Kay Schaffer Award

Purpose

This award is designed to acknowledge and celebrate the best unpublished essay on storytelling in Australian Studies by a postgraduate or early career researcher (ECR), to commemorate the influential scholarship of Professor Kay Schaffer. It is supported by the generous philanthropy of Kay Schaffer’s family.

Applications will be assessed by a judging panel established by the InASA executive. The judging panel will base its decision on how the submissions contribute to and enhance the interdisciplinary field of Australian Studies through a focus on the scholarship and practice of storytelling (broadly defined) in fields of great interest to Kay Schaffer: literary studies, gender studies, and historical studies.

The Award of $1000, accompanied by the judges’ citation, will be presented biennially at the InASA Conference. The winning article will also be published in the Journal of Australian Studies, subject to usual peer review process.

Eligibility

Unpublished essays of between 6-8,000 words by postgraduates and ECRs are eligible for entry.

For the purposes of this award, a postgraduate must be enrolled in a recognised certificate, diploma, masters or doctoral degree.

For the purposes of this award, we apply the Australian Research Council’s definition of an ECR as someone within five years of the conferral date of their PhD or equivalent research higher degree. This period may be extended if the person has experienced a career interruption.

Application process

Applicants must complete the below application form that contains a statement from the author confirming

1. that the work is unpublished and not under consideration by any publisher, and
2. the originality of the work and the nature of its contribution to the knowledge and understanding of Australian Studies through a focus on the scholarship or practice of storytelling.

This includes a brief (150-200 word) statement against the criteria below.

Applicants who have experienced a career interruption that may extend the ECR eligibility period must also outline this in the application.

The application must be accompanied by a high quality draft of the work, including full referencing and bibliography (see Journal of Australian Studies style guide), abstract and word count.

Applications are due 30^th June 2024.

Please email application to the chair of the judging committee Dr Andonis Piperoglou.

Email: andonis.piperoglou@unimelb.edu.au

Selection process

A panel of three judges will be appointed by the InASA Executive Committee. The InASA judging panel will make its decision on the basis of:

1. how the unpublished work contributes to and enhances the interdisciplinary field of Australian Studies through a focus on the scholarship and practice of storytelling;
2. the methodological and conceptual approach undertaken in the work, and its innovation in Australian studies through storytelling (broadly defined) from a range of perspectives, including fields that were of great interest to Kay Schaffer: Australian literary studies, gender studies, and historical studies.
3. the amenability of the work to publication as a refereed journal article format.

The decision of the panel will be final, and no feedback will be provided to unsuccessful applicants.

Award Value:

$1000 AUD