Prizes and Awards

The Program in Writing and Rhetoric and Stanford Introductory Studies aim to celebrate and promote undergraduate writing, research, and presentation in several ways, including through the following awards:

The Boothe Prize for Excellence in First-Year Writing

Made possible by the generosity of the late D. Power Boothe Jr., his wife Catie, and their son Barry, the Boothe Prize recognizes and rewards outstanding examples of argumentative, analytical, and research-based writing produced by first-year students in PWR and IHUM.  All winning essays are published in the annual Boothe Prize Essays:  Excellence in First-Year Writing at Stanford.  The names of all nominees are listed in the publication of the Boothe essay collection as well.  Visit the Boothe Prize website to read these award-winning essay. 

 

Innovative Research Award (IRA) 

The Innovative Research Award (IRA) recognizes ambitious, original research that takes risks, engages creatively with the informing critical conversation, and holds promise for new directions in inquiry as well as larger related projects.  While the Boothe Prize honors the finished research-based argument, the IRA rewards innovative research projects which extend the ways we think about research.  

Oral Presentation of Research Award (OPRA) The Oral Presentation of Research Award (OPRA), in its fourth year, rewards innovative multi-media presentations that students create in PWR 2 classes.  While there are many opportunities on campus for students to be rewarded for their writing, there are few or none that encourage the types of dynamic student oral presentations that have won the OPRA award.  The OPRA emphasizes excellence in presentation as well as innovation in research, mirroring the complexity of the work students perform in PWR 2. 

Community Writing Project Awards

The Community Writing Project awards recognized the best work done by students in the CWP classes.

The Hoefer Prize

The Hoefer Prizes recognize outstanding Stanford undergraduate writing in Writing in the Major coruses. Prizes may be awarded in all areas of undergraduate curriculum: humanities, social sciences, natural and mathematical sciences, and engineering.