{"id":14790,"date":"2023-04-07T13:17:35","date_gmt":"2023-04-07T20:17:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogschapman.wpenginepowered.com\/wilkinson\/2023\/04\/07\/wilkinson-college-2023-james-l-doti-outstanding-graduate-student-award-nominees\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T22:49:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T22:49:42","slug":"wilkinson-college-2023-james-l-doti-outstanding-graduate-student-award-nominees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/wilkinson\/2023\/04\/07\/wilkinson-college-2023-james-l-doti-outstanding-graduate-student-award-nominees\/","title":{"rendered":"Makena Metz Wins 2023 James L. Doti Outstanding Graduate Student Award"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Makena Metz<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Makena Metz (Dual\u00a0MA English<\/a>\u00a0\/\u00a0MFA Creative Writing<\/a>\u00a0\u201823) has been awarded the highest honor for graduate students at Chapman University, The James L. Doti Outstanding Graduate Student Award.<\/p>\n

The award is conferred annually to the outstanding graduating master\u2019s and doctoral students with distinguished records of academic accomplishment, scholarship, and\/or service. The names of the award recipients are permanently inscribed on the campus\u2019 Doti Award trophy, which incorporates artist Nick Hernandez\u2019s sculpture Emergence, and is on display outside Argyros Forum (pictured above). Each recipient receives a desk-size copy of the trophy, an award of $1,000, and is recognized at their school\u2019s commencement ceremony.<\/p>\n

Metz completed her MFA thesis\u2013an adult epic fantasy\u2013last winter. In Metz\u2019s fantastical story, \u201cthe land is either poisoned or poisonous, the Gods don\u2019t listen, and the Silvan High Fae have vanished into the mists of time.\u201d In the Silgan Empire in the city of Fall\u2019s End, humans run the Kingdom while Low Fae struggle to make ends meet in a prejudiced caste system. Her main character Madrigal must reckon with forces beyond her wildest imagination \u2013 to save her found family, kill the king, and to discover the source of the new magic, and stop it before it\u2019s too late.<\/p>\n

Metz\u2019s MA thesis builds on existing scholarship on Hans Christian Anderson\u2019s \u201cThe Little Mermaid\u201d by using feminist, queer, and disability lenses to examine at how the story\u2019s original elements have evolved into a contemporary \u201cmermaid\u201d canon.<\/p>\n

Dr. Anna Leahy<\/a>, director of the MFA in Creative Writing program, wrote, \u201cthe breadth of Makena Metz\u2019s work is exceptional, and the extent of her accomplishments over the last two years is remarkable, both within the MA\/MFA program and beyond campus in the larger field.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Also nominated by Wilkinson College this year was Joshua Jackson (MA International Studies<\/a>\u00a0\u201823).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Joshua Jackson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jackson is completing his thesis this semester on the structural impact of migration security on minority citizens. \u201cThis subject combines various aspects of my personal identity with my academic background in a way that is relevant to increasing global diversity,\u201d Jackson writes, \u201cIt is a product of my lived experiences, from Germany, the Marine Corps, to being a MAIS student at Chapman University, and builds upon my interdisciplinary education which has shown me how pervasive these tensions are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Daniel Wherenfennig, director of the\u00a0Center for International Experiential Learning<\/a>, wrote \u201cJoshua has been one of the most mature, thoughtful, and inspirational graduate students I have worked with in over a decade. During our travel and work together, I have seen him interact with political leaders, clergy, activists and victims with professionalism and curiosity. He is a natural leader who leads by example and inspires and motivates the people around him. His support with the undergraduate students on our study tour contributed significantly to the learning success and quality of the travel and the work on campus afterwards.\u201d<\/p>\n

Metz and Jackson join the ranks of fewer than two dozen exemplar graduate students that have been nominated by the college since the awards inception just over a decade ago. Metz\u2019s achievement continues a proud tradition of Wilkinson College\u2019s most recent award winners, including\u00a0Thomas Cottam in 2014<\/a>,\u00a0Liz Harmer in 2019<\/a>, and\u00a0Tryphena Yeboah in 2021<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Congratulations again to Makena Metz and Joshua Jackson! We know they will continue to do remarkable things.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Makena Metz (Dual\u00a0MA English\u00a0\/\u00a0MFA Creative Writing\u00a0\u201823) has been awarded the highest honor for graduate students at Chapman University, The James 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