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Boyatt and Kusa Awards

Kusa Awards

During the spring semester, the History department invites applications for the Kusa Award to support historical research, typically for participants in the Senior Honors Thesis program. The Kusa Award honors the memory of David Anthony Kusa, a history major at UNC who died tragically in 2005. For more information about the Kusa award, contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies, Brett Whalen (bwhalen@email.unc.edu).

Some Recent Winners of the Kusa Award

Francis Cayton, for her 2018 thesis “A ‘Third Possibility’ Revolution: The Success of Émigré Reporting Networks at Radio Free Europe During Poland’s 1956 Thaw.”

Jacob Bell, for his 2018 thesis “The Autocrat and the Revolutionary: Catherine the Great, John Paul Jones, and the Enlightenment’s ‘Woman Question.’”

Boyatt Awards

Twice a year, the History department invites applications for the Boyatt Award to help provide funding for research expenses, typically for participants in the Senior Honors Thesis program, and to defray the cost of studying abroad for History majors. The Boyatt Award is made possible by a generous donation by UNC alumnus Michael L. Boyatt.

Students interested in applying for research funding should contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies, Brett Whalen (bwhalen@email.unc.edu); those interested in study abroad funding should contact the UNC Study Abroad Office directly.

Some Recent Winners of the Boyatt Award

Michel Purello, for his 2017 thesis “American Catholics and American Foreign Policy During the Spanish Civil War.”

Maximilian Conley, for study abroad at Keio University, Japan, spring semester of 2017.

Jordan Jenkins, for study abroad at the University of Edinburgh, spring semester of 2017.


554A Pauli Murray Hall*
102 Emerson Dr., CB #3195
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3195

*Though the History Department uses the name Pauli Murray Hall for our building, on official maps you will find it as Hamilton Hall. Joseph Grégoire de Roulhac Hamilton’s intellectually dishonest historical and archival work promoted white supremacy. In contrast, Pauli Murray marshaled unassailable evidence and analysis in the service of racial and gender equality. In July 2020, all of the departments housed in the building agreed to adopt the name Pauli Murray Hall in place of Hamilton Hall. An official request with the Chancellor is pending. For more information, please see here.
phone: 919.962.2115
fax: 919.962.1403
email: history@unc.edu
For general questions, please email before calling. The History Department thanks you.
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