The American Society for Irish Medieval Studies hosts three annual prizes:
- The Adams Prize (open to everybody, from graduate students through senior academics)
- The Barry Prize (open to graduate students)
- The Undergraduate Prizes for Diversity in Medieval Irish Studies (open to undergraduates)
Further information about each of these prizes can be viewed below.
The Four Courts Press Michael Adams Prize in Irish Medieval Studies
This prize is announced and awarded annually at the International Congress on Medieval Studies at Kalamazoo.
The prize is awarded for the best essay/article in Irish Medieval Studies published in a book or journal during the previous calendar year. This year’s prize, which will be awarded in May 2022, will be awarded for an essay/article published in 2020-21.
Only articles/essays written by members of ASIMS will be considered. Membership information and registration is available at https://asims.org/.
The prize is open to everybody, from students to senior academics.
Each entrant must submit his/her article on or by March 25th of the year of the prize ceremony (i.e. if you are entering the competition with an essay/article that was published in 2020-21 you must submit your entry for consideration on or by 25 March 2022).
The preferred submission format is PDF as an email attachment. If submitting by post, send four paper copies.
All submissions for the year 2018 should be sent before midnight, 25 March 2022 to:
Dr. Melanie Maddox
Associate Professor of History, The Citadel
Email: mmaddox@citadel.edu
The entries will be judged by a panel consisting of: (a) the current President of ASIMS; (b) a senior scholar in good standing (appointed by the ASIMS Executive Board in consultation with Terry Barry); and (c) the winner of the previous year’s Adams Prize.
The prize is a check to the value of US$500 from Four Courts Press. A summary of the article will be reprinted in Eolas, the journal of ASIMS.
Please feel free to download and distribute the Adams Prize Announcement.
Terence Barry Prize for Best Graduate Paper in Irish Medieval Studies
The American Society of Irish Medieval Studies (ASIMS) seeks to develop Irish medieval studies as an academic discipline within the United States and Europe. Members of the Society conduct research in archaeology, art history, history, linguistics, literature, and theology.
Named in honor of Professor Terry Barry, TCD, in recognition of his lifelong commitment to graduate student scholarship, the ASIMS Barry Prize is an annual prize awarded for the best conference paper on a subject of relevance to Irish Medieval Studies delivered by a graduate student.
The prize is open to graduate students from any field who either have presented or have written and intend to present a paper on a subject of relevance to Irish Medieval Studies at any conference, including virtual ones, during the year beginning with the Kalamazoo Congress (ICMS) in May 2020 and ending with the Kalamazoo Congress (ICMS) of 2022.
Submissions will be judged by a panel drawn from the ASIMS committee. The 2021 prize-winner will be determined by a committee of judges from disciplines relevant to the body of submissions.
The winning paper will be announced at the ASIMS dinner, which is held annually at the Kalamazoo International Congress. The winner need not be present, and will be contacted officially in writing.
The prize will consist of a check for reimbursement of the current year’s ICMS registration fees costs, or a check of equivalent value. It is a requirement that the winning entry submits a summary statement of the presentation for publication in the society’s journal, Eolas. Especially worthy entries may also be considered for eventual publication in the journal. Should the prize winner decide to seek publication of the winning entry, Eolas has the right of first refusal.
Please note that only graduate student papers written/presented by members of ASIMS will be considered. Membership may begin at the time of submission.
Membership information and registration is available here.
Please submit proof of current graduate student status and a copy of your paper electronically (preferably in pdf format), to:
Dr. Melanie Maddox
Associate Professor of History, The Citadel
Email: mmaddox@citadel.edu
Submissions for the next prize should be received before midnight on April 15, 2022.
Please feel free to download and distribute the Barry Prize Announcement.
The Undergraduate Prizes for Diversity in Medieval Irish Studies
The American Society of Irish Medieval Studies seeks to encourage the inclusion of diverse scholars and the study of diversity within the field through the Undergraduate Prizes for Diversity in Irish Medieval Studies.
The competition is open to undergraduate students who self-identify as a member of a marginalized community who completed a course paper or project on an area related to Irish Medieval Studies, or undergraduate students who completed a course paper on a topic related to Diversity in Medieval Ireland.
Two prizes of $300 each will be awarded annually to assist a student to present their work at a conference, either in person or virtually, or to support their continued study in Irish Medieval Studies (e.g. towards a study abroad experience, or the cost of graduate program applications). The cash prize will be paid to the student in advance of the conference/approved use. Their research will be published on the ASIMS website where it will be displayed as undergraduate research supported by the ASIMS Diversity Prize, as well as being promoted on social media.
One prize will be granted to a student at the community college or four-year college freshman level for work completed in AY 2020-21 or AY 2021-22. One prize will be granted to a student at the sophomore level or above at a four-year college for work completed in AY 2020-21 or AY 2021-22.
Students may self-nominate or be nominated by faculty. Submissions can take the form of any kind of undergraduate research, including essays, papers, posters, presentations, creative, or digital humanities.
Eligibility:
- Must self-identify as a person from an under-represented group in academia OR submits
work that examines an under-represented group in medieval Ireland. - The applicant must be the sole or primary researcher for the submitted piece of work.
- Must be a currently enrolled undergraduate at the time the work was completed.
- Work must be submitted from AY 2020-21 and AY 2021-22.
- Winning submissions must be withdrawn from other competitions with a publication
prize – ASIMS reserves the right as sole publisher of the awarded work.
Submissions should be PDFs sent as an email attachment, or a link to a stable URL contained within an email. The student or professor nominating should complete the submission form and attach it to the email as PDF or Word document. No other formats can be guaranteed acceptance.
All submissions should be sent before midnight, March 25, 2022 to:
Dr. Melanie Maddox
Associate Professor of History, The Citadel
Email: mmaddox@citadel.edu
The entries will be judged by a panel consisting of professors who teach in the field of the submissions. In future years at least one judge will be drawn from the prior year’s winners. The winners will be announced in May 2022 and the decision will be communicated to the winners and their professors as well as posted to ASIMS social media and website.
Please feel free to download and distribute the Undergraduate Prizes for Diversity in Medieval Irish Studies Announcement and Submission Form.