John Fraser Hart Award, Best Ph.D. Student Paper

Paper and Presentation Criteria

The paper must be prepared with care and treated as one prepares a manuscript for possible publication, which includes proper citations. A primary criterion for evaluation will be a well-defined research objective and a methodology appropriate to achieving it. The paper/poster should focus on one or more research questions and present at least a tentative answer, or it will receive a lower score in the judging competition. The Honors Paper/Poster Competition is not an appropriate venue for research in the proposal stage or not yet completed.

Each paper submitted to the graduate honors competition will be evaluated on the following criteria:

Paper Criteria:

  • Original research was undertaken by the author.
  • A 3,000-word paper of publishable quality in its entirety.
  • The oral presentation and defense at SEDAAG.
  • Proper citations, bibliography, and acknowledgments (if included).

Paper Presentation Criteria:

The oral examination is independent of the evaluation of the written paper. It will be evaluated on the following criteria:

  • The professional quality of the presentation to a general audience.
  • The visual quality of the presentation.
  • The adequacy with which questions are answered.
  • Proper citations and acknowledgments.

It is important that the oral presentations be lively and well-illustrated. All visual aids should be intelligible. Reminder: Maps, illustrations, and other audiovisual materials should be designed and constructed by the author. To leave enough time for questions, each oral presentation should adhere to the time limit (15 minutes) for delivery by the person specified by the person chairing the session. Questions will be 5 minutes.

The Overall Score:

In calculating the overall score, the written portion of the paper will be weighted 40 percent, and the presentation and questions 60 percent.

For nomination guidelines, please follow the link to the SEDAAG Awards Page.

The following distinguished Geography students have been awarded the John Fraser Hart Award for the best Ph.D. paper since 2002.

YearRecipientInstitution
2024
2023Avery CatherwoodUniv. of North Carolina-
Greensboro
2022Sarah JacksonUniv. of South Carolina
2021Savannah Collins-KeyUniversity of Tennessee
2020Yasin Wahid RabbyUniv. of Tennessee – Knoxville
2019Jordan BrasherUniv. of Tennessee – Knoxville
2018Douglas L. AllenFlorida State Univ.
2018Stephanie J. MundisUniv. of Florida
2017Maegen RochnerUniv. of Tennessee – Knoxville
2015Pete AkersUniv. of Georgia
2014Ronnie SchumannUniv. of South Carolina
2013Derek MartinUniv. of Tennessee
2012Whalen W. DillonUniv. of North Carolina – Charlotte
2010Kunwar SinghUniv. of North Carolina – Charlotte
2009Tomas VaclavikUniv. of North Carolina – Charlotte
2008Katie PriceUniv. of Georgia
2007Joni DownsFlorida State Univ.
2006Joshua InwoodUniv. of Georgia
2005Josh DurkeeUniv. of Georgia
2005Robert A. YarbroughUniv. of Georgia
2004Walker S. AshleyUniv. of Georgia
2003Katherine B. HankinsUniv. of Georgia
2002Kieron BaileyUniv. of Kentucky
2002Neely L. LawUniv. of North Carolina – Chapel Hill