ASFS Student Paper Awards

Student Award Submission Guidelines

Deadline for Annual Submission: February 1. Electronic submissions ONLY!

NB: ALL required materials are due by the deadline and NO exceptions will be made.

The ASFS invites current undergraduate and graduate to submit a paper for the William Whit (undergraduate) and Alex McIntosh (graduate) prizes, respectively. These awards recognize students’ contributions to the field of food studies. There will be one award each for an undergraduate student paper and a graduate student paper. Beginning in 2020, these papers may be single authored or multi-authored. ASFS welcomes submissions on a wide range of issues relating to food, society and culture, and from the diverse disciplinary and trans-disciplinary fields that ASFS encompasses. The author of each award-winning paper will receive:

  • $500 cash prize
  • Students who will be attending the conference are encouraged to apply for a student travel grant.

Please note

  • If it is a multi-authored paper, all authors must be students at the time the paper was written.
  • In the case of multi-authored papers, the award check will be sent to the first-named author.

Submission Guidelines and Conditions of Award

Eligible entries must

  • have been written for a course or research project directed by a faculty member at an academic institution or research institute; (NOT a dissertation or MA thesis chapter UNLESS it was written as a separate paper for a specific course)
  • have been completed within one year prior to submission date (no earlier than the previous February);
  • be submitted via email with ALL required documents as separate and attached documents:
      • a completed and separate submission cover sheet (see below for requirements);
      • the properly formatted paper; and
      • Supervising professor’s letter must be on letterhead and signed (pdf scans are more than fine) and state: the name of the student(s), the course, the term/dates the course was taught and the paper written plus a statement testifying to authorship and veracity of information and data (please scan the signed letter or use an electronic signature and attach). There is no need for an extended letter.
    • The STUDENT must submit all documents by the deadline. Do NOT ask your supervising professor to submit his/her letter separately.

Format

  •   Submit each document as a separate PDF; do NOT put them all in one PDF.
  •   Do: put the title of the paper on each page
  •   Do NOT: put the author’s name on the body of the paper [instead, remove your name from the document properties (right click), save and submit THAT version].
  •   Style & format: APA, MLA, Chicago
  •   Word count: up to 5,000 words, excluding references and notes. Provide a word count on the cover sheet for your paper, your support material (see below), and the final count with your notes and references.
  •   Do not submit papers with extended appendices, illustrations, etc. Limit appendices and additional materials to no more than 1000 words above the 5,000 for your paper.
  •   Text: double-space and include references and bibliographic information
  •   Margins: 1 inch top, bottom, left, right
  •   Numbering: bottom center of each page Justification: left
  •   Font style: use a serif font (such as Palatino, Times, Times New Roman, or Century Schoolbook), NOT a sans serif font (such as Arial, Geneva, or Verdana)
  •   Font size: 12 point
  •   For ALL submissions: make sure your document info does NOT have your name embedded the document information

Cover Sheet (separate from your paper) MUST include

Submission for (check one):

___ Graduate Prize
___ Undergraduate Prize

Date of submission:
Title of paper:
Word count (excluding notes and references):

Author’s name:

Address:
Email address:

School attended when paper was written:
Degree Program (BA, MA, PhD):
Department, course title, term (fall/winter/spring/summer and year) for which paper was written:
DATE (m/d/y) Written: :
Year Written:
Professor/Advisor for whom paper was written:
Professor/Advisor’s email address and phone number:

Evaluation Criteria (up to 10 points for each)

  • Originality and Contribution to the field of food studies: to what extent does this paper expand our knowledge of food, culture, and social life? How original is its approach to analyzing its topic?
  • Application of appropriate methods: Has the author used the best methods for this particular issue? Does the paper illustrate a command of a particular form of analysis? (We encourage interdisciplinary work, so this is a good place to evaluate the innovativeness of the author’s approach).
  • Clarity and organization of the data: Does the paper present its evidence in a coherent fashion?
  • Quality of writing: How well does the paper convey a story and speak to a broad audience. In particular, we want to honor papers that are readable and speak across disciplines.
  • Theoretical sense: To what extent does the paper use a recognizable framework? Does the paper use theory synthetically without heavy reliance on quotes and excessive jargon?

Not eligible

  • Videos and other non-print formats
  • Late submissions
  • Submissions without faculty letter of verification and submission sheet
  • Papers submitted to AFHVS (and vice versa). (ASFS reserves the right to refer papers to AFHVS.)
  • Papers that do not fit the criteria specified

Submission Instructions

Graduate Students:
Submit an electronic version of the paper, which does not include personally identifying information, along with the submission cover sheet and electronic letter from the primary supervising professor to: Dr. Beth M. Forrest: beth.m.forrest@gmail.com
 
Please contact Dr. Beth M. Forrest: beth.m.forrest@gmail.com, Adjudication Committee Chair, if you have any questions.
 
Undergraduate Students:
Submit an electronic version of the paper, which does not include personally identifying information, along with the submission cover sheet and electronic letter from the primary supervising professor to: Dr. Beth M. Forrest: beth.m.forrest@gmail.com
 
Please contact Dr. Beth M. Forrest: beth.m.forrest@gmail.com, Adjudication Committee Chair, if you have any questions.