Announcing the 2016 SITES postgraduate student essay competition

SITES: a journal of social anthropology and cultural studies invites submissions for the annual postgraduate student essay competition. Essays must be submitted by the due date of June 30, 2016. The winning essay will be announced on July 30, 2016.

The winning essay will be featured in the Annual General issue published in November of each year. The winner will work closely with the Editor to develop the essay toward publication in the journal. The deadline for submission of publication ready essays to the Editor of SITES is September 15, 2016.

Eligibility

In order to be eligible for the competition, the applicant must be a postgraduate student in a degree-granting programme when the paper is written; must be the sole author of the paper; and must submit the paper no more than two years after it was written. The paper must be an original work based on original research and/or analyses conducted by the author. At the time of submission for this competition, the paper must not have been published or submitted for publication elsewhere.

Evaluation Criteria

The following criteria will be applied in evaluating essays:

  1. Provides a well-rounded, in-depth analysis of an important social and/or cultural phenomenon.
  2. Develops knowledge in anthropology and/or cultural studies of broad interest and value.
  3. Shows evidence of theoretical sophistication: the theory allows the material to speak within the discipline and/or add to the discipline.
  4. There is evidence of intellectual risk-taking: opens up promising lines of inquiry calling for additional research or work beyond what the paper can hope to cover.
  5. The writing style is thoroughly engaging.

The recommended length of essays submitted for this competition is 6000 words (not including endnotes and bibliography). Please follow this link for additional guidelines for authors: https://sites.otago.ac.nz/Sites/about/submissions#authorGuidelines

Contact information

Enquiries and competition essay submissions should be directed to:

Dr Jenny Lawn
School of English and Media Studies, Massey University
j.m.lawn@massey.ac.nz

Important dates to note:

Submission of competition entries:             June 30, 2016

Announcement of winner:                            July 30, 2016

Publication ready revised essays:                September 15, 2016