CLA Distinguished Awards
Distinguished Dissertation Award (DDA)
Winners of the CLA Distinguished Dissertation Award are chosen from nominations among the 10 existing CLA departments, and reviewed by faculty across the college. The CLA Doctoral Dissertation Awards recognize outstanding scholarship, impact, and innovation. Each award is for $500 and includes an engraved plaque.
2024 Winners of the CLA Distinguished Dissertation Award

Chen Yang- Dr. Chen Yang is currently an Assistant Professor at Hunan University in China. He graduated from the Department of Philosophy at Purdue University in May, 2024. His research interests are German Idealism and History of Philosophy of Science.
In his dissertation, Dr. Yang interprets Hegel's concept of infinity, reconstructs the corresponding arguments, and then applies it to resolve certain difficulties in contemporary Philosophy of Mathematics. He aims to revise this dissertation for publication.
Lama Elsharif- Lama Elsharif is a historian of the early modern and modern Middle East and North Africa. She earned her Ph.D. in History from Purdue University and holds an M.A. in Diplomatic Studies and International Relations from the University of Jordan. Her research focuses on the intersections of environmental, economic, and maritime history in the Ottoman regencies of North Africa throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Her dissertation, “Small Wars of Scarcity: North African Corsairs in the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Century,” investigates the surge in sea raiding activities by the Ottoman regencies of Tripoli, Tunis, and Algiers between 1776 and 1816. Lama connects this surge to severe local environmental conditions, such as droughts, epidemics, and famines, which triggered widespread economic decline, revolts and administrative turmoil. She argues that these raids were not, as traditional narratives suggest, merely opportunistic actions taken during Europe’s distraction with the Napoleonic Wars, but rather a strategic effort by the North African rulers to address environmental and economic challenges and maintain control.
Lama is currently an Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at the Wolf Humanities Center, University of Pennsylvania, where she is revising her dissertation into a book.