Deadline to Apply: June 1, 2011

The National Women’s Studies Association and the University of Illinois Press are pleased to announce a new 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.   

We welcome 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 we 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, he or she 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 after June 1, 2008. All submissions must be postmarked by June 1, 2011, and should include the following materials:

• Cover letter
• 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

Please mention the competition in your cover letter, and also indicate if any material from the manuscript has been previously published.  

The winner will be announced in the Fall of 2011. All submissions must be exclusive submissions to the University of Illinois Press for the duration of the contest, and finalists will be notified by August 15, 2011.

Please direct all questions and submissions to:

Larin McLaughlin
Senior Acquisitions Editor
University of Illinois Press
1325 South Oak St.
Champaign, IL 61820-6903
larinmc@uillinois.edu