Student Achievement Award

[2018 deadline has passed. Please return to this page in mid-2019 for updates] 

NAPA 2018 Student Achievement Award

Deadline: August 30, 2018

Download PDF Flyer: NAPA_Student_Paper_Competition_2018

PURPOSE

The National Association for the Practice of Anthropology offers the annual Student Achievement Award to recognize undergraduate and graduate student contributions in the area of practicing and applied anthropology. The Award recognizes students globally who have excelled in the field, and provides opportunities for those who have conducted original research/projects in any applied context to be recognized during the AAA annual meetings and have their work considered for publication in the Annals of Anthropological Practice.

AWARDS and RECOGNITION

Up to three cash prizes may be awarded:

• $500, 1st Place
• $300, 1st Runner Up
• $200, 2nd Runner Up

A panel of anthropological practitioners will review all student paper submissions. Awardees will receive a certificate of recognition and will be acknowledged during the NAPA Business Meeting at the AAA annual meeting. Awardees will be listed in this website’s Student Achievement Award archive, and abstracts will be included when available. Outstanding papers will be considered for publication in the Annals of Anthropological Practice.

ELIGIBILITY

Applications will be accepted from current students or within 2 years after graduation. Students must have been enrolled in a graduate or undergraduate degree program at the time they conducted their work, although the paper may be edited or written after graduation. The degree program does not have to be in anthropology or within the United States to qualify, as long as the work was clearly in the scope of practicing and applied anthropology (see Criteria for Evaluation below). Submissions must be original work of high quality. The work may be undertaken alone or in collaboration with others, but for papers with one or more co-authors, an enrolled student (at the time of the work) must be the paper’s first author. Submissions listing professors as authors are not eligible.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

Papers must not exceed 25 pages of text and footnotes, excluding bibliography and any supporting materials, double-spaced using a common 12-point font, submitted in either MS Word or PDF formats. Margins should be 1″ on all sides. Papers should conform to the author guidelines of the American Anthropologist (http://www.aaanet.org/publications/guidelines.cfm). Preference will be given to papers that address the practical ramifications of a project/original research conducted in any industry. This could include examinations of community impact, identifying and improving local/service needs, implications for business strategy, implementation of user research, impact of collaborative research, etc. NAPA will also accept papers that integrate theory and methods towards generally advancing the field of applied anthropology. For any clarifications, please write to the NAPA Student Representative at [email protected].

Students are encouraged to have the papers reviewed by an academic adviser apprised of the criteria below before submission, although this is not mandatory.

CRITERIA for EVALUATION

Successful applicants will have read through and followed the award criteria closely. Papers will be judged on the following criteria. The paper:

• clearly states the problem or issue being investigated
• is clearly relevant to practicing/applied anthropology
• clearly states the practical implications of the research for addressing or understanding real-world problems, and discusses recommendations, appropriate solutions, or outcomes
• demonstrates a clear understanding of relevant literature about the topic
• is mechanically sound, including strong grammatical writing, proper formatting, and appropriate citations and bibliography

SUBMISSION PROCESS

The deadline for 2018 submissions is August 30, 2018.  Papers must be submitted via email by the deadline to the NAPA Student Representative at [email protected]. Winners will be notified in October. For more information on the award, contact the student representative at this email address.

Past Award Winners

For information on past award winners, see the Student Achievement Award archive page at http://practicinganthropology.org/students/student-achievement-award/student-award-archive/.