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MESA Graduate Student Paper Prize

2011 Competition Guidelines

The Middle East Studies Association invites university and college faculty to nominate graduate student research papers on any aspect of post 600 CE Middle East studies for the 2011 Graduate Student Paper Prize. The author of the winning paper will be presented with an award of $250 and hand-calligraphed certificate at the MESA Awards Ceremony held during the MESA annual meeting in November.

Papers will be reviewed using a blind process so the author’s name should NOT be included on the title page, footer, or header. Papers will be evaluated according to originality of research and conceptualization (or interpretation), cogency of argument, and clarity of writing.

Submission rules:

  1. A nomination provided by a faculty member. (Since it is a blind review it can be sent via email).
  2. Author must be a current graduate student; proof of student status provided (this can be a letter from the department which can be sent via email).
  3. The paper must have been produced between July 1, 2010 and June 30, 2011.
  4. The paper must not exceed 7500 words (excluding bibliography).
  5. The paper must not be or ever been submitted for publication.
  6. The paper needs to use the following format:
    • 8 ½ x 11 paper 
    • One-sided
    • Standard font (such as Arial or Times Roman)
    • Double-spaced
    • 1.25” margins
    • Page limit of 30 pages
    • Black and white 
    • IJMES standards for endnotes (http://assets.cambridge.org/MES/MES_ifc.pdf)

To submit: Complete the submission form and email it and all materials to Sara Palmer at palmers@email.arizona.edu

Deadline: July 1, 2011.

Questions about the award may be directed to Sara at
520-626-4753 direct line
520-621-5850 main line
520-626-9095 fax
palmers@email.arizona.edu

The Graduate Student Paper Prize is funded by Aramex International, a global logistics solutions provider.

Previous Winners

2010 MESA Graduate Student Paper Prize
  • Murat Inan, University of Washington, Rethinking the Ottoman 'Imitation' of Persian Poetry: The Case for the "Suleymanic" Reception of Hafez of Shiraz
  • Darin N. Stephanov, University of Memphis, The First Shift in (Modern) Ruler Visibility: The Reign of Mahmud II"
2009 MESA Graduate Student Paper Prize
  • Fatemeh Hosseini, University of Maryland College Park,Whores or Wives: Discourses on Prostitution in Modern Iran, 1969-2006
2008 MESA Graduate Student Paper Prize
  • Yael Warshel, University of California, San Diego, It's All About Tom and Jerry, Amr Khaled and Iqra, not Hamas's Mickey Mouse: TV Viewing among Palestinian Children and Their Parents' Related Preferences
2007 MESA Graduate Student Paper Prize
  • Hoda Yousef, Georgetown University, Malak Hifni Nasif: Between Cultural and Patriarchal ‘Others’
2006 MESA Graduate Student Paper Prize
  • David Siddhartha Patel, Stanford University, Islam, Identity, and Electoral Coordination in Iraq
2005 MESA Graduate Student Paper Prize
  • Amira Mittermaier, Dept. of Anthropology, Columbia University, (Re) Imagining Tradition: Dreams, Visions and Poetry in Contemporary Egypt


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