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Christine Norris

June 1953 - September 1998

Norris Award

Dr. Norris was Assistant Director of the Humanities Program. She received her Ph.D. from the Literature Department at UCSD in 1982, and was appointed a Lecturer in Humanities that same year. While her principal research interest was the Danish writer Isak Dinesen, her teaching ranged from women's studies to the entirety of the Western Humanities tradition. Her energy and enthusiasm for teaching inspired both her undergraduate students and the graduate students whom she trained and advised. The Revelle College student body honored her with numerous teaching awards and invitations to address the college commencement.

Christine passed away on September 24, 1998, after a three-year fight against cancer.

Begun in 1999, the Revelle Humanities Christine Norris Award is given annually to the best Humanities student completing the five-quarter sequence.

Award Criteria

The Criteria
The selection committee looks for a student who best exemplifies what Humanities appreciated about Chris Norris: an enthusiasm for learning; the ability and desire to explore ideas and issues for their own sake; careful scholarship; and a concern for a clear and forceful articulation of ideas. We look for someone who is not only a conscientious student with strong academic achievement, but someone who might sit with Chris in her office for an hour discussing the meaning of a passage or the structure of a paragraph -- someone, in sum, who best embodies the humanity that Chris Norris gave to Humanities.

The Process
We solicit nominations from teaching assistants and faculty familiar with the above criteria. We tabulate grades plus speak to pertinent teaching assistants and faculty about the nominations. Finally, we look at the students' Humanities essays, again not only looking for good writing skills and scholarship, but for originality, style, and a personal voice.

Award Winners

Current Award Winners
2023 - Sharon Lee & Yash Shah
Previous Award Winners
2022 - Ashley Samaan & Khanh Nguyen
2021 - Ruoqi Wei & Saisri Ravi
2020 - Brady Goodell & Siddhartha Krishnan
2019 - Erika Barrall & Benjamin Finander
2018 - Anser Abbas & Chandni Kapoor
2017 - Ashley Gabrielle Manlapaz-Pineda & Rosemary Elliott Smith
2016 - Janine Sobers
2015 - Komal Kapoor & Syed Amaan Abidi
2014 - Amy Johns
2013 - Arvin Wali
2012 - James Lee
2011 - Grace Victorine
2010 - Daniel Friedman
2009 - Lissette Wilensky
2008 - Daniel Feldman
2007 - Jennifer Timmons
2006 - Liam Vavasour 
2005 - Yue Wan 
2004 - Jan Melom 
2003 - Grace Hsiao & Judy Hsiao
2002 - John Peter Rickgauer
2001 - Vishal Patel
2000 - Andrea Mann
1999 - Charae Marie Gibbs

Make a Contribution to the Christine Norris Scholarship Fund

If you wish to contribute to the Christine Norris Scholarship Fund, please make checks payable to: "UCSD Foundation in Memory of Christine Norris." Donations may be mailed or delivered to: 
Humanities Program
Galbraith Hall 180
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, CA 92093-0306