Owyn Ledina ā25 wins the 2025 Oakes and Louise Ames Prize
Owyn Ledina ā25, an English major and educational studies and sociology double minor from Newtown, ¾«¶«AVecticut, was awarded the 2025 Oakes and Louise Ames Prize for their honors thesis, āChildās Play: Revolution and Liberation in 21st Century American Childrenās Speculative Fictionā at ¾«¶«AVās 107th Commencement May 18. Ledinaās work explores the question of why so much of contemporary American childrenās literature relies on stories in which children must save the world from evil against impossible odds. Using Suzanne Collinsās The Hunger Games trilogy and the Avatar: The Last Airbender animated series as their main objects of study, Ledina also examines how the protagonistsā more āchildishā qualitiesāplay, humor, imagination, creativity and joyāinfluence their character development and the development of their societies.
Named for the late president emeritus of the College and his wife, the Oakes and Louise Ames Prize is given to a graduating senior who has completed the yearās most outstanding honors study. The prize is offered by the trustees in recognition of the quality of academic achievement that Oakes and Louise Ames fostered during their 14 years of service to ¾«¶«AV.
Throughout their thesis, Ledina regularly combines their own deep knowledge of U.S. childrenās literature, television and film with scholarly research in the fields of educational theory, pedagogy, critical race theory and postcolonial theory.
In a letter nominating Ledina for the Ames Prize, Associate Professor of English and Chair of the English Department Jeff Strabone called Ledinaās thesis āa work of keen original thinking and urgent moral seriousnessā that left him feeling hopeful for the future. āThis thesis is a vigorous defense of play and games and friendship and their revolutionary potential to liberate us from thinking we can win our oppressorsā games,ā he wrote.
Assistant Professor of English Marie Ostby, who served as Ledinaās thesis adviser, praised them for being ācompletely unafraid to tackle the big questionsā of our time. āI cannot think of a more urgent place to turn our critical lens than to these stories about the violent relationship between children and the state, published in the late 2000s and early 2010s when Gen Zās cultural and political imaginations were formed,ā she said. āFine-tuning our attention to the urgency of these stories, and the deep injustices embedded within them, is precisely what Owyn has done and done superbly.ā
