Artemis Mason Simmons (they/she) has been awarded the Outstanding Graduate Thesis Award for 2026. This award honors the work of a graduating master's student in Women and Gender Studies for writing an outstanding thesis that exemplifies rigorous intersectional feminist scholarship.
Simmons' thesis is titled "I Will See What Thou Carriest:” The Unintelligible Gender of Thomas(ine) Hall, Queer Historiographies, and the Colonial American Racialized Gender Regime":
Using the 1629 trial to determine the gender of Thomas(ine) Hall as a point of departure, this thesis seeks to explore methodologies of queer historiography, engaging with queer of color critique, narrative storytelling, and critiques of linear historical metanarrative to deconstruct the ways that gender and race were mutually constructed and imposed in Colonial America.
Simmons was presented with the award during the Lavender Cording Ceremony celebration held on April 30, 2026.