The Department of History is delighted to announce the latest recipients of the Nancy Bylan Bratman Excellence in Writing Awards. These prizes recognize the promising work of entry-level majors in the “Doing History” class (History 202) and more accomplished projects by History juniors and seniors enrolled in the History colloquia 496 and 497.  

Fall 2016 Prizes

  • Andrew Grafton won first prize in the upper-level category for his History 496 paper “Fighting for Their Livelihood: The Distinctive Nature of American Privateering Culture During the War of 1812.” 
  • Shavonne Gilkey won second prize in the upper-level category for her History 496 paper “Black and Indian? An Account of African Americans’ Attempts at Obtaining Freedom through Indianness.”
  • Jared Kunkel was recognized for his History 202 paper “The Importance of Government Censorship and the Press in Murder Cases.”

The prizes were established last year by a generous gift fron Ben Bratman and David Bratman to honor their mother, Nancy Byland Bratman, who earned her U-M History BA in 1951. Last winter term’s winners were Rachana Gudipradi, Eric Morgel, and Julia Kropa.