2022 Small Grants Award Recipients

Congratulations to our 2022 APSA Religion & Politics Small Grants Award recipients!

  • Tenzin Dorjee (Ph.D. candidate, Columbia University) – Religious Routes to Conflict Mitigation: Buddhism, Nationalism and Radicalization in Tibet
  • Alejandro Lopez-Peceno (Ph.D. candidate, NYU) – The Political Consequences of Religious Schooling: Evidence from 19th Century France
  • Yehia S. Mekawi (Ph.D. candidate, Michigan) – Accepting the Olive Branch? Muslim Leadership and State Accommodation in Belgium and the Netherlands
  • Rajeshwari Majumdar (Ph.D. candidate, NYU) – Citizen Reactions to False Equivalences in Religious Nationalist Rhetoric
  • Hilary Zedlitz (Ph.D. candidate, Michigan) – Hiding Your Religion: Nonreligious Americans and Self-Presentation

Hubert Morken Best Book Award – Call for Nominations

We would like to invite nominations for APSA’s 2023 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 2022. The nomination should include a brief statement (250-750 words) summarizing the book’s contributions and why it is nominated for the award. This statement can be sent by email to the committee chair, Vineeta Yadav (vuy2@psu.edu).

As part of the nomination, publishers should send a hard copy of the nominated book to EACH member of the awards committee at the addresses below, making sure that the books arrive by the nomination deadline, March 17th, 2023.

Self-nominations are welcome. If you have any questions, please contact the committee chair, Vineeta Yadav (vuy2@psu.edu).

Committee Members’ Contact Information:

Dr. Vineeta Yadav (Committee Chair)
309 Pond Lab
Penn State University
University Park, PA 16802

Dr. Jonathan Laurence
48 Old Colony Rd.
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467

Dr. John Green
422 Sandy Drive
Glenshaw, PA 15116

Rome Summer Seminars on Religion and Global Politics

The Rome Summer Seminars is a two-week program for graduate students, scholars and practitioners working at the crossroads of religion and global politics which is designed to draw on the unique religious and geopolitical resources of the city of Rome. The Seminars will begin with a 10-day writing workshop for students and culminate in a 2-day symposium for senior scholars and practitioners. Students attending the workshop will have the possibility to participate in the symposium.

The program will include daily seminars with members of the steering committee and confirmed keynote lectures Olivier Roy (European University Institute), Kristina Stoeckl (University of Innsbruck), Cenap Aydin (Istituto Tevere), Scott Appleby (University of Notre Dame), Mohammed Hashas (LUISS) and Anna Rowlands (Durham University).

To apply, you will need 1) an updated CV; 2) a short research statement outlining the research project to work on during the seminars; and 3) a short personal statement. Students wishing to apply for the limited travel and tuition scholarships should also include a short statement indicating their funding situation. The program expects to fund 5 scholarships on a strictly need-based criteria. Submissions must be received by February 10th, 2023. Accepted candidates will be notified by March 10th, 2023.

More information on the program and link to apply: https://rome.nd.edu/research/projects-activities/rome-summer-seminars-on-religion-and-global-politics/

Susanne Hoeber Rudolph Outstanding Scholar Award – Call for Nominations

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.

The award is presented annually, following a review of applications by the committee. (The 2022 Susanne Hoeber Rudolph Awardee will be honored at the 2023 APSA Annual Meeting during the section business meeting).

The award is intended as an addition to, not replacement for, the practice of awarding special ‘lifetime achievement awards’ for scholars who have made substantial contributions to the Section on the event of their retirement. Instead, this is meant to reward political scientists (including those who are mid-career) who have made a substantial contribution to the field of religion and politics.

Nomination letters and the CVs of the nominees are due to the Committee Chair, Paul Djupe (pdjupe@gmail.com) by March 17th, 2023. The nomination letter should clearly and substantially describe how the nominee fulfills the criteria described above: scholarship, teaching/mentoring, policy impact, and public engagement. Since this award is meant to reflect peer recognition, self-nominations will not be considered. One letter per candidate will be accepted, with the possibility of several signatories.

Award Committee:

Paul Djupe (Committee Chair), Denison University (djupe@denison.edu)
Laura Olson, Clemson University (laurao@clemson.edu)
Sabri Ciftci, Kansas State University (ciftci@ksu.edu)

Kenneth D. Wald Best Graduate Student Paper Award – Call for Nominations

The Kenneth D. Wald Best Graduate Student Paper Award will be 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 2021 or 2022.

Nomination Instructions: Please send nominations (self-nomination is okay) including an electronic copy of the paper and an electronic copy of the conference program listing to the committee members.

Deadline for Nominations: March 17th, 2023

Award Committee:

L. Felipe Mantilla (Committee Chair), University of South Florida (lfm1@usf.edu)
Jeremy Menchik, Boston University (menchik@bu.edu)
Ben Gaskins, Lewis & Clark College (bgaskins@lclark.edu)