Skip to main content

Academic Achievement Awards

By

The Department of Urban Studies faculty and staff proudly presents our Academic Achievement Award winners for 2021.  


Dr. Vincent E. "Jake" Powers Urban Studies Award

This award, in memory of Dr. Vincent “Jake” Powers, a highly respected urban historian and founder of the Worcester State University Urban Studies Department, is given to an undergraduate urban studies student who is an innovative, original thinker, and whose time in the department has emboldened them to pursue personal and professional opportunities they may not have previously considered and to achieve them with determination, grit, and courage.

Katherinne Cornejo
Katherinne Cornejo’s time as an urban studies major has truly transformed her and her career focus. With a second major in Spanish, she is president of the Spanish Club and the Alpha Mu Gamma Honor Society for foreign languages, the SGA Commuter Senator, and an intern with Ascentria Care Alliance. She is also a student advocate with the Student Clinic for Immigrant Justice, working on asylum cases with immigration attorneys. At WSU, her research has focused on Central American immigration, a topic that relates to her own personal journey from El Salvador seven years ago. Katherinne hopes to pursue graduate studies and work in the nonprofit sector.


Schwartz Charitable Foundation Urban Studies Award

This award, in honor of Nathan Schwartz, founding donor of the Schwartz Charitable Foundation, who was a business visionary committed to supporting small businesses and community endeavors in Worcester County, is given to the highest-ranking undergraduate senior majoring in urban studies who best represents the mission of the Foundation.

Sara Stoja
Originally from Worcester, Sara Stoja is a double major in urban studies and psychology and is the vice president of Amnesty International at WSU. Sara completed a transportation planning internship at the Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission with a focus on bikesharing and micromobility. Sara is also a member of Psi Chi Honor Society, a recipient of the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship, and a volunteer at the LGBTQ+ Task Force and the Hawden Congregational Church food pantry in Worcester. Sara plans to pursue a career in transportation planning, continue volunteering for different organizations, and later pursue graduate study.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Results of the 28th Manhattan Short Film Festival votes worldwide and at WSU

By
The results of the 2025 Manhattan Short Film Festival are in!   Here's the word from the Manhattan Short website:  " We Have Sinned Before You , written and directed by Ifat Nener Orgad (Israel), is the Gold Medal Winner of the 28th Annual Manhattan Short Film Festival. We Have Sinned Before You , a family drama set around a game designed to pass the time on Yom Kippur, resonated with viewers around the world."   In second place worldwide and winning the silver medal was  Passarinho , directed by Natalia García Agraz (Mexico). This film was "about two teenage girls who try to meet their favorite soccer player, but their plan is threatened when one of them gets a red card. The film is dedicated to all the Messi Mums in the world."   Finally, winning the bronze medal was Beyond Silence , written and directed by Marnie Blok (The Netherlands). This film "tells the story of two women from two generations who experience a singular trauma. One retre...
Post a Comment
Read more

Human Identity Class Wraps up the Semester with Creative Writing

By
Dr. Murphy’s Human Identity class wrapped up the semester with a party/creative writing workshop. With the knowledge gained from the course about the diversity and complexity of human experiences and identities, the students collaborated to write and present fictional stories about how a significant event can impact a person’s life and identity. Considering this stellar bunch of students who created such a warm and welcoming classroom environment, it was not surprising that the stories they produced were sophisticated, creative, serious, and playful. Congratulations on a terrific semester, Students!   
Post a Comment
Read more

November Fieldwork for the Metro Class

By
The year's Metro class -- for the uninitiated, "Metro" is Urban Studies-speak for UR 212 American Metropolitan Evolution -- did a little fieldwork in the Canal District today.  Walking along Green Street to Kelley Square and about halfway up Water Street, the class took in the city on foot, catching glimpses of all the little things you cannot see when you are driving through the area. This was a practical approach to help them see how to approach the research and writing for their semester term papers, The Neighborhood Paper . At the corner of Green and Winter Streets, for instance, we all wondered, what's the story here? It was a scene in which the build-out of an older house gives the impression that it was just dropped into the middle of an international grocery.  We'll have to investigate it more closely in the Worcester House Directories in CityLab.  Sometimes we had an easier time making connections across decades as with the building at 97 Water Street.  A...
Post a Comment
Read more