New Millennium Book Award

Deadline: July 1, 2023

Awarded in Odd Numbered Years

The Society for Medical Anthropology established the New Millennium Book Award to recognize and promote excellence in medical anthropology, broadly defined. The New Millennium Book Award is currently awarded biannually (in odd years) to a scholar within the field of medical anthropology for a solo-authored (or co-authored) book published since the beginning of the new millennium. Books published/copyrighted within three years (e.g., between 2020-2023) of the biannual selection process will be considered for the award.

The New Millennium Book Award will be given to the author whose work is judged to be the most significant and potentially influential contribution to medical anthropology. Books of exceptional courage and potential impact beyond the field will be given special consideration.

The New Millennium Book Award is designed to complement the Eileen Basker Prize and the Council for the Anthropology of Reproduction (CAR) book awards in the area of gender and health. Thus, books with themes primarily focusing on gender and health topics will not be considered eligible for the New Millennium Book Award.

The Award will be publicly announced during the SMA awards ceremony, held during the annual AAA meetings. The winner will receive a $500 cash award. Books that did not receive the award but are considered exceptional will receive honorable mentions at the award ceremony.

To nominate a book, please send a signed letter of nomination to the selection committee chair. Only individuals, not organizations or publishers, can nominate books for the New Millennium Award. The nomination letter should speak to the impact of the text on the field of medical anthropology. Self-nomination is not permitted. Also, books submitted without an accompanying nomination letter will not be considered.

In addition to the letter, please arrange to have the publisher send a copy of the book directly to each member of the Selection Committee. Contact the Committee Chair, Prof. Sean Brotherton (sbrotherton@nyu.edu), to obtain the addresses of committee members. Books must be received by the deadline of July 1, 2023.