History Prizewinners 2007

The following students won History prizes in 2007.

Prema McIntosh

Prema won the John F. Kennedy Prize in American History for her 489 Research Essay entitled 'Redefining the Role of the First Lady: The Media and Hillary Rodham Clinton 1992-1994.'  The work looked at media images of Clinton and drew upon various primary sources particularly major U.S. newspapers and magazines.  Using these sources it analysed whether the so-called 'culture wars' of early 1990s America may have coloured perceptions of the First Lady of the time.  Starting with the 1992 campaign and election, it followed Clinton's image through various financial, political and personal scandals, ending with the failure of her ambitious Health Care plan and the Republican Revolution in the 1994 mid-term elections.
 

James Campbell

James won the Bowen prize for his essay, 'Alchemy in the English Jacobean Court'. His essay discussed the often overlooked place of both practical and philosophical alchemy at the court of King James I.  By examining the links of alchemists to the court, James demonstrated that consistent support was lent to alchemists whose ideas corresponded to King James’ political and religious programme.  Royal support for alchemy challenges the assumption that the Jacobean court opposed any occult philosophy, and demonstrates that the development of alchemical philosophy and practical chemistry was closely linked to the opportunities for disciplinary innovation provided by court culture.   

Emily Boyd

Emily received the Arnold Atkinson Prize. This prize was awarded to the undergraduate student who completed an essay on an aspect of British or European history, or the history of former British colonies, and who is judged to be the best student of the year and most worthy of the award.

Jonathan Sarich

Jonathan won the F P Wilson Postgraduate Prize. He was judged to have presented the best thesis for the degree of Master of Arts on a topic of New Zealand history. The title of his thesis is 'From Promotion to Reference, The New Zealand Official Year Book, 1893-1923: Its Content and Approach'.

Nadia Gush

Nadia was awarded The Zander and Durden Families Prize as the student judged to be the most worthy of the award who has completed a thesis in History for the degree of MA or PhD. Her thesis is entitled 'Cultural Fields of the Canterbury Plains: Women and Cultural Citizenship in Canterbury c.1890-1940'.

Camus Wyatt

Camus won the John F. Kennedy Prize in American History as the undergraduate student judged to be most worthy of the award for his essay on an aspect of American government, politics and international relations.

Shane Swinerd

Shane received The Clare Galambos-Winter Prize in Holocaust Studies. This prize was established in 2007 and was awarded to Shane as the most outstanding student in the History course on the subject of 'The Holocaust and Genocide'.