina" (Management Science & Engineering 125W, Introduction to Decision Analysis / Instructor: Ross Shachter)
2010-2011 Hoefer Prize Winners
Humanities
Hwee Juin Lee, "L’analyse approfondie des buts de la quête dans Yvain, le Chevalier au lion" (French Literature 130, Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance French Literature / Instructor: Cécile Alduy)
David Rosenthal, "Androgyny as Liminality: a Psychoanalytic Reading of Achilles' Gender in the Iliad" (Classics 176, The Iliad, the Aeneid, and the Ancient Art of Persuasion / Instructor: Maud Gleason)
Eric Tuan, "Beyond the Cadence: Post-Cadential Extension in Ockeghem's Sacred Music" (Music 141, Studies in Renaissance Music / Instructor: Jesse Rodin)
Anne Warner, "Night and Fog and French Holocaust Memory" (History 209S, History and the Arts in Europe, 1500 - Present / Instructor: Carolyn Lougee Chappell)
Social Sciences
Edgardo Cervano-Soto, "Dragging The Main: Public Art, Memory and Race on a Downtown Street" (Urban Studies 203, Senior Seminar in Urban Studies / Instructor: Michael Kahan)
Sciences
Micol Marchetti-Bowick, "Charting the cortical wilderness: A probabilistic framework for synapse localization and class discovery in a mouse whisker barrel cortex" (Computer Science 191W, Senior Project / Instructor:Daphne Koller)
2009-2010 Hoefer Prize Winners
Humanities
Alice Hu, "A Perfect Storm: Pinkertons, the Evolution of Violence, and the Homestead Strike 1892" (History 209S, American Identities: Research Seminar in the Major / Instructor: Allyson Hobbs)
Jeffrey Gerson, "'The Spectres in Books': the Formatting of Walt Whitman's 1855 'Song of Myself' against theNorton Anthology" (English 160, Poetry and Poetics / Instructor: Nicholas Jenkins)
Social Sciences
Sarah Guerrero, "People Power 3.0? ICT, E-Government, and the Digital Divide in the Philippines" (International Relations 130, Science, Technology, and Development / Instructor: Gili S. Drori)
Sciences
Maria Gudmundsdottir, "The utility of bedrock incision models: How river channels encode information about active tectonics, and how and when we can decode it" (Geological & Environmental Sciences 150, Issues in the Earth Sciences: A Senior Seminar / Instructors: Anne Egger, Dennis Bird)
Robert Holley, "Getting Out Of Band: Internet Explorer and the XML Data Island Vulnerability" (Computer Science 181, Computers, Ethics, and Public Policy / Instructor: Maggie Johnson)
2008-2009 Hoefer Prize Winners
Humanities
Caroline Newton, "Against Alcibiades" (Classics 176, Two Epics and Five Systems of Knowledge / Instructor: Maud Gleason)
Justin Solomon, "Deconstructing the Definitive Recording: Elgar's Cello Concerto and the Influence of Jacqueline du Pré" (Music 149, Reactions to the Record: Early Recordings, Lost Styles, and Music's Future / Instructor: George Barth)
Social Sciences
Vera Eidelman, "Perfect 10 v. Google: It is Fair" (Economics 101, Economic Policy Analysis / Instructor: Gregory Rosston)
Sciences
David Lapham, "The Periodic Table" (Chemistry 134, Analytical Chemistry Laboratory / Instructor: Christopher R. Moylan)
Jeffrey Wang, "Fundamental Theorem of Finite Abelian Groups" (Mathematics 120, Modern Algebra / Instructor: Ravi Vakil)
Engineering
Russell Patton, "Recommendations for Improving ClipCase Product" (Engineering 102M, Technical Writing for Mechanical Engineers / Instructors: Evelin Sullivan and Mary McDevitt)
2007-2008 Hoefer Prize Winners
Humanities
Anne Felice Foisie Schiff, "From Ciceronian to Christian: Literary Conversion in Jerome and Augustine" (Classics 176, Exemplary Lives / Instructor: Maud Gleason)
Joanthan D. Scrafford, “La globalización de la ética: Análisis filosófico de la universalidad de la ética humana" (Spanish Language 102, Composition and Writing Workshop / Instructor: Caridad Kenna)
Social Sciences
Mackenzie A. Banks, "Immigration and Public Opinion: The Influence of the Media" (Economics 101, Economic Policy Analysis / Instructor: Manuela Angelucci)
Kristina Yang, "An Economic Analysis of Veterans' Compensation Law" (Public Policy 106, Economic Analysis of Law and Legal Institutions / Instructor: Bruce Owen)
Sciences
Katy Meadows, "Using Semi-Direct Products to Classify Groups of Order 20" (Mathematics 120, Modern Algebra / Instructor: Jun Li)
Engineering
Juliet Rothenberg, "Clean Coal Innovation" (Management Science and Engineering 152, Introduction to Decision Analysis / Instructor: Ross Shachter)
2006-2007 Hoefer Prize Winners
Humanities
William Cheng, “Hermeneutics of Autobiography and Programme in Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy” (Music 148 Musical Shakespeare: Theater, Song, Opera, Film / Instructor: Professor Thomas Grey)
Claire Liu, “Music in U.S.-China Diplomacy” (History 256, History of U.S.-China Relations / Instructor: Professor Gordon Chang)
Social Sciences
Robert A. Fuentes, “Rebellion and Revolution in Central America: The Honduran Exception” (Political Science 215, Explaining Ethnic Violence / Instructor Professor James Fearon)
Engineering
Alexander R. Steiner, “Temperature-Dependence of Hydrogen Fuel Cell Performance” (Chemical Engineering 185, Chemical Engineering Laboratory / Instructors: Professor Lisa Hwang and Professor Curtis Frank)
Roseanne Warren, “Pede-Stool Design and Manufacturing Project” (Engineering 102M, Technical/Professional Writing for Mechanical Engineers / Instructor: Professor David Lougee; in conjunction Mechanical Engineering 203, Manufacturing and Design / Instructor: Professor David Beach)
2005-2006 Hoefer Prize Winners
Humanities
Jennifer Rose Carr, " ‹‹ Ce grand livre ››: Objets intennionnels dans Zadig" (French Literature 131, Absolutism, Enlightenment, and Revolution in 17th and 18th Century France / Instructor: Dan Edelstein)
Eugenie Kim, "Popularization and Conservatism: Audience and Intent in Sprat's The History of the Royal Society" (History 232F, The Scientific Revolution / Instructor: Paula Findlen)
Social Sciences
Nicole Alia Salis, "A Misuse of Equal Protection: The Doe v. Kamehameha Schools Case" (Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity 200X, Senior Seminar / Instructor: C. Matthew Snipp)
Sciences
Ellen Theresa Gray, "Three Hypotheses for the Causes of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum: A Fifty-Five Million Year Old Mystery" (Geological and Environmental Sciences 150, Issues in the Earth Sciences / Instructors: Anne Egger and Dennis Bird)
Laure Sierra Katz, "Sails, Sharks, and Stomachaches: My Voyage Through the Pacific" (Earth Systems 210, Senior Seminar / Instructor: Julie Kennedy)
2004-2005 Hoefer Prize Winners
Humanities
Tatiana Lutra Catanzarite, "There's Just Something About Mary: Constructions and Reconstructions of the Magdalene from the Early Medieval Period through Modernity" (Religious Studies 112, Handmaids and Harlots: Biblical Women in Jewish and Christian Traditions / Instructors: Barbara Pitkin and Adriane Leveen)
Social Sciences
Anna Cueni, "Learning to Do Gender" (Linguistics 150, Introduction to Sociolinguistics / Instructor: Isabelle Buchstaller)
Sciences
Jared Kaplan, "Constraining a Lorentz Violating Photon Mass with Johnson Noise" (Physics 107, Intermediate Physics Laboratory II: Experimental Techniques and Data Analysis / Instructor: Mark Kasevich)
Engineering
Laura Lyndsey Surma, "Green Dorm Project Proposal" (Civil and Environmental Engineering 100, Managing Sustainable Civil Engineering Projects / Instructor: Martin Fischer)
2003-2004 Hoefer Prize Winners
Humanities
Hal Brands, "'As a Soldier, As a Citizen, As a Man': Henry and John Laurens, the Slave Regiment, and the Influence of Revolutionary and Republican Ideals on American Perceptions of Slavery" (History 272/Political Science 321, Creating the American Republic / Instructor: Jack Rakove)
Social Sciences
Jennifer Graham, "Is Islam the Barrier to Democracy in the Muslim World? An Empirical Analysis of Muslim Culture and Its Democratic Tendencies" (Political Science 116, Non-State Actors in World Politics / Instructor: Tim Bthe)
John M. Stoops, "English Language Fluency: Performance Expectations and Participation" (Sociology 200, Senior Seminar / Instructor: Kathy J. Kuipers)
Sciences
Phillip Dumesic, Jared David Miller, & Emily Laura Stenseng, "Determination of Fluoride Ion Concentration in Reach ACT Anticavity Fluoride Rinse Using Ion Exchange Chromatography" (Chemistry 134, Principles of Quantitative Analysis / Instructor: Richard N. Zare)
2002-2003 Hoefer Prize Winners
Humanities
Trevor Sutton, "The Penitent's Pulpit: Alexander Radishchev and the French Enlightenment" (History 217, Men, Women, & Power in Early Modern Russia / Instructor: Nancy Kollmann)
José Mariano Resendiz, "La inmigración indocumentada: Un análisis desde tres perspectivas" (Spanish 102B, Composition & Writing Workshop for Heritage Language Students / Instructor: Alice Miano)
Social Sciences
Niki Carelli, "The Politics of Extremism: Wahhabism and the Second Chechen War" (Political Science 215, Explaining Ethnic Violence / Instructor: James Fearon)
Sciences
Brian Faulk, Genevieve Guzmán, & Kristin Schleicher (co-authors), "Determination of Phosphate Concentration in Sodas by Ion Chromatography" (Chemistry 134, Theory & Practice of Quantitative Chemistry / Instructor: Richard Zare)
2001-2002 Hoefer Prize Winners
Humanities
Andrea Haslanger, "The Engraver's Hand: Representation and Image in Elizabeth Bishop's 'Over 2,000 Illustrations and a Complete Concordance'" (English 150 Poetry and Poetics / Instructor: Nicholas Jenkins)
Social Sciences
Becky Blanchard, "'Not True to Scale or Directions': Remapping Out-of-the-Way Places" (Cultural and Social Anthropology 90 Theory in Cultural and Social Anthropology / Instructor: Paulla A. Ebron)
Dustin J. Matsumori, "Miracle or Myth? Evaluating the Economic and Social Consequences of Liberalizing Pinochet's Chile" (International Relations 131 Globalization and Organizations / Instructor: Gili S. Drori)
Li Sa Ng, "The Marsilian Sea-Change" (Political Science 151B History of Political Thought II: The Origins of Modern Democracy / Instructor: Susan Okin)
Sciences
Colin Campbell, "Measuring the Speed of Light Using the Beat Frequency of a Variable Cavity-Length Laser" (Physics 107 Advanced Laboratory Seminar: Optics & Lasers / Instructors: Vladan Vuletic & Rick Pam)
Engineering
Gretchen A. DeVries, "Heat Treatment of Steel to Alter Mechanical Properties" (Materials Science & Engineering 161 Materials Science Laboratory I: Introduction to Metallography and Microscopy / Instructor: Jonathan Doan)
2000-2001 Hoefer Prize Winners
Humanities
Caglar Erdogan, "'Das Urteil' von einem marxistischen Standpunkt: Die Isolation von Georg Bendemann von dem Kosmos" (German Studies 126Q Reading German Literature: An Introduction / Instructor: Russell A. Berman)
Stephanie Kehrer, "The Dialogue, The Church, and the Trial: Personal Discord and Public Crisis in the Galileo Affair" (History 216 When Worlds Collide: The Trial of Galileo / Instructor: Paula Findlen)
Social Sciences
Kate Mezan, "NASCO: An Analysis of Treaty Effectiveness" (International Relations 215 International Environmental Politics / Instructor: Ronald B. Mitchell)
Jennifer Yeh, "The Chains that Bind the Brain: A Study of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Creativity" (Psychology 110 Research Methods and Experimental Design / Instructor: Mark Lepper)
Sciences
Nikhil Padmanabhan, "The Saturation and Single-Pass Gain of a HeNe Laser" (Physics 107 Intermediate Laboratory Seminar / Instructors: Steve Chu and Rick Pam)
Engineering
Amy Marietta, "South Bay Water Recycling Program: Santa Clara Pipeline" (Civil and Environmental Engineering 100 Managing Civil Engineering Projects / Instructor: John R. Haymaker)
1999-2000 Hoefer Prize Winners
Humanities
Charles E. Hudson, "El papel del buen criado en La Celestina" (Spanish 279 Heroes or Villains? Transgression in Spanish Art, Film and Literature / Instructor: María Paz Haro)
Social Sciences
Andrea McArthur, "Bilingual Education: What Matters Most?" (Linguistics 150 Language in Society / Instructor: John R. Rickford)
Scott Neuman, "Domain Name Trademark Disputes: Should Trademark Protection Extend to Domain Names?" (Economics 101 Economic Policy Analysis / Instructor: Gregory L. Rosston)
Sciences
John Greenland, "Temperature dependence of Strongylocentrotus Purpuratus DNA damage photoreversal enzymes" (Biological Sciences 44X Core Experimental Laboratory / Instructors: Melanie Yelton & Shyamala Malladi)
Engineering
Shanshan Wu, "Flow Measurements with a Laser-Doppler Velocimeter" (Chemical Engineering 185A Chemical Engineering Laboratory / Instructor: Curtis W. Frank)
1998-99 Hoefer Prize Winners
Humanities
Tara Nathan, "Absorption and Antiabsorption in Versions of Dickinson" (English 150 Poetry and Poetics / Instructor: Herbert S. Lindenberger)
Amy Slansky, "Feminine Liberation through Wagnerian Operas in Willa Cather's The Song of the Lark" (Music 144 Studies in Romantic Music / Instructor: Heather Hadlock)
Benjamin Willey, "La selva quijotesca: un análisis de la obra de Horacio Quiroga, desde una perspectiva cervantina" (Spanish 278 Pan-American Movements / Instructor: Claire F. Fox)
Social Sciences
Anna Yusim, "Cigarettes, Poverty, and the Inadequacy of Desert: A Philosophical Quest for Justice in Health Care" (Political Science 158R Children's Citizenship / Instructor: Robert Reich)
Sciences
Michael R. Bilca, "On the Structure of Groups of Order 10" (Mathematics 109 Applied Modern Algebra / Instructor: Jun Li)
Louis Dang, "Determination of Transition Metal Cations and Common Anions in Stream and Ocean Water Using Ion Exchange Chromatography" (Chemistry 134 Theory and Practice of Quantitative Chemistry / Instructors: David J. Rakestraw and Richard N. Zare)
1997-98 Hoefer Prize Winners
Humanities
Daniel Davis, "Forgotten Champion of Anglo-Jewish Emancipation: David Salomons" (History 242S Exploring Modern Britain through Documents and Images Held at Stanford / Instructor: Peter Stansky)
Robert Weston Neel, "Cowardly Soldier versus Brave Officer" (Philosophy 80 Mind, Matter, and Meaning / Instructor: Kenneth Taylor)
Social Sciences
Ann Iwashita, "Local Knowledge" (Anthropology 90 Theory in Anthropology / Instructor: Amy Borovoy)
Sciences
Tony Agoston, "Gravimetric and Potentiometric Determination of the Percent Weight of Chloride in an Unknown Sample" (Chemistry 134 Theory and Practice of Quantitative Chemistry / Instructor: Lauren McMills)
Frederick A. Matsen, "The Contraction Mapping Principle; the Existence and Uniqueness Theorem" (Mathematics 171 Fundamental Concepts of Analysis / Instructor: Gigliola Staffilani)
Joseph Street, "Into the Mystic: Ascidians and Ecosystems in an Age of Biological Invasions" (Earth Systems 210 Senior Seminar / Instructor: Julie Kennedy)
Engineering
Jon Wells, "Gas Tank and Convenience Store Remediation" (Civil & Environmental Engineering 100 Managing Civil Engineering Projects / Instructor: Martin Fischer)
1996-97 Hoefer Prize Winners
Humanities
Jonathan Brown, "The Importance of Identity to Survival: A First Person Worry" (Philosophy 80 Mind, Matter, and Meaning / Instructor: Michael Bratman)
Social Sciences
Sandy Liu, "Historical Development of the US Trucking Industry: Legislation or Ecology" (Sociology 200 Senior Seminar / Instructor: Elisa Bienenstock)
Regine Spector, "Salvaging Civilian Security: The Role of Civilian Police in United Nations Peacekeeping Missions" (International Relations 199R Advanced Study in International Peacekeeping and Conflict Management / Instructor: Stephen Stedman)
Sciences
Irene Chan, "The 14C Content of Dissolved Organic Carbon in Marine Pore Waters" (Earth Systems 210 Senior Seminar / Instructor: Julie Kennedy)
John Mongan, "Spectrophotometric Analysis of Anacin Content" (Chemistry 134 Theory and Practice of Quantitative Chemistry / Instructor: T. Daniel Stack)
Engineering
Rahul Young, "Habitat Productivity" (Civil & Environmental Engineering 100 Managing Civil Engineering Projects / Instructor: Martin Fischer)
