The Carole H. Browner Undergraduate Student Mentor Award recognizes excellence in undergraduate student mentorship in medical anthropology and is aimed at scholars who have demonstrated an ongoing commitment to teaching and mentorship throughout their careers, particularly those who have taken the time to successfully guide their undergraduate students through research, writing, and professionalization, thereby positioning them for their post-graduate careers.
Attributes to consider:
- Has a strong record of mentoring BIPOC, LGBTQIA, first generation, or other underrepresented students
- Communicates clearly and supportively with students and offers consistent, positive guidance; provides timely and productive feedback on written work
- Creates a friendly, encouraging and academically challenging environment; makes an effort to teach medical anthropology in innovative and effective ways
- Encourages students to submit abstracts of their own at conferences, write and submit their own work to journals, and build a professional networking in arenas related to medical anthropology
- Inspires students to pursue their own educational, research, and professional goals in medical anthropology
- Helps students connect with other professionals in their field outside of their own departments and helps familiarize them with the unwritten rules of their professional community
- Steps back and allows students to learn from their own mistakes; lets them step forward on their own and begin making their own decisions; lets them define and take appropriate risks
- Models professionalism in the classroom, in the office, at conferences, on social media, and in all public and private interactions
A minimum of three letters of nomination should be from current and/or former students outlining the ways in which the candidate has been a strong mentor, advisor, and/or teacher. Each letter should consider the above criteria and address any other attributes or practices that have led to supportive, successful mentoring. While there is currently no limit on the number of letters that can be submitted, we strongly advise prioritizing quality of letters over quantity. Nominations for the mentor award will remain open for three years for consideration by the award committee.
Nomination and support letters will be accepted until the deadline of July 1, 2024. Please send all nomination letters to Yesmar Oyarzun at yesmar@rice.edu. The award recipient will be honored during the SMA Business Meeting and Award Ceremony at the 2024 AAA Annual Meeting.
Previous recipients of the Carole H. Browner Graduate Student Mentorship Award:
Bharat Jayram Venkat (2023)
Merav Shohet (2022)