Prize Nominations 2022 – May Announcement
The Career Achievement Award
The Career Achievement Award honors an individual who has advanced the field of medical anthropology through career-long contributions to theory or method, and who has been successful in communicating the relevance of medical anthropology to broader publics. They should (1) have advanced the field of medical anthropology through career-long contributions to theory and/or method; (2) be successful in communicating the relevance of medical anthropology to broader publics; (3) be a senior scholar, typically someone who is about to retire, or has achieved emeritus status, or has passed the age of 65; and (4) not have already received the award. Please send a letter of nomination or self-nomination and a copy of the nominee’s CV by July 1 to the Career Achievement Award Committee chair, Thurka Sangaramoorthy at thurka149@gmail.com.
Carole H. Browner Undergraduate Student Mentor Award
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. 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. 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, 2022. Please send all nomination letters to Dick Powis at richardpowis@usf.edu.
Carole H. Browner Graduate Student Mentor Award
The Carole H. Browner Graduate Student Mentor Award is aimed at senior or mid-career 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 MA and PhD students through their research and the thesis or dissertation writing process. 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. Additional letters may also be submitted by junior colleagues whom the candidate has mentored; however, this is not a requirement. Each letter should consider the posted (SMA website) criteria and address any other attributes or practices that have led to supportive, successful mentoring. 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, 2022. Please send all nomination letters to Dick Powis at richardpowis@usf.edu.
Eileen Basker Memorial Prize
The Society for Medical Anthropology welcomes nominations for the Eileen Basker Memorial Prize, awarded annually for a significant contribution to scholarship on gender and health by a scholar (or scholars) from any discipline or nation for a specific book, article, film, or exceptional PhD thesis produced within the preceding three years. The Prize is awarded to the work judged to be the most courageous, significant, and potentially influential contribution to this area of scholarship. Winners receive a $2000 cash award and are recognized at the SMA Awards Ceremony during the AAA Annual Meeting. The deadline for receipt of materials is July 1, 2022. Nominations are invited from one or more scholars familiar with the designated work in the form of a letter indicating its impact on the field. Self-nomination by authors, and nomination by presses/publishers, are not permitted. Publishers of nominated books are expected to supply three copies of the relevant work to the Prize CommitteeInquiries should be sent to the chair of the Basker Prize Committee, Adeola Oni-Orisan at adeolaoo@berkeley.edu. Please contact her before forwarding copies of books or dissertations (print copies required) so that she may provide mailing addresses for all committee members.
Hughes Paper Prize Competition
The SMA announces the competition for the Charles Hughes Graduate Student Paper Prize. The Charles Hughes competitions focus on student achievements. The Hughes Prize will be awarded for the best paper written by a graduate student. Papers must have been written while the applicant was a student, in this or the preceding academic year only. The prize carries a $250 cash award. The journal Medical Anthropology Quarterly (MAQ) will have the right of first refusal (i.e., priority over any other publications to review the winning manuscript, should the award winner be interested in publishing the winning essay). For the next Charles Hughes Graduate Student Paper Prize, send materials to the chair, Erin Koch at erin.koch@uky.edu by July 1, 2022. All submissions must be electronic. Papers should not exceed 20 double- spaced pages, not including bibliography. To support blind review, no identifying information or acknowledgments should be contained in the manuscript. Only the paper’s title should appear prior to the text on page 1. Submitted papers should be accompanied by a cover letter containing (1) the paper title; (2) the competition into which it is being entered (Hughes); (3) author details (including information on student status and relevant advisor’s name, if any); and (4) contact information, including postal mailing address, phone number, and email address. The committee chair will send the submitted paper and the cover letter to the relevant subcommittee members.
The Leah M. Ashe Prize for the Anthropology of Medically–Induced Harm
The Award is established by the Society for Medical Anthropology for excellence in explorations of the limits of healing practices, broadly defined. The Award will be given for the best use of ethnographic methods to explore the limits of health care, conceptualized broadly to include harms and injustices emergent from the healing endeavor, at small (e.g., iatrogenic) or large (e.g. systemic and structural) scales, whether immediate or lingering, intrinsic to treatment or the result of error, negligence, intention, or decision resulting from denial of care. Nominations are open to an article, book chapter, or film by scholars from the field of medical anthropology. Individuals must be members of the AAA and SMA to receive this prize. Eligible works must be nominated by signed letter of nomination to the Chair of the selection committee. The letter of nomination should speak to: the use of ethnographic methods to explore the limits of health care, conceptualized broadly to include harms and injustices emergent from the healing endeavor, at small (e.g., iatrogenic) or large (e.g. systemic and structural) scales, whether immediate or lingering, intrinsic to treatment or the result of error, negligence, intention, or decision resulting from denial of care. Self-nomination is not permitted, and works submitted without an accompanying letter of nomination cannot be considered. In addition to the letter, please arrange to have a copy of the work (i.e., article, book chapter, or film) sent (or made available) to Emma Backe (embacke@gwmail.gwu.edu) in a format that can be shared with all committee members digitally, no later than July 1.
Works are eligible for a maximum of 2 years (i.e., publication date within 2 years of the award deadline of July 1).
Steven Polgar Prize
The Steven Polgar Prize is awarded to a professional medical anthropologist for the best paper published in the SMA journal Medical Anthropology Quarterly (MAQ) during the most recent complete volume year. The prize carries a $250 cash award. No nominations are needed: articles published in MAQ by eligible recipients will automatically be considered for this prize. For more information, contact Polgar Prize Committee Chair Adeola Oni-Orisan at adeolaoo@berkeley.edu.