Various awards and honors are available for the department's students. Recipient lists date back to 1997.
Faculty Award
This award is given to the outstanding senior major. Overall GPA is an important consideration, but grades in department courses, ability to deal with complex issues, and service to the department also are considered.
Cash prize. No application is necessary.
Emily Fitton Prize Paper Award
Established by alumna Emily Fitton, this award is offered to the student who completes the outstanding research paper in a sociology/anthropology course.
Cash prize. The faculty judges this award without knowing the identity of the student. EXTENDED DEADLINE: Wednesday, April 10, 2024, 2 pm, Elliott Hall 205
Janet King Sociology/Anthropology Award
Established by alumna Janet King, this award is given to a person whose previous work significantly links research or other academic work to public service.
Cash prize. No application or nomination is necessary.
Hough Award
Corinthia and Orsamus D. Hough endowed this award to be granted to one or more student(s) who will use the award to directly engage with marginalized communities. Students can propose projects for internship experiences, student research, service learning opportunities, certain conferences, and related applied projects--as long as the student project engages them with marginalized groups. This award is competitive, and is normally given to pay expenses for work completed during the following summer. The recipient is to make a presentation to the department during the fall semester following completion of the project.
Deadline: Rolling Deadline
The Dr. Charlotte Wolf Academic Achievement Award
The husband and family of Dr. Charlotte Wolf, chairperson of our department between 1974-1983, endowed this award in 2002 to honor the memory of Professor Wolf. The award is presented to the senior who, in the opinion of the faculty, has the greatest potential for a career in academic sociology.
Cash prize. No application or nomination is necessary.
Alpha Kappa Delta Honor Society
The purpose of Alpha Kappa Delta is to seek to acknowledge and promote excellence in the scholarship in the study of sociology, the research of social problems, and such other social and intellectual activities as will lead to improvement in the human condition. Membership criteria may be found here.
Graduation with Departmental Distinction
Departmental Distinction essentially replaces Departmental Honors and is managed outside of the Honors Program. This means non-honors students can pursue Departmental Distinction. Students who pursue Graduation with Honors (see below) can choose to extend their one-semester project to two-semesters if they want to also pursue Departmental Distinction.
Graduation with Honors
All students matriculating at OWU Fall 2019 or later will follow the guidelines to Graduate with Honors. Students matriculating at OWU prior to Fall 2019 can pursue Graduation with Honors, OR they can choose to pursue Graduation with Honors using the previous University or Departmental Honors guidelines.
A student who satisfies the conditions listed at the link above will Graduate with Honors. The student's name will be listed in the commencement program. The student's permanent record will also show Graduation with Honors.
