03/10/2025
The Center for the Study of Women and Society is pleased that we have been able to facilitate the awarding of Koonja Mitchell Memorial Prize every year since its establishment in 2008 by Grace Cho.
Each year, the prize honors an outstanding doctoral student in any discipline, whose work is concerned with issues of social justice. Past recipients have written dissertations on topics such as the militarized repression of indigenous people in Canada, solidarity work in migrant justice organizing, memorializing Argentina’s disappeared, over-policing in the South Bronx, New Orleans’ cultural history of slavery and violence, and peacebuilding through participatory archives. These projects should give us all hope for a more just future.
These are what just a few past winners have had to say about the impact of the Koonja Mitchell Memorial Prize:
"This prize provided valuable recognition of how my work can support women's history. It helped me gain confidence to converse with that field." - Madeline Lafuse, "Poison in Marie Laveau’s New Orleans: A Cultural History of Slavery and Violence, 1769-1900" (2022)
"Drafting the application for the prize pushed me to think deeply about how I'm introducing my work to people unfamiliar with my theoretical frameworks and methods" - Jennifer Queenan "'The Struggle for Justice Does Not End When the School Bell Rings:' Radical Educator Collectives and Social Movement Strategy"(2024)
"Winning the award has of course supported archival research, but perhaps more importantly has kept me honest, compelling me to keep issues of violence, trauma, and justice central to my treatment of the topic" - "Tar and Feathers: Colonial Culture and the Making of Patriot Violence" Arinn Amer (2019).
For most of the prize's existence, Grace Cho has independently funded the award. This year she is fundraising to help the award, and her mother's memory, remain alive. You can donate and learn more about the prize here!
Join me in giving to The Graduate Center's campaign Koonja Mitchell Memorial Prize
