I’m sure they’re all nice people, but some of the listed “achievements” seem pretty mundane for (assumedly) absolutely top shelf levels of scientific, artistic and social achievement.
Are these awards subject to academic politics in any fashion?
Which ones do you object to?
Usually the people who win that award do things that are not really earth-shattering or attenion-getting, but they show real originality and promise, and they don’t have a very high-profile yet. You’d have to really be familiar with their work to know why they won.
Precisely - I’ve met Carolyn Walker-Bynum, who is a grant recipient, and while a little capsule summary of her work would leave you scratching your head over what’s so special about her, if you heard her lecture or read her books you’d realize why they think she’s a “genius in her field”. I mean, the Foxfire books teacher got one, remember?
Bynum was my mentor as an undergraduate a few years ago before she went to IAS. Her extraordinary books are only exceeded by her insight and skill as a teacher. She really is one of the best historians of the 20th century, in my never humble opinion.
Agreed. I never felt so out of my depth in college as I was in her seminar, although she was always gracious and welcoming.
Her mother taught at my alma mater, and she came to speak at the dedication of a scholarship, I think, to her mother. I got the chance to talk to her after - she completely blew me away. She makes you feel more perceptive and smarter just listening to her, and at the same time like the dumbest person in the room. When I was considering grad school in medieval history I thought about trying to work with her, but I ended up a librarian instead. 
Which one did you take? I think you might be a few years behind me, but it might have been the same seminar.
Yup, I know exactly what you mean. She tossed off good ideas as if it were the easiest thing in the world to do. I also planned on going into medieval history and working with her, but I ended up pursuing other interests. I got a little advice from her on my MA paper in another discipline, though.
Twelfth-century Rennaissance, spring 2002 semester. It was a room full of history and classics majors, plus a few grad students; I was the odd duck, being a bio major who happened to need one seminar for my history minor. (I got to feel slightly less stupid when we went around the table at the end of the semester and said what we’d be doing post-graduation, and I was about to start my PhD in cell biology.)
Heh, I took that class in 98. It was a lecture, though, not a seminar. Since I was a double major in history and classics, I felt pretty much at home. Taking math in grad school was painful, though.