AWARDS FOR
UNDERGRADUATES
The Philosophy Department awards several scholarships and essay prizes each year.
Department Scholarships
The UT Philosophy Department hopes to award around five or six scholarships of about $3,000 to $4,000 each to Philosophy majors or minors for the upcoming 2024-2025 academic ye ar. Recipients must be in Good Academic Standing and be a Philosophy major or minor at the time of the award. The recipient must have a minimum GPA of 3.0 and be making satisfactory progress toward a degree. Other things being equal, financial need may be (but need not be) considered in the selection process. A previous recipient may be considered for the award in a successive year. Qualified applicants will be considered for all of our scholarships.
Applications are due April 1, 2025.
Philosophy Scholarship Winners
2025-2026
- Brynn M. Brickell
- Jeremiah David Buckley
- Brylea A. Cardwell
- Nathan Jay Coffman
- Ty Andrew Colley
- Elijah Tenpenny Erwin
- Brandon Cole Hubbard
- Ryan Johnson
- James D. Kurschner
- Addison Faith Leonard
- Elias Rajneesh Russell
- Simi Swapnil Sawant
- Anja Ella Shull
- Catherine Isabelle Vierwinden
- Madelyn Cole Yates
2024-2025
- Andrew Troy Abordo
- Brynn M. Brickell
- Evelyn G. Cofer
- Laila Rose Irigoyen
- Addison Faith Leonard
- Anthony Joseph Raganella
- Garan James Renner
- Makaela Jo Webb
2023-2024
- Heidi Avery – Beard Scholarship
- Andrew Gullahorn – Bacon-Beard Scholarship
- Nathaneal Parsons – Hermann Scholarship
- Gavin Buehring – Davis Scholarship
2022-2023
- Hannah Gabrielle Fantuzzi
- Savanah Marae Hunt
- Madison Taylor Lackey
- Delia L. McDevitt
- Rami Abu-Shehadeh
Essay Prize
The Undergraduate Philosophy Essay Contest is open to all undergraduate UT students enrolled, full or part time, at the time of the essay’s submission. Essays on any philosophical topic are eligible for entry. Contest participants may submit no more than one entry. Essays are to be no longer than 3,500 words or roughly 14 pages of typescript, excluding endnotes and references. The total amount of prize money available in any one year is $500.
Submissions are due April 1, 2025.
Philosophy Essay Prize Winners
2024-2025
- Winner – Luke Alexander Fish – An essay on Chisolm on Knowledge
- Honorable Mention – Elijah Tenpenny Erwin – “What Does it Cost Me: A Critical Evaluation of QALYs in Modern Pharmacoeconomics”
- Honorable Mention – Madelyn Cole Yates – “The Meaning of Life”
2023-2024
- Winner – Evelyn G. Cofer – “Hegel on Art’s Evolution”
- Honorable Mention – Heidi Layne Avery – An essay on Zagzebski against Reliabilism
- Honorable Mention – Natalie Christine Singh – “Absolutist and Relationalist Conceptions of Space and Time”
2022-2023
- Winner – Devin Hopson – “Marxism, Ideology, and Propaganda”
- Runner-up – Delia McDevitt – “OCD and Epistemic Playfulness”
2021-2022
- Winner – Aliya Benabderrazak – “Transhumanism and Disability Justice”