Contact Information

Dr. Arthur E Farnsley II

Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis:
Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture

Cavanaugh Hall 417
425 University Blvd
Indianapolis, IN 46202-5140
(317) 278-6491

sssr@iupui.edu

Annual Awards and Grants

DISTINGUISHED BOOK AWARD
DISTINGUISHED ARTICLE AWARD
STUDENT PAPER AWARD
JACK SHAND RESEARCH AWARDS
JACK SHAND INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL AWARDS
SSSR STUDENT RESEARCH AWARDS
SSSR STUDENT TRAVEL AWARDS
DISTINGUISHED BOOK AWARD  [Top]
Purpose: To recognize the most outstanding book published by a SSSR member or members within the past two years.

Qualifications: A book may be nominated by its publisher, its author, or any other SSSR member deeming it to be of outstanding quality. Studies solely in the physical sciences tend to receive lower priority.

Procedures: The chair of the committee must be notified of the book's nomination by April 1. A copy of the book must be sent to EACH member of the committee, listed below, by April 15. Mailing is the responsibility of the publisher and author.

Criteria: The committee will judge each book's quality of scholarship, importance to the field, and relevance to the larger society. Any book involving some aspect of the scientific study of religion is eligible.

Award: The award will be presented at the annual meeting. It includes a plaque and $1000.


Rebecca Allahyari, Chair
allahyari@SARSF.org
Mailing Address:
School For Advanced Research
Post Office Box 2188
Santa Fe, NM 87504–2188

Delivery Address for FedEx or UPS:
School for Advanced Research
660 Garcia St.
Santa Fe, NM 87505

Tricia Bruce
tricia.bruce@maryvillecollege.edu
Division of Social Sciences, Maryville College
502 E. Lamar Alexander Pkwy
Maryville, TN 37804–5907

Ted Jelen
jelent@unlv.nevada.edu
Political Science
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
4505 Maryland Parkway
Las Vegas, NV 89154–5029

Bryan Turner
bturner@gc.cuny.edu
Department of Sociology
The Graduate Center
The City University of New York
365 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10016–4309
DISTINGUISHED ARTICLE AWARD  [Top]
Purpose: To recognize the most outstanding article published by a SSSR member or members within the past year.

Qualifications: An article may be nominated by the editor of the journal in which it appeared, by its author, or by any other SSSR member deeming it to be of outstanding quality. Articles must have been published in refereed, print journals. Submissions published solely in edited volumes will not be considered.

Procedures: Nominated articles must be sent in electronic format by May 15 to all committee members. Those members are:

Amy Burdette
aburdette@fsu.edu

Paul Djupe
djupe@denison.edu

Ariela Keysar
Akeysar@aol.com

Kevin Dougherty
kevin_dougherty@baylor.edu

Criteria: The committee will judge each article's quality of scholarship, importance to the field, and relevance to the larger society. Any article involving some aspect of the scientific study of religion is eligible.

Award: The award will be presented at the annual meeting. It includes a plaque and $1000.
STUDENT PAPER AWARD  [Top]
Purpose: To recognize the best paper scheduled for presentation by a student at the annual meeting. SSSR wishes to (1) encourage scholarly work and participation by students in SSSR meetings, and (2) give students the opportunity to receive constructive feedback and criticism on their work by professional colleagues and mentors.

Qualifications: Authors of papers submitted for this competition must be graduate or undergraduate students at institutions of higher learning anywhere in the world, but papers must be submitted in English. Any co–authors must also be students. Neither faculty nor post–doctoral co–authors are permitted. To be eligible, a paper must not have been published or accepted for publication. At least one author for the paper must be registered for the SSSR conference. Submission of the paper implies a commitment for an author to appear and present the paper at the conference.

Procedures: Student authors must use the SSSR online procedure for submitting abstracts. Papers intended for this competition must be submitted to the chair of the Student Paper Award Committee by August 1. Student authors who intend to enter this competition may wish to notify the Student Paper Award Committee Chair via email at the time of their abstract submission, but they are not required to do so.

Although the version of the paper prepared for oral presentation is usually limited to what can be read in about 15 minutes, the written version submitted by August 1 for the award should be of normal length for published articles, that is, about 35 pages, double–spaced, including notes and references. Papers should be submitted to the chair of the Committee as an email attachment in either MS Word or rich text format. The deadline for all full–paper submissions to this competition is August 1.

Criteria: Student papers will be judged by the awards committee on criteria normally used in evaluating scholarly and scientific papers for publication – namely, an appropriate theoretical framework, a competent use of research methods and data as necessary, with a persuasive argument to a logical conclusion. Papers may build upon any theoretical or research tradition. It will be up to the author(s) to demonstrate the cogency and usefulness of the theories and methods used in the paper.

The Award: The award will be presented at the annual meeting. It includes a plaque and $1000.

To apply, please use the SSSR abstract proposal system available at http://www.sssrweb.org
Final date for abstract submission is March 31:


Send a completed paper by August 1 to:

Bryan Froehle, Chair

froehleb@gmail.com

Please direct any questions to Professor Froehle, chair of the Student Paper Award Committee.
JACK SHAND RESEARCH AWARDS  [Top]
A generous bequest from Jack Shand, a long–term member of SSSR until his death in 2001, has made it possible for SSSR to offer Jack Shand Research Awards to support research in the social scientific study of religion.

In 2013, we will give research grants only in the small grant category. We have allocated $40,000 to the small grants program, with individual awards limited to $5000. Applicants must have finished the Ph.D. degree and must be members of SSSR. In the case of co–authored requests, one author must be a member. Intellectual merit is the criterion by which proposals will be evaluated.

Applicants should email a proposal, in PDF, to Scott Desmond, chair of the small grants committee, no later than May 1, 2013. The proposal should be no longer than 4 single–spaced pages of 12–point type, including a budget. The limit of 4 pages does not include references.

Funding decisions will be made by August 1, 2013.

Jack Shand Small Grant Awards Committee

Scott Desmond, 2013 scott.desmond100@gmail.com
Jennifer Barrett, 2013 jennifer.barrett@wur.nl
Gerardo Marti, 2014, gemarti@davidson.edu
Melissa Wilde, 2014 mwilde@sas.upenn.edu
JACK SHAND INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL AWARDS  [Top]
SSSR is an international association and seeks to promote the scientific study of religion worldwide. To this end, the Society offers travel awards to help defray the cost of attendance at its annual meetings for scholars living outside the United States and Canada. Awards are given on the basis of financial need and quality of proposal. Applications from scholars in less developed countries and from those who have not previously attended are particularly welcome.

–English language proficiency is required and applicants must attend the entire annual meeting.

–Applicants must be members of SSSR

–Paper proposed may be presented at a SSSR or RRA Session

–Applicants must hold a terminal degree for the field, normally the PhD. ABD may apply under Student Travel Awards.

–Recipients of SSSR travel awards during the two previous years are not normally eligible.

Applications must be received no later than May 1 and should include the following information in English. All selection criteria should be addressed explicitly and directly in the application:

1. Cover letter stating how a travel award would assist the applicant's work and ability to contribute to the scholarly community in his or her home country. The letter should state whether (and when) the applicant has previously attended SSSR meetings.

2. Short curriculum vita (no more than two pages).

3. Summary of the presentation (500–1,000 words). Assuming all other criteria are met, intellectual excellence of the project, including substantive, theoretical, and methodological importance, will be the determining factors.

4. Statement of need, mentioning any effort the applicant has made to obtain support from elsewhere (e.g., the home institution).

5. An outline budget showing the costs of travel, hotel, meals, registration fees and incidental expenses, and the amount of co–funding from elsewhere.

6. Two academic letters of reference, including one from another member of SSSR if possible.

Applications should be sent electronically to:

Orit Avishai, Chair of Shand International Travel Award Committee
avishai@fordham.edu
SSSR STUDENT RESEARCH AWARDS  [Top]
The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion offers annual research awards to assist graduate students in their research. Although these awards are normally used for dissertation support, other significant research is eligible. The ordinary maximum award is $3,000. Awards are intended to cover research expenses, travel, research assistance, and up to $1500 in stipend for the researcher's own time. Grant recipients have two years to spend their awards and are expected to submit a brief report on their research.

Applicants must have been SSSR members for at least one year at the time they submit their proposals and must not have won the award in the previous three years. Applicants should describe the project they wish to undertake in no more than 3 single–spaced pages, discussing its significance for the social scientific study of religion and briefly identifying the literature on which they are drawing. The applications should include an abstract of no more than 100 words and an annotated budget that describes the rationale for proposed expenditures, as well as information about any other sources of support. The application should be accompanied by a brief curriculum vitae (no more than 2 pages) listing the most recent research and publications.

The application package should be collated into one MS Word file containing, in order, the abstract, 3pg proposal, annotated budget, and 2pg CV. Send an electronic copy of the application package by May 1, 2013 to:

Gene Burns, Chair, Student Research Awards Committee
burnsg@msu.edu

Notification of results: July 1, 2013
SSSR STUDENT TRAVEL AWARDS  [Top]
Travel assistance to help defray the costs of attending the annual meetings is available for graduate students. Formal application using the form supplied is required for consideration (Application). Applicants are asked include an abstract of their paper and to provide their contact information, name of their academic advisor, academic program status (MA, ABD, on the job market, etc.), if they have attended the SSSR meetings before, their SSSR program status (presenting, co author but not presenting, etc.), and any additional sources of funding such as departmental travel assistance or some similar funding.

Application Form:
www.sssrweb.org/pdf/Student_Travel_Award_Application_2012.doc

Applicants should download the form, fill out all the required information and submit electronically by May 1, 2013 to:

Professor Jessica Collett, Chair
jlcollett@nd.edu

Applications received after the deadline will not necessarily receive consideration. Awardees will be notified by email, and the award checks will be distributed in person at the SSSR meeting

Copyright 2013 - Society for the Scientific Study of Religion