Two Corpus History undergraduates have been recognised for the high quality of their dissertations.

Joshua Franklin (m.2020) has won the History of Parliament Undergraduate Dissertation Prize 2023 for ‘Thatcherism and deregulation in the City of London’.

The director of the History of Parliament, Dr Jennifer Davey commented, "I thoroughly enjoyed reading this thoughtful, intelligent and nuanced dissertation. It is grounded in a sophisticated understanding of the historiography and in an impressive range of primary source material: you should be congratulated on your ability to elucidate a complex topic with subtlety and confidence. The dissertation is a testament to your skills as a historian."

Josh was also awarded the Ellen McArthur Prize for the best undergraduate dissertation in economic and social history in the Faculty of History. 

Josh says, "I'm currently studying a postgraduate diploma in law at BPP University with the hopes of becoming a commercial lawyer. As for studying History at Corpus, I'd like to mention that Dr Charles Read was a fantastic supervisor throughout my time, and I wouldn't have been able to produce my dissertation without his help. I can't speak highly enough of the teaching in History at Corpus."

Yifei Zheng (m.2020) won the Alan Coulson Prize for the best dissertation on a topic in the field of British imperial expansion. 

Yifei says, "Studying History at Corpus has not only been a fascinating intellectual endeavour, but a  formative stepping stone towards the individual I have since become, both personally and professionally. Before arriving at Cambridge, I had developing interests in economic and imperial history, applying to Corpus in part because of its strengths in these fields. 

During my time here, I was constantly well-supported by the knowledge and expertise of Corpus’ historical community, particularly when researching my dissertation, which argued that financial interests rather than a commitment to protecting democratic institutions drove Thatcher’s approach to the Hong Kong handover negotiations. Since graduating, I have lingered on in Cambridge to complete a PGDL (Law Conversion Course) whilst getting involved with College affairs where I can, before hopefully starting a training contract with a Magic Circle law firm in 2025."

Many congratulations to both Josh and Yifei.