The University of Illinois Press and the National Women's Studies Association (NWSA) are pleased to continue the annual competition for the best dissertation or first book manuscript by a single author in the field of women's and gender studies. Applicants must be National Women's Studies Association members. The Press and NWSA seek nonfiction manuscripts that exemplify cutting-edge intersectional feminist scholarship, whether the area of focus is historical or contemporary. The competition is open to scholars from all disciplinary backgrounds, but the sponsoring organizations especially encourage work that speaks effectively across disciplines, and projects that offer new perspectives on concerns central to the field of women's and gender studies.

Possible topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Activism
• Coloniality, postcoloniality and neo-imperialism
• Cultural production (media, film, music, literature)
• Feminist knowledge production
• Feminist pedagogy
• Feminist politics
• Feminist science and environmental studies
• Feminist theory
• Gender and disability
• Gender and globalization
• Gender and labor practices
• Gender and militarism
• Gender and queer sexuality
• Gender and violence
• Gendered experiences of people of color
• Girls studies
• Global and transnational feminisms
• Institutions and public policies
• Intersectionality
• Theories and practices of coalition
• Transgender studies
• Women of color feminisms

If a winner of the competition is selected, they will receive a publication contract with the University of Illinois Press. Runners up may also be considered for publication with the University of Illinois Press. Submitted dissertations must have been completed and defended within the three years prior to submission. All submissions must be must be timestamped by 11:59p (eastern time) on Mary 1st and be submitted on Submittable:

• Current NWSA individual membership
• Cover letter (be sure to indicate if any material from the manuscript has been previously published)
• C.V.
• Proposal, including a 4-5 page overview of the scope of the project and analysis of competing titles
• Complete manuscript, at least 150 double spaced pages, 12 pt. Times New Roman font, saved as a PDF

Cover letters should mention the competition and indicate if any material from the manuscript has been previously published. All submissions must be exclusive submissions to the University of Illinois Press for the duration of the contest, and finalists will be notified by the end of September. 

About the University of Illinois Press:

The University of Illinois Press supports the mission of the university through the worldwide dissemination of significant scholarship, striving to enhance and extend the reputation of the university. Through its publishing programs, the Press promotes research and education, enriches cultural and intellectual life, and fosters regional pride and accomplishments. For more information, please visit www.press.uillinois.edu.

Please direct all questions to:

Dominique J. Moore

Acquisitions Editor

University of Illinois Press

moore53@uillinois.edu

NWSA will award $1,000 to a student who, in the fall of the year of the award, will be engaged in the research or writing stage of a Master's Thesis or Ph.D Dissertation in the interdisciplinary field of women's studies. The research project must enhance the mission of NWSA.  

Deadline: Entries must be submitted through the online system by May 1st, 2024 (including letter of recommendation).
Applicants must be an individual member of NWSA no later than May 1st, 2024.

Call for Papers: 2023 National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA) Women of Color Caucus - Frontiers Student Essay Award
Application Submission Deadline: May 1st, 2024
The National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA) in partnership with Frontiers: A Journal of Women’s Studies invites paper submissions for the 2024 NWSA Women of Color Caucus-Frontiers Student Essay Award.
The purpose of this award is to discover, encourage, and promote the intellectual development of emerging scholars who engage in critical theoretical discussions and/or analyses about feminist/womanist issues concerning women and girls of color in the United States and diasporas.
One (1) annual $500 award is available for a woman of color who is a current graduate student and member of NWSA. The prize-winning essay will automatically be considered for publication in Frontiers. All essays are subject to the Frontiers peer review process. If winning essays are accepted for publication, additional revisions may be required.
Submission Requirements

• Submissions must be from women of color who are current individual NWSA members and currently enrolled in a graduate or professional program. Recent recipients of a terminal degree (no later than May 2023) are also eligible to apply.
• Completed online application posted on www.nwsa.org.
• Submissions must be original manuscripts, not previously published in whole or in part (whether online or in print) or under consideration for publication or another award.
• Manuscripts must be word-processed, double-spaced (including endnotes), and should not exceed 12,000 words.
• The title page should include the applicant's name, address, email address, college or university affiliation, and student status (graduate or eligible post graduate) in the top right corner. No other identification information should appear in the manuscript.
• Citations should follow the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, with "humanities style" endnotes. Source information is provided only through numbered endnotes. This information is not given in parentheses or in a bibliography.
• All submissions must be exclusive submissions to Frontiers for the duration of the essay award contest.
• Submissions must be accompanied by a letter of recommendation from a mentoring professor. The letter of recommendation should speak to the importance and innovation of the applicant's particular research interventions, and should also address the applicant's skills, accomplishments, and other qualities that make them well suited as a leader in research on women of color. Additionally, the letter of recommendation must address the suitability of the paper for publication in Frontiers.

The NWSA Women of Color Caucus identifies women of color as those persons from African, Asian (including Asian American, Pacific Islander, Arab or Middle East Asian), Latin American, or American Indian (including African Native American or Alaskan Native) descent.

Nominations for Women's Center Committee awards may be self-submitted.

Requirements for submission of nominations include:

1. Current individual NWSA membership
2. Completion of online form
3. One letter of nomination or self-nomination
4. One letter of support from a professional reference (the form has a field to input the email address for the person writing the letter of support, and they will be automatically sent instructions to upload their letter directly to your nomination)
5. A copy of your resume or CV

Coalition Builder Award

This award celebrates the coalitional work of  individuals working in  women’s and gender equity centers. Recipients will have built successful partnerships in the service of racial justice and gender equity. Partnerships may include campus departments, academic units, other institutions, community agencies and/or professional organizations/associations.

Feminist Change Agent Award

This award recognizes the remarkable work of change agents within the field of women’s and gender equity centers. Feminist/Womanist leaders play an important role in advancing justice and social change. Recipients will have done work that embodies intersectional feminist values and their contributions may include, but are not limited to the following: campus advocacy, strategic planning and visioning, policy development and/or scholarship that informs our work.  

Mentorship Award

This award honors the critically important role that mentors play within women’s and gender equity centers, and the advancement of our field.  Recipients will have a demonstrated commitment to the development of others as shown through their work supporting students and/or colleagues.  This award can also be received by an individual who has contributed to the support or development of mentoring programs.  

Outstanding WGEC Program

This award recognizes the work of women’s and gender equity centers as sites of feminist praxis and celebrates specific programs/initiatives developed and implemented by a center.  Selected programs/initiatives will have demonstrated commitment to intersectional feminism and employ inventive strategies to address the emergent and changing needs of our campus communities.  

*When nominating for this award, please include a program overview and learning outcomes in place of a resume/CV. Self-nominations are encouraged. 

The prize includes $1,000 and recognition for groundbreaking monographs in women's studies that makes significant multicultural feminist contributions to women of color/transnational scholarship. The prize honors Gloria Anzaldúa, a valued and long-active member of the National Women's Studies Association.

Basic Guidelines

• Must be a current individual NWSA member (including co-authors)
• Books considered must have a first date of publication between April 30, 2023 - May 1st 2024.
• Must complete the online application
• Must provide access to five electronic copies of the book for the review process
• The committee seeks groundbreaking monographs in women's studies that make a significant multicultural feminist contributions to women of color/transnational scholarship
• Anthologies will not be considered
  
  Copies of Electronic Books must be received by May 1st, 2024.

Only online applications will be considered.

Women of color in women’s studies, ethnic studies, or related fields may apply if they aspire to leadership within women’s studies or NWSA. Applicants may include advanced graduate students, faculty, and current program administrators who wish to be more involved in program or NWSA leadership.


Program Benefits

• Valuable networking and professional development opportunities at the Program Administration and Development (PAD) and Women's Centers Committee (WCC) pre-conferences, the NWSA general conference, and via the Women of Color Caucus.
• One-year complimentary individual membership and general conference registration during the first year of participation.
• Pre-conference registration (PAD or WCC) is included the following year. (To participate in the second year, must contact nwsa@nwsa.org. Individual membership is not included in the second year.)
• Opportunities to meet and interact with other women of color who possess a similar interest in program or center administration, as well as women of color who already have administrative experience
• The support, companionship, and advocacy of the Women of Color Caucus
• An opportunity to shape the future of the NWSA and women’s studies as a field by participating and exchanging ideas
• Serve as a conduit for other women of color, particularly young women, to become more involved in women’s studies.
  

NWSA offers an annual $1,000 Alison Piepmeier book award for a groundbreaking monograph in women, gender, and sexuality studies that makes significant contributions to feminist disability studies scholarship thanks to a gift from Susan Shaw, Patti Duncan, Jane Nichols, Kryn Feehling-Burton, and Nancy Barbour. The donation comes from the contributor budget from a forthcoming ABC-CLIO encyclopedia of women’s lives worldwide. This prize honors Alison Piepmeier, an active member and leader of NWSA whose scholarship examined the intersection of feminist and disability studies, with a particular emphasis on reproductive decisions and disabilities and parenting and disabilities.

Basic Guidelines

• Must be a current individual NWSA member (including co-authors)
• Books considered must have a first date of US publication between April 30, 2023 - May 1st 2024
• Must complete the online application
• Must send access to five electronic copies of the book to nwsaoffice@nwsa.org
• Anthologies will not be considered
• Scholars with disabilities, scholars of color, and LGBTQ scholars are especially encouraged to apply.

Suggested topics for feminist disability studies include but are not limited to:     

• Reproductive justice and disabilities
• Racialized representations of disabilities
• Queer experiences of disabilities
• Mothering and disabilities
• Disabilities activism
• Media representations of disabilities
• Gender, sport, and disabilities
• Disabilities and the body
• Disabilities, sex, and sexuality
• Disabilities in politics and policy
• Disabilities and technologies
  

Thanks to a generous bequest from Sara A. Whaley, NWSA will offer an annual $2,000 Sara A. Whaley book award on the topic of women and labor. This prize honors Sara Whaley, who owned Rush Publishing and was the editor of Women's Studies Abstracts. Each year NWSA will award a book prize for a monograph that addresses women and labor from intersectional perspectives.

Basic Guidelines

• Must be a current individual NWSA member (including co-authors)
• Books considered must have a first date of US publication between April 30, 2023 and May 1st 2024
• Must complete the online application
• Must provide access to five electronic copies of the book to the NWSA
• Anthologies will not be considered
• Women of color of the U.S. and/or International origin are encouraged to apply.

Suggested topics on women and labor include but are not limited to: 

• Migration and women’s paid jobs
• Illegal immigration and women’s work
• Impact of AIDS on women’s employment
• Trafficking of women and women’s employment
• Women and domestic works
• Impact of race on women’s work

Electronic books must be received by May 1st. 

The purpose of this award is to recognize and support the work of scholars working in the emergent field of Trans Studies, broadly conceived. This $200 prize will be awarded to any caucus member whose paper was accepted for the 2023 annual conference and demonstrates potential to advance the field of trans studies. The recipient will be selected by a committee composed of the caucus chair and two caucus members.

The paper will be selected based on the following criteria: originality of topic; quality of analysis and/or methods; potential to contribute to the field of trans studies; integrative analysis of race, class, gender, sexuality, dis/ability, empire, etc.; and clarity and organization.


 Submission requirements:

• Accepted paper at the 2024 annual conference
• Member of Trans/Gender Variant Caucus at time of submission/ Current member of NWSA
• Completed online submission form
• Paper of no more than 20 pages, double-spaced
• 1-2 page CV