Julie Kim Recognized for Work with Senior English Major David Buchanan

Senior English major David Buchanan, with Professor Julie Kim. 

Julie Kim, Assistant Professor of English, was recognized this year by the FCRH Undergraduate Research Program with a Faculty Mentor Award. Two of these awards are given out each year at Rose Hill: one goes to a faculty mentor of undergraduate research in the humanities and the other to a faculty mentor in the sciences. The award was announced on April 15, 2015, at Rose Hill’s eight annual Undergraduate Research Symposium, at which undergraduates who received research funding in 2014-2015 presented their findings to other students and faculty.

Prof. Kim received the award this year for her work with senior English and Economics major David Buchanan. Since Fall 2014, David has been working with Prof. Kim on a senior thesis on the contemporary Caribbean novel and globalization. His thesis looks in particular at Margaret Cezair-Thompson’s A True History of Paradise and its exploration of political turmoil and neocolonial violence in 1980s Jamaica. David’s thesis grew out of earlier courses he took with Prof. Kim on Caribbean literature, the history of which is a focus of Prof. Kim’s research. He also received crucial help from the Undergraduate Research Program, which provided him with funding to visit and interview Cezair-Thompson, who lives in Boston and teaches at Wellesley College.

David’s thesis recently won the Bernice Kilduff White and John J. White Prize, awarded annually by the English department for excellence in the study of literature. He is also receiving the Margaret G. Amassian Award, which goes to the graduating English major with the highest overall GPA. David is receiving the Economics Award for academic excellence as well, and he is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. His future plans include pursuing a Ph.D. in English. “I am extremely proud of all that David has achieved,” said Prof. Kim. “Working with students like David is what motivates me to be a mentor of undergraduate research.”

Congratulations to David Buchanan and Prof. Kim!