American Society of Church History

PRIZES

The Frank S. and Elizabeth D. Brewer Prize
The Frank S. and Elizabeth D. Brewer Prize is offered annually and the award is $1,500.  The nominees for the prize are limited to the authors of books which are their first scholarly work.  (The books may be published or the authors may have a contract to publish their manuscript by the deadline for nominations.)  The topic of the book should be church history, particularly, though not limited to, the history of Congregationalism. Nominations must be received by November 1.

The Albert C. Outler Prize
The Albert C. Outler Prize is an award of $2,000 to the author of the best monograph, biography, critical edition, or bibliography published in the two previous calendar years in ecumenical church history broadly conceived. “Ecumenical” includes topics relating to the quest for a fuller understanding or unity within Christianity or between Christianity and other religions.  Nominations must be received by March 1 in even-numbered years.

The Philip Schaff Prize
The Philip Schaff Prize is an award in the amount of $2,000 to the author of the best book published in the two previous calendar years, originating in the North American scholarly community, which presents original research on any period in the history of Christianity, or makes a significant synthesizing scholarly contribution. Nominations must be received by March 1 in odd-numbered years.

The Jane Dempsey Douglass Prize
The Jane Dempsey Douglass Prize is an annual award in the amount of $250 for the author of the best essay published during the previous calendar year on any aspect of the role of women in the history of Christianity. Nominations or submissions, accompanied by a copy of the article, must be received by August 1.

The Sidney E. Mead Prize
The Sidney E. Mead Prize, offered annually, is an award in the amount of $300 for the author of the best unpublished essay in any field of church history written by a doctoral candidate or recent graduate whose manuscript stems directly from his or her doctoral research. The manuscript will be published in Church History, contingent upon incorporating revisions stipulated by the review committee. Entries must be submitted by July 1.

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NOMINATION PROCESS

Authors must have their work nominated in order to be eligible for any of the prizes listed above. To make a nomination, please send a letter or an e-mail to the Executive Secretary (keith.francis@churchhistory.org).  The nomination should include the following: 1) the author’s name; 2) the author’s affiliation (or designation of ‘independent scholar,’ if appropriate); 3) the author’s contact information (mailing address and e-mail address); 4) the title of the author’s work; and for books 5) the publisher and year of publication.

A copy of the author’s work should be sent to the ASCH Office after the acknowledgment of the receipt of the nomination by the Executive Secretary.

Note: one copy of the nominated work will need to be sent to each member of the review committee.  This committee has nine members at present. (The Executive Secretary will supply the names and addresses of the members of the review committee.)

In order to maintain critical distance between the nominees and the review committee, it is the responsibility of the publishers of nominated books to send copies to the review committee.  Those who nominate books should ensure that publishers are aware of this stipulation.

Manuscripts, articles, or books may be submitted or nominated for one prize only, and will not be accepted in successive years for the same or different prizes.

RECENT PRIZE WINNERS (Listed by Year of Announcement)

2012

Schaff: Mark Valeri (Union Presbyterian Seminary), Heavenly Merchandize:  How Religion Shaped Commerce in Puritan America (Princeton University Press, 2010)

Brewer: Scott Mark Kenworthy (Miami University), The Heart of Russia: Trinity-Sergius, Monasticism, and Society after 1825 (New York:  Oxford University Press, 2010)

Mead: Young Hwi Yoon (University of Warwick, “The Spread of Antislavery Sentiment through Proslavery Tracts in the Transatlantic Evangelical Community, 1740s-1770s.”

Douglass: Constance Hoffman Berman (University of Iowa), “Two Medieval Women’s Property and Religious Benefactions in France:  Eleanor of Vermandois and Blanche of Castile,” Viator 41 (2010): 151-182.

2011

Outler: Jerrilyn D. Dodds (City College, CUNY), María Rosa Menocal (Yale University), Abigail Krasner Balbale, The Arts of Intimacy: Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the Making of Castilian Culture (Yale University Press, 2008)

Brewer: Andrew Finstuen, Original Sin and Everyday Protestants: The Theology of Reinhold Niebuhr, Billy Graham, and Paul Tillich in an Age of Anxiety (University of North Carolina Press, 2009)

Mead: Joseph Stubenrauch (Indiana University), “Silent Preachers in the Age of Ingenuity: Faith, Commerce, and Religious Tracts in Early Nineteenth-Century Britain.”

Douglass: Andrea Sterk (University of Florida), “Mission from Below: Captive Women and Conversion on the East Roman Frontiers,” Church History 79 (2010): 1-39.

2010

Schaff: John Van Engen (University of Notre Dame), Sisters and Brothers of the Common Life:  The Devotio Moderna and the World of the Later Middle Ages (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008).

Brewer: William Inboden (Independent Scholar), Religion and American Foreign Policy, 1945-1960 (Cambridge University Press, 2008).

Mead: David King (Emory University), “The West Looks East:  The Influence of Toyohiko Kagawa on American Mainline Protestantism.”

2009

Outler: Sidney H. Griffith (Catholic University of America), The Church in the Shadow of the Mosque: Christians and Muslims in the World of Islam (Jews, Christians, and Muslims from the Ancient to the Modern World) (Princeton, 2007).

Brewer: Randoph Ferguson Scully (George Mason University), Religion and the Making of Nat Turner’s Virginia: Baptist Community and Conflict, 1740-1840 (Virginia, 2008).

Douglass: Fiona J. Griffiths, “The Cross and the Cura monialium: Robert Arbrissel, John the Evangelist, and the Pastoral Care of Women in the Age of Reform,” Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies (April 2008), 303-330.

Mead: Kyle T. Bulthuis (Metropolitan State College of Denver), “Preacher Politics and People Power: Congregational Conflicts in New York City, 1810-1830.”

2008

Schaff: Harry S. Stout (Yale University), Upon the Altar of the Nation: A Moral History of the Civil War (Viking, 2006)

Brewer: Heather Curtis (Tufts University), Faith in the Great Physician: Suffering and Divine Healing in American Culture, 1860-1900 (Johns Hopkins, 2007).

DISTINGUISHED CAREER AWARD

Recipients

2010 David Steinmetz
2009 George M. Marsden
2008 John F. Wilson
2007 Andrew F. Walls
2006 William R. Hutchison
2005 Caroline Walker Bynum
2004 Robert Kingdon
2003 Elizabeth Clark
2002 Edwin Gaustad
2001 Martin Marty
2000 Robert Handy
1999 Jaroslav Pelikan

GRANTS

Graduate Student  Awards

A limited number of awards are available to graduate student members reading papers at the upcoming ASCH Spring Meeting in Grand Rapids.

To apply, print this application form and e-mail the relevant material to the Executive Secretary, keith.francis@churchhistory.org.

Independent Scholar Awards

A limited number of awards are available to independent scholars reading papers at the upcoming ASCH Spring Meeting in Grand Rapids, April 7-10.

To apply, print this application form, and e-mail the relevant material to the Executive Secretary, keith.francis@churchhistory.org.