Making a difference: Amy Chapman, Neil & Gina Smith Student of the Year 2011

The School of Sociology and Criminology are delighted to see the 2011 Neil & Gina Smith Student of the Year Award go to Amy Chapman, a Criminology Major in our School. Amy was a mature entrant via an Access course and the first in her family (from Crewe) to attend university.  As well as achieving academic excellence while supporting herself financially throughout her studies, she has played an important role in 'making a difference' to the lives of other local young people.  The Student of the Year award is given in recognition of outstanding academic achievement alongside outstanding commitment to public service, citizenship and/or overcoming hardship.  Students from our School - Danielle Hughes (Criminology) and Danielle Bremner (Sociology) were also two out of the three runners' up for this award.  Congratulations to all of you.

We are particularly pleased because Amy is the THIRD annual winner from our School in the six years that the award has been running.  Previous winners from our School are Rachel Cason (nee Wiggett) and the first winner Heather Phillips.  A prize of £5000 is made and both our previous winners have made good use of the fund to continue their studies at Keele.

Alongside Matt Bedding's national award this year for his work with Keele Nightline, it is clearer than ever that our students are graduating ready to put their studies in Sociology and Criminology to good use in 'making a difference' in society.  And we also know that for every exceptional individual who receives the awards and plaudits, there are many more of you who are working away at your studies while seeking to make things better in your communities, or those of people less fortunate.  This makes us very happy, because it is often one of the key reasons people study our subjects: that you are enabled to put this into practice while studying with us is a testament to your commitment and to the relevance of the teaching programmes in Sociology and Criminology at Keele.

Sociology student wins Student of the Year (Neil & Gina Smith Prize)

We are delighted to announce that Rachel Wiggett (Sociology/French) has won the Neil and Gina Smith Prize for Student of the Year. Rachel has been an outstanding student in Sociology achieving very high firsts in all her modules. Her dissertation challenged the distinction made by contemporary social theorists between 'the pure relationship' and the idea of 'romantic love' and drew on her strengths in both subject areas, Sociology and French. Her background as the daughter of missionaries working in Niger and her experiences of the developing world and being part of an international cohort of young people in a unique kind of transnational communityhave informed the subject of her chosen topic for study at PhD level. Rachel will be coming back to Keele next year to do the MRes in Sociology as the first step towards a doctoral degree.

This is a great accolade for the Sociology group and our students. This is the second time in only three years of this award that a Sociology student has won this prize: the first winner being Heather Phillips, who studied both Sociology and Criminology and who went on to do the Masters in Social Work at Keele.

The Neil and Gina Smith prize is a cash award of £5000 and is open to all undergraduate finalists who have made an outstanding contribution to Keele University life as well as achieving highly in their academic studies.