Doctoral students Devin Burke, from the music department, and Sarah Koopman-Gonzalez, from the anthropology department, received the Richard A. Zdanis Fellowships of $5,000 to complete their dissertations.
Burke, who will graduate in December with a degree in historical musicology, will use his award to finish his dissertation on the 17th– and 18th-century fascination with inanimate statues brought to life in French operas and ballets. He will also attend interdisciplinary conferences to speak and share his findings with researchers from other fields.
Before graduating next spring, Koopman-Gonzalez will complete her study on the impact everyday violence has on Salvadoran elementary school children. This research has potential to help children around the world also living in violent communities.
In addition to the Zdanis Fellowship, Koopman-Gonzalez was also awarded the 2014-15 College of Arts and Sciences dissertation fellowship.
First awarded in 2003, the Richard A. Zdanis Fellowship honors the Provost and University Vice President Emeritus and Professor Emeritus of Physics who served the university from 1988 to 2000 and is known for his research on high-energy physics.