Healy Prize
The Healy Prize was founded in 2018 in memory of Dr. Robert M. Healy.
As a highly accomplished and universally admired Senior Lecturer at the University of Miami who taught for more than twenty years in literary studies and writing, Dr. Healy engaged his students in thinking about humanity and other major issues and themes evident in the masterpieces of world literature. The Healy Prize continues this tradition by recognizing the top undergraduate essay in literary and/or cultural studies each year. The winner receives a cash prize of $400.
Application Process
This prize is for students who have taken a literature and/or cultural studies course in the University of Miami English Department during the previous calendar year. It is open to all undergraduate students, regardless of major or minor, and students may apply once per year.
Toward the end of each fall semester, the Director of Undergraduate Studies will send out the annual call for applications to department faculty and to the English Department majors and minors listserv (students may also email the Director of Undergraduate Studies for information about the application deadline each year). The application deadline is usually at the beginning of each spring semester. Students may submit any paper they have written for an English Department literature and/or cultural studies course during the previous spring or fall semester. It is fine, and even encouraged, to revise the paper before submitting!
The English Department undergraduate studies committee then reviews the submissions and decides on 1 winner and 4 finalists. The winner and finalists are usually announced before spring break each semester.
To apply, students should send their paper as an attachment to the English Department Undergraduate Administrative Assistant by the spring semester deadline with a note indicating the class for which they wrote the paper.
Nancy T. Clasby Award
The Nancy T. Clasby Endowed Scholarship Fund was established by English faculty member Eugene Clasby in honor of his wife and longtime colleague in English. It is maintained by UM’S Heritage Society.
Nancy Clasby was a pioneering professor. After arriving at UM in June 6, 1968, Nancy Clasby discovered her voice in the male-dominated field of higher education. She relentlessly addressed systemic barriers that interfered with student success and tackled racial and social injustices throughout the community. As a faculty member, she established the first Black Studies program and taught the first Black Literature class. Outside the classroom, she transformed the role of women in higher education by pushing for equal pay and treatment through the development and implementation of the first renewable contracts for female faculty. Those and many others she impacted throughout her life could sum up their encounter with her in one word: engaging.
To continue that legacy, the Nancy T. Clasby Award is given each year to support one excellent female English major, with preference for students of underrepresented backgrounds.
Application Process
The Nancy T. Clasby Award is open only to freshman, sophomore, or junior English majors, and applications are by faculty nomination. Every spring semester, the Director of Undergraduate Studies sends a call to the English Department faculty asking them to nominate students for the prize. Nominees are then contacted and invited to apply. The undergraduate studies committee then convenes and decides on a winner, and the winner is announced by the end of the spring semester.
