Mercurians' Pamela Laird Article and Research Awards |
The Mercurians are establishing two new initiatives to support research in the history of communication technologies. Both are intended for new or junior scholars.
The first is a prize for the best article published during the previous two years in any peer-reviewed journal.
The second is a travel grant to defray the cost of travel and housing to use a research collection.
The prize and the grant will be awarded in alternating years. We anticipate presenting the first travel grant during the SHOT annual meeting in 2011 (in Cleveland) and the first article prize at the 2012 meeting (in Copenhagen).
Rationale
One of the Mercurians’ missions is to encourage scholarship in the history of communication technologies. There is no prize or travel grant Program (either within or outside SHOT) that we are aware of dedicated to supporting scholarship on the history of communication technologies. While the history of communication technology literature is vast and always growing, the quality of the research effort or resulting publication too often falls short of scholarly expectations. The Mercurians are hopeful that these new publication and travel awards will help to both increase and raise the level of new scholarship concerning the history of communication technologies.
Who is eligible
Both awards are intended for and limited to junior scholars--meaning either current graduate students or recent postgraduates (no more than three years beyond the terminal degree in their field).
Requirements and Application
For the publication award: All articles must deal with some aspect of the history of communication technology, defined broadly. They must have appeared in a peer-reviewed journal and include documentation. To be eligible for the initial award, articles must have been published during calendar year 2010 or 2011.
Send an electronic copy of your article to the Mercurians c/o abutrica@earthlink.net. The deadline for submissioin is April 30, 2012, for articles published during either calendar 2010 or 2011.
The inaugural article prize will be awarded during the 2012 SHOT meeting in Copenhagen.
For the research grant: Only travel to an appropriate archival collection to carry out research on an aspect of the history of communication technology, broadly defined, will be supported. The archive can be open to the public, private, or even closed, provided that necessary permissions have been obtained from the archive.
Complete the application form [here] and e-mail it and a curriculum vitae (no longer than 3 pages) as attachments to the Mercurians c/o abutrica@earthlink.net Your curriculum vitae should include pertinent publications, fellowships, or accomplishments relevant to your proposed research, and professional societies and affiliations. The deadline for submitting an application for the inaugural grant is August 31, 2011.
The inaugural grant winner will be announced during the 2011 SHOT meeting in Cleveland.
Awards
The amount of each prize or grant will be determined by the amount raised from Mercurians during the previous year. Members are asked to contribute an annual membership fee of US$5.00 for the purpose of supporting this program, though larger donations are encouraged. Those contributing more than US$5.00 may earmark their donation to support either the article prize or the travel grant. The article prize includes a cash award (amount to be determined) and a certificate.
The initial travel grant will be for US$1,000.
To contribute to this new awards program, please make your check payable to SHOT (Society for the History of Technology) and write "Mercurians" on the memo line. Mail your check to:
Prof. Christopher Sterling
Associate Dean for Special Projects
Columbian College of Arts and Sciences
Phillips Hall 212
George Washington University
801 22nd St NW,
Washington, DC 20052 USA
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