Literary Studies / Museum and Curatorial Studies '21

Jesse Rose Ludington is a Literary Studies major at Lang and a Museum and Curatorial Studies minor. One of her favorite classes in her time at Lang was Archives and Editions with Stephanie Browner because the class blended her passions for literature and archives. She is most proud of the body of work she's produced in her non-fiction and poetry classes, and the relationships she's built with workshop classmates and professors. Jesse is from East Haven, CT. Her most recent published non-fiction can be found in Volume 1 Brooklyn and Eleven and a Half Journal.

I'd like to thank professor Jennifer Firestone for her creative and academic mentorship throughout my time at Lang. I'd also like to extend my gratitude to professors Colette Brooks and Elizabeth Kendall for their critical roles in shaping my voice as a non-fiction writer.

Thank you to my mother, Kelley Butler, my sister, Kara Ludington, my girlfriend, Josie Tzitzimititla, and my best friend Merlin Garcia for their support, which each of them has consistently offered both personally and creatively. Writing would not be possible without such a strong support system, within and beyond Lang College.

Literary Studies '21

Alyssa Lo was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawai'i and moved to New York to pursue a degree in Literary Studies: Writing with minors in Creative Entrepreneurship and Code as a Liberal Art. Her favorite course at Lang was Intermediate Non-Fiction taught by Alison Kinney. Throughout her time at The New School, she is grateful for the relationships she's built with peers and faculty and is honored to be receiving this award. She is currently working on a speculative poetry collection.

Alyssa would like to thank her parents for their support and her friends who've helped her get through these difficult semesters. She is also immensely grateful for Alison Kinney for her mentorship which has helped her grow as a writer.

Contemporary Music '23

I was born in Poznań, Poland, and moved to the United States when I was 10 years old. I’ve made every effort to stay connected to my country’s culture and stay in the know regarding the nation's troubling politics. I am currently studying Contemporary Music, and looking to pursue a career in the arts after graduation. It is important for me to engage in a form of activist work in support of the Polish opposition.

Thank you to my family for continuous support, and thank you to the Polish resistance who the piece aims to speak to.

Literary Studies / Philosophy '21

My name is Diana Edelman, and I am a senior at Lang majoring in Literature with an emphasis on Writing and minoring in Philosophy. My three favorite classes have been Meoldrama in the Arts with Elana Greenfield, Theater of Cruelty with Rose Rejois, and Theories of Subjectivity with Daniel Rodriguez-Navas. I am most proud of my Capstone project, which is a screenplay titled City of Pigs because it represents the application of philosophies introduced to me by my most impactful professors and the thinkers that inspired them. These theories recognize their own shortcomings should they remain theory alone and therefore encouraged my adaptation of philosophy into a screenplay, that I hope to embody one day.

I would like to warmly thank Rose Rejouis for her nomination, consistent encouragement and her genius. I am so grateful to all of my wonderful professors, particularly Elana Greenfield, Daniel Rodriguez-Navas, Chiara Bottici, Dimitri Nikulin, and Inessa Medzhibovskaya, for introducing such ideas as theories of intersectionality and identity, in which no one is free until we all are.