“Recreating the past is a futile, infinite task,” said Catenaccio. “Connecting things and recording life is simultaneously impossible and completely imperative. You can’t do it, and yet you have to do it. This is one of the human struggles.”

Other winners were also influenced by their backgrounds. Jason J. Kohout ’04, a Wisconsin native, wrote his senior thesis on the revenue limitations facing his home state’s school system.

“I researched this issue at home where it is a great concern,” said Kohout, who will attend Harvard Law School next fall. “I found that revenue limitations have no effect on academic performance in Wisconsin.”

Many of the honored theses were the result of summers filled with research and sometimes, entire college careers.

Abigail K. Joseph ’04 spent two summers in England viewing collections of Victorian pornography for her thesis entitled, “Pornomania: Sex and Bibliography in Victorian England.”

Joseph, who will be attending graduate school for English at Columbia in the fall, said winning the Hoopes prize was a longtime goal for her.

“I was hoping to win the award ever since freshman year,” Joseph said. “It is really great to win the award.”  

The complete list of 71 award winner and seven honorable mention is as follows:

In Adams House, Grace M. Catenaccio ’04, Judd B. Kessler ’04, Venu A. Nadella ’04, Molly R. Perkins ’04, Christopher J. Phillips ’04, Jessica M. Rosenberg ’04, Reid D. Saaris ’04 and Saurabh Sanghvi ’04. Christopher A. Lamie ’04 received an honorable mention.

In Cabot House, Susan J. Huang ’04, Ian R. MacKenzie ’04 and Nathan R. Perl-Rosenthal ’04. Kayla Y. Rosen ’04 and Feng Zhang ’04 received honorable mentions.

In Currier House, Melissa May Borja ’04, Adrien C. Finlay ’03-’04, Megan J. Robertson ’04 and Chia-Jung Tsay ’04,

In Dunster House, Carrol J. Chang ’04, Gabriel A. Katsh ’04, Bram J. Levy ’04, Nathalie Miller ’04, Anne T. Nguyen ’04, Caitlin E. Stork ’04 and Previn Warren ’04.

In Eliot House, Andrew J. Kallem ’04, Christine M. Murray ’04, Brian P. Quinn ’04 and James M. Schaffer ’04. Andre R. Kydd ’04 received an honorable mention.

In Kirkland House, Jason S. Alcorn ’04, Daniel S. Hong ’04, Jakub J. Kabala ’04, Madiha Y. Sattar ’04. Dimitar P. Jetchev ’04 received an honorable mention.

In Leverett House, John L. Beshears ’04, Emily S. Caplan ’04, Matthew R. Ciardiello ’04, Christopher T. Conlon ’04, Uzodinma C. Iweala ’04 and Emily Louise Nielson ’04.