Each year, the Core Curriculum recognizes continuing and graduating students who distinguish themselves through exemplary academic performance, classroom participation, and community leadership.
The James Patrick Devlin Award
Established in 2011, this award commemorates one of Core’s original faculty in the program, James Patrick Devlin. Awards are given to second-semester Core students who have done outstanding work in their first-year Core courses and who plan to continue onto one or both of the Core second-year course sequences. It was always Prof. Devlin’s strong belief that it is in the curriculum of the second year that students experience the full benefit of the Core. The award consists of the purchase of all books for one sophomore Core class each semester, as well as a stipend of $250, with two students presented with an award each year. Honorable mentions receive books for one sophomore course. The deadline to submit a paper and a short recommendation from your discussion leader is Friday, April 12 at 5 PM.
To be considered for the award:
- Ask one of your Core instructors to email the committee a paragraph recommending you for the award.
- Select your best paper written for a first-year Core class.
- Submit the form below with an uploaded copy of your essay in pdf or docx format
A committee of Core professors will review the submissions and select at least two winners who will be notified in the early summer. If there are more than two outstanding applicants, additional awards may be considered. Winners will be announced at the annual spring Core Banquet. Students with questions about the award or application process can contact core@bu.edu.
About Prof. Devlin: Dr. James Patrick Devlin (1943-2010) was a philosopher, a programmer, and a teacher through and through. It was his way to examine all of life and then to examine it more, sometimes with hilarity and always with originality, honesty and thoughtfulness. He inspired those who came into contact with him to do the same. Prof. Devlin pushed the pedagogical envelope, and is remembered by students and colleagues—most fondly, with deep admiration, and even awe—as an outstanding teacher and a brilliant lecturer in the Core Humanities.
>>> past winners
- 2024:Jeff Kim and Wes Thornewill. Honorable Mentions: Sophia Marte-Rodriguez and Adam Godel.
- 2023: Natalia Sawicka. Honorable Mentions: Grayson Mckean and Miranda Galvan.
- 2022: Soren Chang and Jack Martin. Honorable Mentions: Aidan Clark, Chase Thuleen, and Netiva Sinha.
- 2021: Vivian Dai, Kei Kwan Queena Lau, and Jonas Benjamin Raedler. Honorable Mentions: Sami Almond, Lauren Gotard, and Luke Saunders.
- 2020: Ryan Chon and Sabine Ollivier Yamin. Honorable Mention: Xiaohan Wang.
- 2019: Brant Angelo Bowers and Erin Chung. Honorable Mention: Magdalene Farren and Faisal Halabeya.
- 2018: Nicholas Rodelo and Amy Wu. Honorable Mention: Rownyn Curry, Andrew Kelbley and Brady Wright.
- 2017: Nadine Chen and Hannah Kinney-Kobre. Honorable Mention: Emma Geesaman, Noah Lawson and Cory Willingham.
- 2016: Kellen Dorio and Tiffany Makovic. Honorable Mention: Joseph O’Sullivan, Julia Peters, Morgan Richards and Anto Rondon.
- 2015: Kush Ganatra and Abagail Peterson. Honorable Mention: Liam O’Connell and David D. Ortiz.
- 2014: Jennifer Baily and Rebekah Machemer. Honorable Mention: Rebecca Behrends, Ameen Khdair, Rachel Quillen and Alice Xu. Honorable Mention for Creativity: Pietro Scribani-Rossi.
- 2013: Miko Dimov, Sara Herschander, Alison LaFrance, Terry Mitchell and Bryan Purcell.
- 2012: Benjamin Brennan, Paola Peynetti Velazquez and Jackie Kos.
- 2011: Dylan Drolette, Winona Hudak, Megan Ilnitzski, Meredith Medlin, Nicolas Kostelecky and Julia Sinitsky.
Core Awards for Divisional Distinction
Awarded since 2014, the Divisional Distinction Awards recognize the exceptional performance of students in each of the four academic divisions of the Core Curriculum: the First-Year Humanities; the Second-Year Humanities; the Natural Sciences; and the Social Sciences. Nominations for the Core Awards for Divisional Distinction are submitted by faculty members to the awards committee in the spring semester, and the awards are announced at the annual Core Banquet. Winners receive book prizes. Students with questions about the award program are asked to direct their inquiries to the Divisional Awards Committee at core@bu.edu.
>>> past winners
2024:
- First-Year Humanities: Rio Belmont and Julia Tobojka. Honorable Mention: Adiyaan Ahamad, Alejandro Vera, and Anna Sokolova.
- Second-Year Humanities: Ben Bramwell. Honorable Mention: Eeshwar Gattupalli and Ella Flister.
- Natural Sciences: Juliet Feldman, Hattie Maxwell, and Muhammad Aseef Imran.
- Social Sciences: Jessica Buckley and Aidan Clark.
2023:
- First-Year Humanities: Scarlett Wills and Grayson McKean. Honorable Mention: Maggie McNeir, Jessica Laman, Luis Bello.
- Second-Year Humanities: Charlize Cruger and Jack Martin. Honorable Mention: Jessica Buckley, Aidan Patt, Netiva Sinha.
- Natural Sciences: Natalia Sawicka and Xiaohan Wang.
- Social Sciences: Jonas Raedler and Codell Christensen. Honorable Mention: Queena Lau and Vivian Dai.
2022:
- First-Year Humanities: Jack Martin and Jessica Buckley. Honorable Mention: Netiva Sinha, Kian Boon Tan, and Aidan Clark.
- Second-Year Humanities: Lauren Gotard and Simone Seiner. Honorable Mention: Queena Lau and Iana Nikorich.
- Natural Sciences: Toby Pannone.
- Social Sciences: Jonas Raedler. Honorable Mention: Abigail Hulick and Jonas Kaplan-Bucciarelli.
2021:
- First-Year Humanities: Seynedhee Avenie and Kei Kwan Queena Lau. Honorable Mention: Isabel Plower and Jordan Lee.
- Second-Year Humanities: Dilara Turut and Amir Wilson. Honorable Mention: Codell Christensen, Nic Rowe, and Jonas Kaplan-Bucciarelli.
- Natural Sciences: Simone Seiner and Lauren Gotard.
- Social Sciences: Vanessa Hanger. Honorable Mention: Alexandra Mascarello and Magdalene Rose Farren.
2020:
- First-Year Humanities: Vanessa Hanger and Cynthia Phan. Honorable Mention: Stephanie Liu and Lindsay Allebest.
- Second-Year Humanities: Michalina Jadick and Giovanni DiMaggio. Honorable Mention: Abby Sklar, Maria G. Garcia, and Carolyn Welter.
- First-Year Natural Sciences: Jonas Kaplan-Succiarelli.
- Second-Year Natural Sciences: Akesh Shah.
- Social Sciences: Magdalene Rose Farren and Asia Cesa. Honorable Mention: Claudia Couto, Sophia Scaglioni, and Ryan Feriancek.
2019:
- First-Year Humanities: Tyler Chidsey and Jacob Hillman.
- Second-Year Humanities: Quinn Angelou-Lysaker and C. Vega. Honorable Mention: Nicholas Rodelo.
- Natural Sciences: Ashini Best and Jay Clark. Honorable Mention: Karen Martinez Novoa.
- Social Sciences: Esteban Dominguez-Lash and Akesh Shah. Honorable Mention: Natalie Gonzalez.
2018
- First-Year Humanities: Quinn Angelou-Lysaker and Ciela Vega. Honorable Mention: Georgia Caras.
- Second-Year Humanities: Jonathan Han. Honorable Mention: Hannah Dion and Blaine Rinehart.
- Natural Sciences: Morgan Farrar, Lisa Vũ and Cory Willingham.
- Social Sciences: Sarah Eagan, Benjamin Wuesthoff and Robert Brady Wright. Honorable Mention: Eliza Dorfman
2017
- First-Year Humanities: Hannah Dion, Hannah Jew and Cory Willingham.
- Second-Year Humanities: Sylvia Reyes and Kaci X. Tavares. Honorable Mention: Elizabeth Didykalo.
- Natural Sciences: Kristen Manning and Matthew Moon.
- Social Sciences: Nadine Chen and Julia Peters. Honorable Mention: Hannah Kinney-Kobre and Ata Sunucu.
2016
- First-Year Humanities: Ata Sunucu. Honorable Mention: Elizabeth Foster.
- Second-Year Humanities: Gregory Kerr. Honorable Mention: Rachel Wipfler.
- Natural Sciences: Madison Crosby.
- Social Sciences: Hannah Needleman. Honorable Mention: Elizabeth Cornacchio and Weiyi Hu.
2015
- First-Year Humanities: Femke Hermse, Pooja Patel and Qin Shan.
- Second-Year Humanities: Brianna Randolph.
- Natural Sciences: Konrad Herath.
- Social Sciences: Hannah Hamilton.
2014
- First-Year Humanities: Mark Nooth and Stefanie Grossano.
- Second-Year Humanities: Justin Lievano and Katie Angelica.
- Natural Sciences: Catherine Enwright and Lydia Erickson.
- Social Sciences: Rachel Thomas and Emre Alpagut.
The Polytropos Award
“We shall not cease from exploration / And the end of all our exploring / Will be to arrive where we started / And know the place for the first time.” —T. S. Eliot
Given to graduating seniors, the Polytropos Award honors students whose varied accomplishments and extraordinary service to the Core Curriculum merit the perhaps somewhat extravagant yet proleptically likely designation of “polytropos,” the first adjective applied by Homer to describe the hero of his Odyssey. The Polytropos Award is given both in recognition of what a student has accomplished and in expectation of what he or she will accomplish, and in gratitude for their ongoing mindfulness of the Core community. Each Polytropos recipient has helped the Core in areas such as tutoring and mentoring, classroom visits, Freshman Fridays, Summer Advising, Open Houses, focus groups, presentations on Core and major concentrations, speaking about the Core with parents, reporters, and visitors, and help with the day-to-day functioning of the program. Polytropos awards-winners are announced at the annual Core Banquet, and receive a certificate and book prizes.
The full text on the award certification reads as follows:
>>> past winners
- 2024: Zoie Lee, Vanessa Hanger, Soren Chang, Simone Seiner, Kei Kwan Queena Lau, Aidan Ferguson, Di Malkin, Alanna Hoffman, Vivian Dai
- 2023: Alexandra Mascarello, Lindsay Allebest, Araceli Corley, Jonas Kaplan-Bucciarelli, Zupei Li, Vefa Borovali, Léa Namouni, Sarah Lopez, Codell Christensen, Marta Hammers, Andrea Gomez-Watson, Natalia Karadimitriou
- 2022: Tyler Chidsey, Grace Deustachio, Maggie Rose Farren, Faisal Halabeya, Bruce Hallgren, Jacob Hillman, Selena Lin, Akesh Shah, Moeka Suzuki, Carrie Welter.
- 2021: Quinn Angelou-Lysaker, Brady Wright, Marina Berardino, Rownyn Curry, Abigail Sklar, Margaret Cramer, Alana Jimenez, Ashley M. Lai and Ciela Vega.
- 2020: Hana Batio, Elena Bernstein, Hannah Dion, Eliza Dorfman, Morgan Farrar, Helen Houghton, Hannah Jew, Hannah Kinney-Kobre, Blaine Rinehart, Catalina Uribe Saravia, Danial Shariat and Cory Willingham.
- 2019: Lee-Or Bentovim, Caroline Louise Brantley, Madison Maeli Crosby, Francis J. DiMento III, Jonathan Yifeng Han, Reed Charles Kimzey, Matthew Lewis Moon, María Antonieta Rondón Anzola, Kassandra Jean Round, Ata Sunucu and Kaci Xiaodian Kealohamakamae Tavares.
- 2018: Samantha Arnold, Gideon Breslaw, Rosie Carter, Catherine Dossett, Emily Hatheway, Femke Hermse, Gregory Kerr, Kristen Manning, Sylvia Reyes and Christine Olivia Simonson.
- 2017: Eleanor Mary Blott, Giselle Boustani-Fontenele, Richard Patrick Driscoll, Chloe Elizabeth Hite, Yanni Takis Metaxas, David Daniel Ortiz, Katharine Rachel Quillen, and Brianna Wynema-Rochelle Randolph.
- 2016: Justin-Ryan Abueg, Radhika Akhil, Kathryn Angelica, Dana Barnes, Sarah Brooks, Daniel Brubaker, Catherine Enwright, Justin Lievano, Danielle McPeak, Veronica Priest and Bryan Purcell.
- 2015: Emre Alpagut, Madeline Michele Aruffo, Rania Jamil Ezzo, Nathan David Fairchild, Caroline Veronica Green, Zoe Laventhol Guy, Anastasia Kourtis, Novruz Javadov, Gayle Elizabeth Miner and Jason Elliot Porter.
- 2014: Shawn Benjamin, Alan Blanco, Cecilia Douglas, Winona Hudak, Zachariah Johnson, Nicholas Pantages, Sydney Shea and Lauren Wittel.
- 2013: Beverly Ang, Jillian Ferraro, Michael Ferron, Selma Mahmutovic, Rajani Ghosh, Mallory McCampbell, Marguerite McHale, Erik Nagamatsu, Caitlin Outterson, Reenat Sinay and Samuel Wildman.
- 2012: Katharine Clements, Philip Cook, Logan Gowdey, Jennifer Greene, Emma Hughes, Sydney Lindberg, Craig Meyer, Stephen Morrissey, Emma Rosenthal, Jacob Slutsky, Raphael Spitzer, Chloe Tuck, Eliel Van Buren and Olga Zhukov.
- 2011: John Batoha, Katherine Book, Hope Gee, Elizabeth Glenn, John Hutchison-Maxwell, Matthew Leonard, Katherine Lochery, Aura Lunde, John McCargar, Holly Nicely, Elizabeth Peyton, Sarah Sullivan, Ryan Swain and Henry Wilder.
- 2010: Fabiana Cabral, Alexa Corriea, Lindsey Gould, Laurie Jensen, Celia Kelly, Sean Link, Erin McDonagh, Kenryo Mizutani, Ethan Rubin and Kaitlin Young.
- 2009: Jonah Blustain, Amiel Bowers, Matthew Colangelo, Robyn Fialkow, Sarah Gazdowicz, Charles Howes, Danielle Isaacs, Andrew Kane, Courtney Miller and Jerome Turnbull.
- 2008: Amanda Cardenas, Courtney Futryk, Doug Herman, Dane Miller, Matthew Moran, Danielle Nadeau, Alex Raike, Jana Sico, Abigail Simon, Shanna Slank, Margotlane Strasburger and Dygo Tosa.
- 2007: Joshua Addison,Grécia Alvarez, Vivek Bhatia, Tiela Black-Law, Erika Connolly, Matthew Kelsey, Stephen Kyriacou, Jane Losaw, Jonathan Marker, Beth Pickard, Ursula Rice and Dana Truhe.
- 2006: Alessandra De Lucas, Alexa Dooseman, William Goldberg, Jon Goren, Joseph Jerome, David Schlesinger, Grace Smith, Henry Sway, Christine Toohey and Jonathan Wooding.
- 2005: Seth Allen, Julia Bainbridge, Raja Bhattar, Amy Chmielweski, Kimberly Christensen, Andrew David, Emma Hawes, Jehae Kim, Matthew Merendo and Stephen Miran.
- 2004: Aaron Devine, Lauren Hansen-Flaschen, Daniel Harney, Kirsten Lindee, Julie Mace, Jacob Morrow, Holly Naylor and Cynthia Reasner.
- 2003: Annemarie Buckley, Nathaniel Berndt, John Degory, Joshua DuBois, Maura Elford, Abraham Friedman, Amanda Hollis, Carinne Luck, Denise Spellman and J. Lee Spitzer.
- 2001: Krista Chiauzzi, Soo Young Chong, Gregory Comeau, Amit Dave, Michael Dickerson, Ellie Gebarowski-Shafer, Aysha Ghadiali, Senora Guillory, Candace Hines, Jessica Jorgensen, Michael Landis, Emma Jo Manley, Philip Nichols, Jonathon Nicol, Dove Pedlosky, Rebecca Strayer, Jon Marker, Philip Nichols, and Nicholas Trepanier.
- 2000: Evonne Noble, Rich Baldwin, Suzyn-Elayne Soler, Ryan Ives, Kim Santo and Melissa Sapienza.
- 1999: Brenda Berasi, Todd Albert, Heath Anderson, Ellen Andrick, Lisa Edwin, Elizabeth Hope, Aaron Huberfeld, Ryan Kane, Emily Klauser, Kelsey Lemaster, Chi Chi Lien, Peter Riordan, Devone Tucker, Nicholas Vanderpool and Jennifer Wilson.
- 1998: Charlie Bergstrom.
- 1996: Eric Gornstein, Samantha Khosla, and Logan Hennessy.
- 1995: Abigail Coyle, Rob Rosen, and Reggie Jean.
- 1993: Joe Waterman.
We strive to be as complete as possible in this record of our honorees. If you are aware of Polytropos honorees who are not listed here, please contact the Core office so we can update this page.
Core Journal Awards
The Journal of the Core Curriculum, published since 1992, is a student-led venue for exemplary thought and expression. In 2020, the editors instituted an awards program to recognize outstanding student work. That first year, awards were presented for essay-writing and creative writing; in 2021, a category was added to reward work which addresses the issue of sustainability. Winners receive a certificate, a book prize, and recognition at a spring creative showcase event or at the annual Core Banquet. To be considered for a Core Journal Award…
- submitters must be enrolled in an undergraduate program at Boston University, or within twelve months of having graduated from such a program, and
- must have an affiliation with the College of Arts & Sciences, whether through coursework or a concentration.
To be eligible, work must be original and unpublished elsewhere. Awards are selected by the editors from among works accepted for publication. For submission deadlines, visit the Journal homepage. Potential submitters with questions about submission guidelines or the selection process can contact corejournal@gmail.com.
>>> past winners
Winners of The Journal Essay Award:
- 2022: Charlotte Beatty, for “Constructing the Virtual Enemy”. Honorable Mention: Arezu Monshizadeh, for “The Perspective of Children in Iranian Cinema”, and Samantha Vatalaro, for “British Satire in the Age of Fake News”
- 2021: Daniel Cardosi, for “Nietzsche’s Textual Panopticon: Toward a Language of Perspectivism”. Honorable Mention: Marina Berardino, for “The Role of Letters in the Life of Jane Austen and the Lives of her Characters”; and Carolyn Zou, for “‘what’s your favorite u.s. w4r cr1me?’: Militarization and predatory recruiting in gaming spaces during COVID-19”
- 2020: Faisal Halabeya, for “Memory and Remembrance”
Winners of The Journal Award for Creativity:
- 2022: Taylor Thomas, for “Birdwatching with Karl Marx”. Honorable Mention: Eve Kleiber, for “A Salted Family”, and Colleen Rath, for “Self-Portraits”
- 2021: Sneha Korlakunta, for “A New Man in Town”. Honorable Mention: Gwen Liu, for “In Limbo”; Miho Namba, for “University Students in Japan Amidst COVID”; Alexandra Iberico, for “Reflection”; and Onosereme Ofoman, for “Normal People”.
- 2020: Magdalene Rose Farren, for “Theodicy/The Odyssey” (presented as The Core Attar-Wroth Award)
Winners of The Journal Award for Sustainability:
- 2022: Emily Yoder, for “The Great Turtle Is Drowning”. Honorable Mention: Maria Osipovich, for “Recreation”
- 2021: Riya Beri, for “Dear Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry”