Brookens Library and the Friends of Brookens Library are excited to announce the winners of the 2024 Brookens Library Undergraduate Research Award!

Undergraduate research, scholarly, and creative activities are foundational components of a complete liberal arts education. The Brookens Library Undergraduate Research Award was created by Brookens Library to recognize and reward UIS undergraduate students’ academic work that exemplifies quality research and an exceptional understanding of information literacy in the research process. The Friends of Brookens Library funds the $1500 in awards received by students.

This year we are honored to recognize the following students for their exceptional research:

• 1st Place: Alaynna Alderman – Six Children’s Books by Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel
• 2nd Place: Molly Harms – Social Movements and LGBTQ+ Rights: How Illinois Became a Leader in Queer Policy
• 3rd Place: Rith Scott – Queer Representation in Literature: A Cycle of Digestible Queerness & Violence
• 4th Place: Liz Uhl – Why People Confess to Crimes They Did Not Commit
• 5th Place: Kyla Leones – Intergenerational Trauma and Coping Among Southeast Asian Americans

In addition to the monetary awards and public recognition, each of the winners will also have their projects/papers deposited in the University of Illinois digital repository, IDEALS. Winners for this and previous years are listed on the Brookens Library Undergraduate Research Awards’ page with links to work in IDEALS:  https://libguides.uis.edu/researchaward.

The excellent and numerous applicants (53) this year made the judging a rewarding challenge for the committee. A big congratulations for all our winners and all our entrants!

The Brookens Library Undergraduate Research Award Committee 2024:

Pamela M. Salela, M.A., M.S., Chair
Brooke Depensbusch, Ph.D.
Yuan Wen, Ph.D.
Noah Reynolds, Ph.D.
Holly Kent, Ph.D.
Sally LaJoie, MLIS