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Call for Section Award Nominations

Each year, Religion and Politics recognizes significant contributions to the field. We invite your nominations (including self-nominations) for our 2025 awards. All nominations are due by April 1. 2025. 

 

Susanne Hoeber Rudolph Outstanding Scholar Award

The Susanne Hoeber Rudolph Outstanding Scholar Award recognizes a scholar who has made outstanding contributions to the field of religion and politics. These contributions should be through a combination of excellent and widely influential scholarship, policy input/impact, public engagement, service, teaching, and mentorship.

Committee

  • Sabri Ciftci, Chair
    • Department of Political Science, Kansas State University
    • ciftci@ksu.edu
  • Esen Kirdis
    • Dept. of Political Science, Rhodes College
    • kirdise@rhodes.edu
  • Ryan P. Burge
    • Dept. of Political Science, Eastern Illinois University
    • rpburge@eiu.edu

 

Weber Best Paper in Religion and Politics Award

Weber Best Paper in Religion and Politics Award recognizes the best paper dealing with religion and politics presented at the previous year’s APSA Annual Meeting (2024). The paper should address a timely and relevant topic, within the discipline and beyond, in a theoretically innovative and methodologically thorough manner. All papers presented at the 2024 Annual Meeting are eligible, regardless of modality of presentation (ie. in person, virtual/synchronous, and pre-recorded paper presentations are all eligible)

Committee

  • Cammie Jo Bolin, Chair
    • Dept. of Political Science
    • University at Albany, SUNY
    • cbolin@albany.edu
  • Asli Cansunar
    • Dept. of Political Science, University of Washington
    • cansunar@uw.edu
  • Hannah Ridge
    • Dept. of Political Science, Chapman University
    • haridge@chapman.edu

Aaron Wildavsky Best Dissertation Award

The Aaron Wildavsky Award recognizes the best dissertation in the field of religion and politics. Eligible dissertations have been defended in the last two years and should make a distinctive contribution to the study of religion and politics, broadly understood.

Committee

  • Angelia Wilson, Chair
    • School of Politics, U. of Manchester
    • angelia.r.wilson@manchester.ac.uk
  • Radha Sarkar
    • Department of International Relations and Political Science, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico
    • radha.sarkar@tec.mx
  • Ursula Hackett
    • Department of Politics and International Relation, University of London
    • ursula.hackett@rhul.ac.uk

Hubert Morken Best Book Award

The Hubert Morken Award is given for the best book dealing with religion and politics published within the previous year. The criteria for the award include the originality of the argument presented, quality of the research, innovative methods, readability of the text and the policy or practical implications of the scholarship. To be eligible for the award, books must have been published in the preceding year.

Committee

  • Guadalupe Tuñón (chair)
    • 409 Robertson Hall
    • Princeton University
    • Princeton, NJ 08540
    • tunon@princeton.edu
  • Paul Djupe
    • 461 E Clearview Ave
    • Worthington, OH 43085
    • djupe@denison.edu
  • Anna Grzymala-Busse
    • Dept of Political Science
    • 100 West Encina
    • Stanford University
    • Stanford, CA 94305 amgbusse@stanford.edu

Ted Jelen Best Journal Article Award

This annual award goes to the best paper in the Politics & Religion journal.

Committee

  • Jacob Nieheisel, Chair
    • Dept. of Political Science, University at Buffalo, SUNY
    • acobnei@buffalo.edu
  • Gaziza Shakhanova
    • Faculty of International Relations, Anglo American University in Prague
    • gaziza.shakhanova@aauni.edu
  • Daniel Koev
    • Dept. of Government, History and Criminal Justice, Regent University

Kenneth D. Wald Best Graduate Student Paper Award

The Kenneth D. Wald Best Graduate Student Paper Award is given annually to a conference paper studying any aspect of religion and politics presented by a Ph.D. student in political science. The conference can be affiliated with any of the US-based political science associations or a conference affiliated with another association, such as the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, the American Academy of Religion, the Middle East Studies Association, or the International Studies Association, as long as the paper was written by a student or students enrolled in a graduate program in political science and presented in 2022 or 2023. Papers written with faculty will not be considered. Papers presented at poster sessions are welcome.

Committee

  • Eric McDaniel
    • University of Texas at Austin
    • emcdaniel@austin.utexas.edu
  • Allyson Shortle
    • University of Oklahoma
    • allysonshortle@ou.edu
  • Emma Rosenberg
    • New York University
    • erosenberg@nyu.edu

 

 

Small Grant Award Winners, 2024-2025

Religion and Politics is pleased to announce the Small Grant Award winners for the 2024-2025 grant cycle. Our grant recipients are:

  • Tatiana Cruz, University of Wisconsin-Madison. $2850, Project: Sacred Votes: How Evangelical Churches Influence Electoral Outcomes in Brazil.
  • Yasmine Haiti, University of Illinois-Chicago. $2416. Project: Shifting Tides of Religious Party Politics: An Inside-out Look at Islamist Party Performance.
  • Nela Mrchkovska, University of Washington. $500, Project: Holy Words, Contentious Politics: Discourse on Sociopolitical Issues in US Congregations.

Congratulations! 

2024-2025 Section Officers and Board

R&P’s leadership for the 2024-2025 year has some returning members and some new faces. 

First, we want to thank outgoing board members Paul Djupe and Luis Felipe Mantilla for their service to the section’s board. David Buckley is our out-going chair–thanks for your leadership.

Our chair for 2024-2025 is Vineeta Yadav, and Nandini Deo is serving as chair-elect. Sabri Ciftci will serve as treasurer. 

Sabri Ciftci, Cammie Jo Bolin, and Eric McDaniel continue on the board. Jacob Nieheisel, Angelia Wilson, and Guadalupe Tuñón will be joining the board. 

 

Call for Proposals-Small Grants for Research in Religion and Politics

The Religion and Politics section of the American Political Science Association is requesting proposals for small grant awards of up to $3,000 for research on religion and politics. The total amount to be allocated is $6,000. Proposals may address any topic of theoretical, empirical, and practical significance for the study of religion and politics. Effective proposals will make clear what the author(s) intend to do, why that research is important, and how the project will be executed. The full call for proposals can be found here.

◾ Please submit proposals to apsa.religion.politics@gmail.com by 11:59 PM (E.T.) on November 1, 2024. Awards will be announced by December 15, 2024.

◾ Funds may be spent through December 1, 2025.

◾ Applicants must be members of the Religion & Politics section (note that section membership is free to graduate students).

◾ Preference will be given to graduate students, recent PhDs, and untenured faculty.

◾ Questions may be addressed to Dr. Vineeta Yadav at vyadav@psu.edu.