While prepping for my senior thesis on pre-Code Hollywood in 2007, I was urged to apply for a grant to conduct archival research on my primary topic, the 1933 film Baby Face.  As an “uncut” version of the film had been uncovered at the Library of Congress in 2004, I aimed to explore the differences in both pictures, which amounted to a mere five minutes but made all the difference in terms of tone. Since I had no idea how to write a grant at the time, I’m assuming the fact that the topic hadn’t been widely investigated yet helped with the approval of my endowment to travel to Los Angeles and dive into the Baby Face files at USC’s Warner Bros. Archives and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Margaret Herrick Library. The result was a 130-page paper titled: “Money Versus Morals: Sensation and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood and the Case of Baby Face,” which won 2 awards: the George A. Mulfinger Prize for the best senior thesis in the English Department and the Harold Huntley Haine Prize for excellence in American History.