Oddly for a prize named after an iconic literary Modernist, it has often been awarded by and to poets who display scant interest in the more exacting questions raised by Modernism.
Except for a duet involving a young man in tails and a young woman in a sequined top and skirt, the numbers achieve little distinctiveness and, within them, the dancers have scant opportunity to display individuality.
In his 2003 book, "Universities in the Marketplace," Derek Bok, the former Harvard president, made the shocking observation that "faculties currently display scant interest in preparing undergraduates to be democratic citizens, a task once regarded as the principal purpose of a liberal education and one urgently needed at this moment in the United States".
Whereas Mr Haniyeh has invited Mr Abbas to Gaza, to mollify the protesters and show willing to seek reconciliation, his military wing displays scant interest in sharing power.
Under questioning from Judge Gregory M. Sleet, the potential jurors displayed scant familiarity with the stakes.
Before his election Lech (like his brother) displayed scant interest in them.
Colleagues don't detect signs of Mr Corbyn resiling from that commitment, but some are becoming jittery that he is displaying scant enthusiasm for the cause.
The Kremlin displays scant ability or inclination to reform what one cable characterized as a "modern brand of authoritarianism" accepted with resignation by the ruled.
Straight borders drawn with a ruler carve indifferent frontiers through a complex region with the kind of callous colonial hubris that displayed scant regard for linguistic, ethnic or religious affiliation.
Those obstacles might not have been wholly insurmountable, but Ms. Bair is poorly attuned to her subject and displays scant critical insight into the many tics, motifs and obsessions that run throughout Steinberg's work.
