Student Competitions and Prizes

UNDERGRADUATE COMPETITIONS AND PRIZES

The BCPSA sponsors three annual student essay competitions, two biannual book prizes and a prize for the best two papers presented to the BCPSA Annual General Meeting. The objectives of these competitions are to encourage, recognize and reward outstanding scholarship in Political Studies by students and members of the BCPSA.  The President of the BCPSA is responsible for organizing the competitions and their adjudication.   All prizes are awarded at each annual meeting. The competitions are:

MIKE MEADE PRIZE

The Mike Mead Prize recognizes the best lower division (first and second year) undergraduate paper. Up to two Mike Meade Prizes are awarded each year.

NORMAN RUFF PRIZE

The Norman Ruff Prize recognizes the best upper division (third and fourth year) undergraduate paper.

BA HONOURS PAPER PRIZE

This prize recognizes the best honours paper.

Student Prize Eligibility, Submission and Adjudication

  • Students must be enrolled in a BC post-secondary institution that participates in the BCCAT Political Studies Articulation Committee.
  • Departments are responsible for nominating papers for student essay competitions.
  • Direct submissions by students for undergraduate essay prizes will not be accepted.
  • Departments can nominate only one paper in each category for adjudication.
  • Submit to the alexander.netherton@viu.ca.
  • DEADLINE: There are two calls for nominating papers. The first deadline is Friday, December 21, 2018. The second is Tuesday, April 23, 2019.
  • BCPSA Student Prize competitions are adjudicated by BCPSA faculty members in panels organized by the President of the BCPSA.

GEOFFREY WELLER PRIZE

The Geoffrey Weller Prize recognizes the best political science book by a BC author or authors published in the preceding two years. This excludes edited works. The purpose of the competition is to recognize the outstanding research and scholarship of BC faculty. Nominated books can be on any topic within the discipline. 

  • The Departmental Chair or equivalent is responsible to nominations for the Geoffrey Weller Prize to the President of the BCPSA.
  • The Geoffrey Weller Prize is awarded by an adjudication committee consisting of past presidents of the BCPSA.
  • The next contest will be for books published during 2018 & 2019. Submission deadline is the January 7, 2020.

LYNDA ERICKSON PRIZE

The Lynda Erickson Prize recognizes the best political science edited book by a BC author or authors published in the preceding two years. This is a new prize intended to provide recognition for the contributions of edited volumes in research and synthesis. The book can be on any topic within the discipline and we encourage the nomination of collaborative as well as single editor works. 

  • The Departmental Chair or equivalent is responsible to send nominations for the Lynda Erickson Prize to the President of the BCPSA,  alexander.netherton@viu.ca.
  • Books edited by a group of editors, not all from BC institutions, are eligible, provided that at least fifty percent of the editors are from BC institutions.
  • The Lynda Erickson Prize is awarded by an adjudication committee consisting of past presidents of the BCPSA.
  •  The contest is for edited books published during 2017 & 2018. The Submission deadline is January 15, 2019.

MARJORIE GRIFFIN COHEN PRIZE

The Marjorie Griffin Cohen Prize recognizes the two best papers presented to the Annual Meetings of the BCPSA in the current year. Named to honour a leading BC essayist, activist and public intellectual, the new competition reflects our commitment to provide venues to present, recognize and reward critical scholarship.  

  • The eligibility condition is that the presenter has to submit and present a paper at the BCPSA Annual General Meeting.
  • The Marjorie Griffin Cohen Prize is awarded by an adjudication committee organized by the President of the BCPSA.
  • A revised version of that paper must be submitted to the President of the BCPSA within three weeks after the meetings.
  • The 2019 submission date for revised papers is May 24, 2019.
  • Papers should be submitted to alexander.netherton@viu.ca.

******************************************************************