Kentucky Association of Teachers of History

The Kentucky Association of Teachers of History (KATH) is proud to announce the 2014 winners of the annual awards for student writing and research in history. Entries were considered by a panel of historians invited by the KATH Board to serve as judges. The winners, who wrote their papers during the 2013-14 academic year, will be honored with a cash prize and certificate at the Annual Meeting this weekend in Louisville.

Cody Barnett

The Thomas D. Clark Undergraduate Student Writing Award is given to a student who has written an outstanding undergraduate research paper in U.S. history while attending a Kentucky college or university.

The winner of the Clark Award this year is Cody S. Barnett (Transylvania University) for his paper “The Thought of the Smell of Black Powder Smoke: Violence in Kentucky Politics and the Clayhole Election Shootout.”  Cody Barnett is from Viper, Kentucky and majored in both political science and history at Transylvania. Dr. Melissa McEuen, History professor at Transylvania University, served as his faculty sponsor.

Todd Blevins

Honorable Mention goes to Todd Blevins (Morehead State University) for his paper “Owingsville on Fire: The Second Great Awakening and the Birth of Small-Town Evangelism.”  Todd Blevins is from Owingsville, Kentucky and recently won the 2014 Camden-Carroll Library Prize for Undergraduate Research for the exemplary research conducted for his paper. Dr. Alana Cain Scott, History professor at Morehead State University, served as his faculty sponsor.

The Raymond F. Betts Undergraduate Student Writing Award is given for the outstanding undergraduate research paper on a world history topic (from any time period) while attending a Kentucky college or university.

Sona Apbasova

The winner of the Betts Award this year is Sona B. Apbasova (Berea College) for her paper “Pan-Turkism of Republic of Turkey in post-Soviet Central Asian Republics in 1990s.” Sona Apbasova graduated from Squalicum High School in Bellingham, Washington; but for her, home is in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan – one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Dr. Rebecca Bates, History professor at Berea College, served as her faculty sponsor.

The George C. Herring Graduate Student Writing Award is given to a graduate student who has written an outstanding paper while attending a Kentucky university. The paper may be on any historical topic.

Amanda Boczar

The winner of the Herring Award this year is Amanda Boczar (University of Kentucky) for her paper “Uneasy Allies: The Americanization of Sexual Politics in South Vietnam.” Amanda Boczar graduated with an M.A. from the University of North Florida in 2010 and is working on her dissertation currently titled, “Foreign Affairs: American Policy and the Making of Love and War in Vietnam.” She anticipates graduating with the Ph.D. in 2015. Dr. Lien-Hang Nguyen, History professor at the University of Kentucky, served as her faculty sponsor.