Awards

Travel Awards

SLSA provides a limited number of travel awards for underfunded individuals attending the annual conference. Members of SLSA who present at the annual conference may apply for travel subventions by emailing their name, title of their SLSA presentation, an indication of how long one has been a member of SLSA, and any information about their funding for the conference to the Executive Director carol.colatrella@lmc.gatech.edu by August 1. Please provide estimated travel expenses and the amount of support (if any) anticipated from other sources. If you have received travel support from SLSA in the past, please include information about that support (when and how much). SLSA officers will review applications and approve funds for as many as our budget permits; preference will be given to students and those most in need. Each person awarded funds will be presented with a US check at the conference business meeting. SLSA funds can be used to defray hotel, registration, transportation, or other travel expenses.

SLSA NSF Travel Grants

SLSA members who are US citizens or students enrolled in US institutions may apply for NSF funds at https://airtable.com/shruYZ97cFfzgp2ky by August 5.

Recipients will also need to upload receipts and complete this form by November 7, 2024: https://airtable.com/shrcU9U7zoUk0vID8

Applicants must be independent scholars, artists, graduate students, or recent PhDs who are US citizens or who are enrolled in US institutions. Applications from members of historically excluded groups and from those without access to additional funds, for whom conference attendance would be financially difficult without the NSF travel grant, will be prioritized.

SLSA NSF funds can only be applied to transportation to and from the conference and for conference registration. NSF funds can reimburse any airfare purchased on “flagship” carriers or codeshare via the Airline Open Skies agreement. For example, if one books on Delta but Virgin is the airline used, the receipt should show payment was made to Delta in order for the expense to be reimbursed.*

*More details about the Airline “Open Skies” Agreement:
A foreign flag air carrier may be used if the transportation is provided under an air transportation agreement between the United States and a foreign government, which the Department of Transportation has determined meets the requirements of the Fly America Act. For information on “open skies” agreements in which the United States has entered, please refer to the GSA website at http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/103191.
Note on U.S./European Union Open Skies Agreement
In 2007, the U.S. entered an “Open Skies” Agreement with the European Union (“EU”). This agreement was modified in June 2010. The current Agreement gives European Community airlines (airlines of Member States) the right to transport passengers and cargo on flights funded by the U.S. government, when the transportation is between: (1) any two points outside the United States; or (2) a point in the United States and any point outside the United States that the EU airline is authorized to serve under the “Open Skies” Agreement.
As of 2011, two significant changes have been made to the U.S./EU Open Skies Agreement. First, EU airlines are now granted the right to transport civilian agency-funded passengers who are NOT eligible to travel on GSA Airline City Pair Contract fares (e.g., grantees) between a point in the United States and a point outside the United States even if there is a GSA Airline City Pair Contract fare in effect between the origin and destination points. An individual, however, who is traveling on a route for which there is a City Pair Contract fare in effect, and who is eligible for such a fare (e.g., Federal employee), will be required to fly on a U.S. carrier, absent another applicable exception.
Second, under the amended Agreement, EU airlines are now authorized to transport passengers between points in the United States and points outside the EU if the EU airline is authorized to serve the route under the Agreement. This includes flights that originate, arrive, or stop in the EU. Prior to this change, EU airlines were limited to flying passengers between points in the U.S. and points in the EU.

The Bruns Essay Prize

The Bruns Graduate Essay Prize, in honor of Edward F. Bruns, is awarded annually to the best essay written by a graduate student member of the Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts. Graduate students wishing to have their essays considered for the $500 prize should submit them by August 1 to N. Katherine Hayles, Department of English, Duke University, via electronic mail to katherine.hayles@duke.edu. Please send a copy of your formatted essay as a PDF or Word file, or send a pointer to a URL where the essay is posted. Click for the Bruns Essay Prize winners.

The Schachterle Essay Prize

Lance Schachterle, founding president of the society, has established an annual prize of $250 in honor of his parents to recognize the best new essay on literature and science written in English by a nontenured scholar. Eligible authors wishing to submit essays (published or accepted for publication) should send them prior to August 1 to SLSA’s Executive Director, Carol Colatrella, LMC, Georgia Institute of Technology via electronic mail to carol.colatrella@lmc.gatech.edu. Please send a copy of your formatted essay as a PDF or Word file, or send a pointer to a URL where the essay is posted. Click for the Schachterle Essay Prize winners.

SLSA Michelle Kendrick Memorial Book Prize

SLSA holds an annual competition for the Michelle Kendrick Memorial Book Prize awarded each year to the best academic book on literature, science, and the arts published by an SLSA member. The prize will be announced at the annual SLSA conference. Click for the Michelle Kendrick Memorial Book Prize winners.

Established in the fall of 2006 in memory of Michelle Kendrick of Washington State University-Vancouver, an energetic, well-loved scholar of literature and science and long-time member of SLSA, the Kendrick Prize is open to any book of original scholarship on literature, science, and the arts published between July 1 and June 30 for awarding in the following fall. The winner will receive $250.00.

To be considered for this year’s (or last’s) Kendrick Prize, please send three copies of your book by June 30 to:

Professor Robert Markley
Department of English
608 South Wright Street
University of Illinois
Urbana, IL 61801

Donations for the Kendrick Prize (checks made out to SLSA, with Kendrick Prize in memo) can be sent to

Carol Colatrella
SLSA Executive Director
LCC, Georgia Tech
686 Cherry Street
Atlanta, GA 30332-0165

Note: all of the awards described above are presented during the Business Meeting of the annual fall conference. One may submit only one entry to one of the two essay prize competitions.

SLSA Lifetime Achievement Award

The SLSA Executive Committee will each spring appoint a committee to seek and review nominations for the SLSA Lifetime Achievement award. Members of this committee will include a former President of SLSA, who will serve as chair, one currently serving member at large, and one other SLSA member. The Lifetime Achievement Awards Committee will send out an announcement asking members to nominate candidates whose significant, interdisciplinary scholarship or artwork is exemplary of SLSA. The committee members will nominate candidates and should collaborate on reviewing nominations from the membership to select a living recipient of the award or to decide not to make an award for that year. The Lifetime Achievement award will be presented at the annual business meeting. Click for the SLSA Lifetime Achievement Award winners.