Congratulations to history majors Justina Sung and Seth Conklin who are co-recipients of the Center for the Study of Religion's Savko Award for Best Undergraduate Paper.

The Savko Award for Best Undergraduate Paper is a $500 prize for the best paper relating to the academic study of religion. The paper must have been written as part of an OSU course and may be submitted either by a faculty member or by the student directly. Their papers were written in History Professor Bert Harrill's courses on the New Testament Introduction (honors embedded) and the 4000-level seminar in Dream Interpretation in Antiquity.

Justina’s paper, “Asceticism, Apologetics, and Autonomy in The Acts of Thecla,” argues that the Acts of Thecla serves both as an apologetic text defending ascetic Christianity and as a narrative empowering women within early Christianity. While Thecla is a fictional figure, her legacy demonstrates the historical rivalry between different interpretations of Paul and his ethos. It refutes charges against ascetic Christians—such as being anti-family, seditious or immoral—while simultaneously expanding the roles and expectations for Christian women.

Seth’s paper, “Asklepios: Artemidorus' Rival,” is about Artemidorus, a dream interpreter from Roman Greece, and his dislike of temple incubation as practiced by the followers of Asklepios. In the paper, Seth explores dream interpretation in the ancient Mediterranean and the views rival practices had of one another.