Winners of inaugural Harry Hartford Capstone Awards announced

Posted on: 11 October 2021

Commodity price shocks and CO2 emissions was the subject of one of four prize-winning projects in the inaugural Harry Hartford Capstone Awards which was announced by the School of Social Sciences and Philosophy last week.

The awards were presented on Wednesday 6 October 2021 to the four best capstone projects in the disciplines of economics, political science, sociology and philosophy at a virtual event hosted by Dr Michelle D’Arcy, Director of Teaching and Learning (Undergraduate) at the school.

In selecting winners of the capstone project awards, special consideration was given to final year projects in the field of public policy, emphasising evidence-based research in the public domain. Evidence of independent research, the production of a significant piece of original work and evidence of an integrative exercise that allowed students to showcase their skills and knowledge were also considered.

This year’s winners were:

Political Science: Susanna Mollen who presented on ‘Female Leaders and the Perpetration of Wartime Sexual Violence’
Economics: Aoife Cleary Ward who presented on ‘A global analysis of commodity price shocks and CO2 emissions’
Philosophy: Andrew Hussey who presented on ‘Free Will – Beyond Reasonable Doubt? Praise, Blame, and Punishment in a World Without Free Will’
Department of Sociology: Declan Murphy who presented on ‘Negotiating Friendship: An Ethnographic Study of a Catholic Student Association’

The awards were made possible due to the generosity of Harry Hartford, an alumnus of Trinity’s Economic and Social Studies Alum (1982) and long-time supporter of the School. The virtual event was attended by the award winners and their supervisors, Harry Hartford, the Head of the School of Social Sciences and Philosophy and other representatives from within the School.

At the event, Mr Hartford offered his congratulations to the students and spoke about his support for these awards and the Capstone project.  “The project creates a bridge between your studies in university and what you are going to do when you graduate, get into the big wide world, and pursue a career.”

Mr Hartford  also spoke about the value of the Trinity graduate attributes, specifically the ability to think critically, to demonstrate in-depth knowledge of the subject matter, ability to communicate and connect with people and the ability to adapt to a changing world. He told the students that such projects “provide students with an opportunity to gain some of the key attributes which will stand you in good stead when you do embark on a career”.

Michelle D’Arcy noted that the presentations “showed the full spectrum of what we do in the School, in all of our disciplines which are so rich and diverse”.  She joined with the Head of School Professor Carol Newman thanking the students, their supervisors and Mr Hartford for their contributions.