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Allen wins 2026 Bassman thesis award

Published Apr 09, 2026 by
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This year’s winning thesis was “Exploring Emotional Prosody Perception in Adolescents with Hearing Loss: A Scoping Review,” by Lacie Allen.

Lacie Allen is the winner of the 2026 Michael F. Bassman Honors Thesis Award, which recognizes excellence in research and writing by students in East Carolina University’s Honors College. The award, in the amount of $500, is sponsored by ECU’s Honors College and Joyner Library.

The award also honors Dr. Michael F. Bassman, retired associate professor of foreign languages and literatures and formerly associate vice chancellor of the ECU Honors Program, and its first Distinguished Honors Professor.

Allen’s winning thesis, “Exploring Emotional Prosody Perception in Adolescents with Hearing Loss: A Scoping Review,” was completed under the mentorship of Dr. Kathrin Rothermich of ECU’s Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders.

Allen said of her thesis: “It investigates the ‘melody’ of speech — the pitch and rhythm essential for social connection. One of the most striking findings was the staggering global research gap for this age group; after screening 9,657 studies, I found that only three articles worldwide met the criteria for emotional prosody perception in adolescents aged 10–19 who use hearing aids. My research highlights that because current hearing technology is optimized for speech intelligibility rather than the ‘melody’ of intent, these adolescents must frequently shift to top-down cognitive strategies, relying heavily on their vocabulary to ‘reconstruct’ emotional meaning.

“Winning the Michael F. Bassman Honors Thesis Award is an incredible honor that validates the importance of addressing these ‘invisible’ challenges. This work is deeply personal; having grown up with hearing loss, undergoing multiple surgeries, and wearing a hearing aid, I have experienced firsthand the challenges of communicating when the melody of speech is lost. Entering the Honors College with no prior research experience, my Signature Honors Project opened a new world of research that shaped my academic growth and fostered a passion for patient-centered care. I am deeply grateful for this recognition as I pursue my goal of becoming a pediatric audiologist.”

Allen will continue her education at ECU in the fall in the Doctor of Audiology program and serve as a graduate assistant to further research with Rothermich.

She grew up in South Africa and is the daughter of Steve and Monica Allen of Creston, N.C.