Awards

From R P R Portal

• Robert J. McNamara Student Award

-- Sponsor: Association for the Sociology of Religion

-- SYNOPSIS: The sponsor awards a cash prize of $500 to recognize an outstanding student paper in the sociology of religion.

-- Deadline: 06/01/2009

-- Contact: Professor William Mirola

-- E-mail: mirola@marian.edu

-- Web Site: http://www.sociologyofreligion.com/

-- Program URL: http://www.sociologyofreligion.com/MCNAMARA2004.html

-- OBJECTIVES: The sponsor awards a cash prize to recognize an outstanding student paper in the sociology of religion.

-- ELIGIBILITY: Authors must be currently enrolled students who have not defended the Ph.D. when the paper is submitted. ASR membership is required for consideration.

• Awards for Excellence in the Study of Religion

-- Sponsor: American Academy of Religion

-- SYNOPSIS: In order to give recognition to new scholarly publications that make significant contributions to the study of religion, the sponsor offers Awards for Excellence. The Awards honor works of distinctive originality, intelligence, creativity and importance, books that affect decisively how religion is examined, understood, and interpreted.

-- Deadline: 03/20/2009

-- Contact: Glen Stassen, gstassen@fuller.edu

-- Program URL: http://www.aarweb.org/Programs/Awards/Book_Awards/rules-excellence.asp

-- OBJECTIVES: Awards for Excellence are given in four categories:

Constructive-Reflective study of religion: works of contemporary ethics, philosophy, interpretation, theology or analogous forms of critical reflection.

Historical study of religion: works that focus on the history of a particular religion or religions in a specific historical period or geographical area.

Analytical-Descriptive study of religion: works of analysis or theory that focus on religion as an object of enquiry or on its typical components, such as myth, ritual, or tradition.

Textual study of religion: works that focus on the analysis, interpretation, or translation of a particular text or group of texts in the study of religion.

-- ELIGIBILITY: The competition is open to all books of distinction in the academic study of religion. An author's membership in the AAR is not a necessary condition. Nominations may be submitted by any person or institution with the exception of the competition Coordinator and Jurors.

-- FUNDING: The current value of the award is $1,000.

• Templeton Prize

-- Sponsor: Templeton (John) Foundation

-- SYNOPSIS: The sponsor provides a prize to honor a living person who has made an exceptional contribution to affirming life's spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical works. The prize awards a sum in the amount of £1,000,000 sterling ($2,000,000 USD).

-- Deadline: 07/01/2009

-- Contact: The Templeton Prize Office, Canyon Institute for Advanced Studies, 3217 East Shea Blvd, Suite 622, Phoenix, AZ 85028

-- E-mail: info@templetonprize.org

-- Program URL: http://www.templetonprize.org/nomination.html

-- OBJECTIVES: The Templeton Prize honors a living person who has made an exceptional contribution to affirming life's spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical works. Established in 1972 by Sir John Templeton, the Prize aims, in his words, to identify "entrepreneurs of the spirit" - outstanding individuals who have devoted their talents to those aspects of human experience that, even in an age of astonishing scientific advance, remain beyond the reach of scientific explanation. The Prize celebrates no particular faith tradition or notion of God, but rather the quest for progress in humanity's efforts to comprehend the many and diverse manifestations of the Divine.

The qualities sought in a Templeton Prize nominee include creativity and innovation, rigor and impact. The judges seek, above all, a substantial record of achievement that highlights or exemplifies one of the various ways in which human beings express their yearning for spiritual progress. Consideration is given to a nominee's work as a whole, not just during the year prior to selection. Nominations are especially encouraged in the fields of: research in the human sciences, life sciences, and physical sciences; scholarship in philosophy, theology, and other areas of the humanities; practice, including religious leadership, the creation of organizations that edify and inspire, and the development of new schools of thought; and commentary and Journalism on matters of religion, virtue, character formation, and the flourishing of the human spirit. These fields do not exhaust the areas in which achievement might qualify for the Templeton Prize, nor is it necessary for a nominee's work to be confined to just one field.

-- ELIGIBILITY: Men and women of any creed, profession, or national origin may be nominated for the Templeton Prize. All nominations must be submitted in English. Self-nominations are not considered. The public at large is encouraged to participate in the nomination process. The Foundation also directly solicits nominations from academic leaders, theologians, scholars, and scientists.

-- FUNDING: The Prize is a monetary award in the amount of £1,000,000 sterling ($2,000,000 USD).