Wood-Whistler Medal and Scholarship awarded to Shona Whelan

Newnham College today welcomed students, Fellows, and Trustees to celebrate the annual Wood-Whistler Medal and Scholarship, recognising outstanding graduate scholarship.

The award ceremony, held in the Principal’s Lodge and followed by lunch in College Hall, was led by Principal Alison Rose and attended by the Postgraduate and Senior tutors, Trustees of the Wood-Whistler Trust and other members of College.

This year’s award was presented to Shona Whelan, a first-year PhD student in English at Newnham, in recognition of her exceptional essay. Shona was an undergraduate at Homerton College where she also completed an MPhil before moving to Newnham last October.

^{Photo is of (L-R)  Rebecca Barr, Alison Rose, Shona Whelan, Lucy Whistler, Fiona Cornish, Louise Joy, Sheila Watts and Kate Fleet.}

A Distinguished Tradition

The Wood-Whistler Medal commemorates Benedicta Whistler (1927–2001), a Newnham alumna and generous benefactor whose contributions have had a lasting impact on the College. Alongside her aunt, the Hon. Mrs Wood, she gifted the Baskerville books, now among the treasures of Newnham’s Rare Books collection, and played a key role in the work of the Paragon Trust, in support of the College and the teaching of English.

Established in 2002, under their current chairman, Lucy Whistler, Benedicta’s niece, the award celebrates distinguished graduate work and supports students undertaking doctoral study. Originally focused on English, it now encompasses a wider range of humanities disciplines. The Trustees have confirmed their continued support for the award, which carries a generous honorarium fund. 

Award-Winning Research

Shona Whelan’s dissertation offers a fresh and compelling reading of Mary Wollstonecraft’s novellas Mary: A Fiction (1788) and The Wrongs of Woman; or, Maria (1798). Her work explores these texts as feminist interventions in eighteenth-century theories of sympathy.

The assessors praised the essay’s intellectual ambition and originality, describing it as demonstrating “an exemplary understanding of the late eighteenth-century philosophical and political debates into which Wollstonecraft was intervening.” They highlighted Whelan’s ability to bridge literature and philosophy, noting that her work shows how Wollstonecraft’s fiction, often overlooked, functions as a powerful vehicle for engaging with contemporary debates about women’s roles.

The dissertation argues persuasively for the philosophical significance of literature, presenting fiction not merely as entertainment but as a space in which ideas are contested and developed. By engaging readers’ sympathy, Whelan suggests, such works also possess a vital pedagogical role in shaping more equitable social futures.
The assessors concluded that the dissertation is “a superb piece of scholarship” offering “a fresh perspective on one of the mothers of European feminism.”

Celebrating Excellence

Presenting the medal, the Principal Alison Rose congratulated Whelan on her achievement and recognised the importance of the award in highlighting the strength of graduate scholarship at Newnham.

The event also brought together Whelan’s current and former supervisors, Rebecca Barr and Louise Joy, alongside the Wood-Whistler Trustees Fiona Cornish and Lucy Whistler, Senior Tutor Sheila Watts, Postgraduate Tutor Kate Fleet, and members of the College administration. 

The Wood-Whistler Medal continues to play a vital role in encouraging and supporting outstanding scholars as they undertake doctoral study, while honouring a legacy of generosity and commitment to academic excellence.

^{(L-R) Fiona Cornish, Shona Whelan and Lucy Whistler}