Awards                                                    

Best Dissertation Award | George Priestley Award | The Barbara T. Christian Award  I  Gordon K. Lewis Prize

Best Dissertation Award

Dissertations in English, Spanish or French, completed at an accredited college or university during the previous two years (i.e., 2009 and 2010), are eligible for the 2011 CSA Best Dissertation Award. The dissertation may be written in any academic discipline as long as it deals substantially with a topic pertinent to Caribbean Studies. The prize is open to applicants of all nationalities, ethnicities, genders and places of residence. However, a dissertation shall not be eligible if it has already been published in book form (or is under contract for publication at the time of submission). Authors wishing to have their dissertation considered, should submit the following documents no later than January 17, 2011, to:

Holger Henke, Ph.D.
Assistant Provost
York College (CUNY)
94-20 Guy R. Brewer Blvd., Rm. 2H07C
Jamaica, NY 11451
USA

a. A detailed abstract of the dissertation, not to exceed 7 pages, submitted in hard copy and on CD-Rom in MS WORD (2003) format. The abstract should explain the thesis addressed in the dissertation, the significance of the research, how the dissertation builds on prior work, methodology, and research results.
b. A letter from the dissertation committee's chair, not to exceed 2 pages, attesting that the dissertation was completed between 2009 and 2010. This letter may be in the form of a nomination and may include an assessment of the importance and quality of the work.
c. A CD-Rom containing the complete dissertation in MS WORD (2003) or Adobe PDF format.
Other stipulations which apply:
a. Authors of dissertations will have to become a member of the CSA during the year in which the award is conferred.
b. The decision of the Awards Committee is final and not open to appeals. The Committee retains the right to reject any dissertation, which it does not consider to be substantially located within the multi-disciplinary field of Caribbean studies. In cases of doubt, authors may contact the committee chair (Prof. Ileana Sanz, isanz1943@yahoo.com) to determine their eligibility in this regard.
c. A committee member affiliated in any official way with the author of a dissertation accepted for this award shall abstain from the evaluation and (where possible) an attempt shall be made to replace the said member with another qualified CSA member for the purpose of evaluation.
d. The winning dissertation will receive a Crystal Award at the annual conference and will also be reimbursed the 2011 CSA membership fees. The award will also be announced in the CSA Newsletter.

George Priestley Graduate Student Award 

The Caribbean Studies Social Justice Graduate Student Paper Award is being established in honor of Dr. George Priestley in recognition of his lifelong contributions to social justice, anti-racism, HIV/AIDS awareness, the Afro-Latino identity, and international human rights issues. Dr. Priestley was a key member of the CSA executive committee for many years who unselfishly gave his time and leadership to the organization in capacity of executive council member and program chair. This award honors a graduate student attending the 2011 conference whose paper is focused on the areas that were most important to Dr. Priestley. Graduate students can self nominate their papers or they can be nominated by a current CSA member. All graduate student papers submitted for consideration for this award will be judged based on excellence in scholarship, methodology and creativity in any of the following areas: Social justice, anti-racism, HIV/AIDS awareness, Afro-Latino identity and international human rights issues as they pertain to Latin America or the Caribbean both regionally and/or in the diasporic community. The award will consist of a plaque and $200 dollars.

The award committee is composed of three current CSA members and one member of the Priestley family. The award will be presented at the 2011 CSA awards night in Curacao. The award nominee will need to submit her/his package by May 2, 2011 for full consideration.

The award nominee must be a current graduate student enrolled at a university who is presenting their work at the 2011 CSA conference in Curacao. An application packet needs to consists of the following items:

1. An electronic letter of nomination
2. An electronic copy of the nominee’s current resumé or curriculum vitae.
3. An electronic copy of the nominee’s final research paper.

Submit the complete award package to:

Mr Amilcar Priestley coiconsulting@gmail.com
Dr Irma McClaurin imcclaur@umn.edu
Dr. Dwaine Plaza dplaza@orst.edu
Dr. Anton Allahar allahar@uwo.ca

The Barbara T. Christian Award, 2011  

The Barbara T. Christian Literary Award was established in 2001 by CSA past President Dr. Cora Christian to celebrate her sister’s intellectual legacy in black feminist criticism. A $500 cash award and certificate will be given to the best paper presented by an Undergraduate, Graduate or Junior (non-tenured) faculty in any discipline presented at the 2011 Caribbean Studies Association Conference in Curacao. 

Gordon K. Lewis Prize

To honor the memory of distinguished Caribbeanist Gordon K. Lewis, the Caribbean Studies Association has established a yearly award to be given for the best book about the Caribbean published over the previous three-year period in Spanish, English, French or Dutch.  The nominated book should approach the chosen subject or aspect of Caribbean life conditions and situations from an interdisciplinary perspective, and should clearly be shown to have regional impact.  Monographs in all disciplines and fields of Caribbean scholarship will be considered.  Preference will be given to books written by one or more authors as opposed to edited volumes.