Brenden J. Quirk wins Robert M. Conway prize for best undergraduate project in Medieval Studies

The Medieval Institute is pleased to announce the winner of the 2023 Robert M. Conway Prize, Brenden J. Quirk, for his senior thesis, "A Draft of a Different Mead: Coping Mechanisms in Medieval Northern Germanic Poetry," written under the supervision of Professor Chris Abram.

Brenden's senior thesis, which he wrote as a double Medieval Studies and Theology major, builds off his abundant enthusiasm for language, his deep knowledge of the Northern European Middle Ages, and his abiding concern for the varied expression of human experience.

It stands as a capstone to a remarkable undergraduate career at the institute, where Brenden made a name for himself both through the exceptional quality of his scholarship and through his efforts to foster community and to create an engaging and welcoming environment for all his fellow students. His senior thesis is a promise of greater things to come.

Students in Medieval Institute undergraduate programs are eligible to complete for the Robert M. Conway Prize, an annual award given for an outstanding undergraduate essay written on a medieval topic. This prize, previously known as the Michel Prize, has been awarded regularly by the Medieval Institute since 1993.

Congratulations, Brenden!