Emilie Cunning winner of the British Association of American Studies undergraduate essay prize

We are delighted to announce that our undergraduate student, Emilie Cunning, has been awarded the BAAS Undergraduate Essay Prize for 2021 for her essay To what extent does #Black Lives Matter represent a new departure in African American protest?

This is what the BAAS Awards panel said about the award: ‘The panel was highly impressed by this essay for its excellent, well argued analysis of the Black Lives Matter movement and its distinction from, and connection to, previous civil rights struggles. The essay takes a serious approach to complex and knotty questions of the relationship between historical movements in human and civil rights. The panel was particularly impressed by the essay’s engagement with relevant scholarship, as it attained a level of intervention into the contemporary field of debate that encouraged us to think in new ways about the movement. Covering a wide scope in a small space, the argument was impressively communicated in a clear and concise way. Very well done!’

Emilie says: ‘I’m very happy with the news about this award, especially as the subject matter is particularly pertinent to the contemporary struggle for racial justice in America and the surrounding historiographical debates about the ‘long civil rights movement.’ I’d like to thank Professor Jonathan Bell for his excellent instruction on the module AMER0046: Protest Politics in the United States from the New Deal to Donald Trump, for which this essay was written, as well as my other professors on the degree who have helped shaped my knowledge of the subject. ‘

Her prize will be awarded at the BAAS Virtual Conference on April 11th at 4pm BST

Emilie Cunning is a finalist on our History and Politics of the Americas BA degree programme. She is planning to pursue postgraduate studies. Congratulations are in order!

The British Association of American Studies (BAAS) was founded in 1955. It promotes, supports and encourages the study of the United States in the Universities, Colleges and Schools of the United Kingdom, and by independent scholars.

Links:

Professor Jonathan Bell - academic profile

AMER0046: Protest Politics in the United States from the New Deal to Donald Trump - module description

BAAS Virtual Conference website

History and Politics of the Americas BA - degree description

British Association of American Studies - website

Image:

Photo of E Cunning