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Prizes and Fellowships

The Bernath Memorial Prizes

The Stuart L. Bernath Book Prize, the Stuart L. Bernath Lecture Prize, the Stuart L. Bernath Scholarly Article Prize, and the Stuart L. Bernath Dissertation Grant were established through the generosity of Dr. Gerald J. and Myrna F. Bernath, in memory of their late son, Stuart L. Bernath, Ph.D.

The Myrna F. Bernath Book Award and the Myrna F. Bernath Fellowship Award were established by the Bernath family to promote scholarship in diplomatic history by women.

The Stuart L. Bernath Book Prize

The purpose of the award is to recognize and encourage distinguished research and writing by scholars of American foreign relations. The prize of $2,500 is awarded annually to an author for his or her first book on any aspect of the history of American foreign relations.

Eligibility: The prize is to be awarded for a first book. The book must be a history of international relations. Biographies of statesmen and diplomats are eligible. General surveys, autobiographies, editions of essays and documents, and works that represent social science disciplines other than history are not eligible.

Procedures: Books may be nominated by the author, the publisher, or any member of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations. A nominating letter explaining why the book deserves consideration must accompany each entry in the competition. Books will be judged primarily in regard to their contributions to scholarship. Winning books should have exceptional interpretative and analytical qualities. They should demonstrate mastery of primary material and relevant secondary works, and they should display careful organization and distinguished writing. Five copies of each book must be submitted with a letter of nomination.

The award will be announced during the SHAFR luncheon at the annual meeting of the Organization of American Historians. The prize will be divided only when two superior books are so evenly matched that any other decision seems unsatisfactory to the selection committee. The committee will not award the prize if there is no book in the competition which meets the standards of excellence established for the prize.

To nominate a book published in 2008, send five copies of the book and a letter of nomination to Christopher Endy, Department of History, Martin Luther King Hall C 4065, California State University, 5151 State University Dr., Los Angeles CA 90032-8223 (email: [email protected]). Books may be sent at any time during 2008, but must arrive by December 1, 2008.

Recent Winners:

  • 2008: Erez Manela, The Wilsonian Moment: Self-Determination and the International Origins of Anticolonial Nationalism
  • 2007: Paul A. Kramer, The Blood of Government: Race, Empire, The United States, & The Philippines
  • 2006: Seth Jacobs, America’s Miracle Man in Vietnam: Ngo Dinh Diem, Religion, Race, and U.S. Intervention in Southeast Asia, 1950-1957; Elizabeth Borgwardt, A New Deal for the World: America’s Vision for Human Rights
  • 2005: Christopher Endy, Cold War Holidays: American Tourism in France
  • 2004: David Engerman, Modernization from the Other Shore: American Intellectuals and the Romance of Russian Development
  • 2003: Matthew Connelly, A Diplomatic Revolution: Algeria’s Fight for Independence and the Origins of the Post-Cold War Era
  • 2002: Mary Renda, Taking Haiti: Military Occupation and the Culture of U.S. Imperialism, 1915-1940
  • 2001: Joseph Henning, Outposts of Civilization: Race, Religion, and the Formative Years of American-Japanese Relations; Gregory Mitrovich, Undermining the Kremlin: America’s Strategy to Subvert the Soviet Bloc, 1947-1956
  • 2000: Jessica Gienow-Hecht, Transmission Impossible: American Journalism as Cultural Diplomacy in Postwar Germany, 1945-1955; Fredrik Logevall, Choosing War: The Lost Chance for Peace and the Escalation of War in Vietnam
  • 1999: Eric Roorda, The Dictator Next Door: The Good Neighbor Policy and the Trujillo Regime in the Dominican Republic, 1930-1945; Kurkpatrick Dorsey, The Dawn of Conservation Diplomacy: U.S.-Canadian Wildlife Protection Treaties in the Progressive Era
  • 1998: Penny Von Eschen, Race Against Empire: Black Americans and Anticolonialism, 1937-1957
  • 1997: Carolyn Eisenberg, Drawing the Line: The American Decision to Divide Germany, 1944-1949
  • 1996: Robert Buzzanco, Masters of War: Military Dissent and Politics in the Vietnam Era
  • 1995: Reinhold Wagnleitner, Coca-colonization and the Cold War: The Cultural Mission of the United States in Austria after the Second World War; James Hershberg, James B. Conant: Harvard to Hiroshima and the Making of the Nuclear Age
  • 1994: Tim Borstelmann, Apartheid’s Reluctant Uncle: The United States and Southern Africa in the Early Cold War
  • 1993: Elizabeth Cobbs, The Rich Neighbor Policy: Rockefeller and Kaiser in Brazil
  • 1992: Thomas Schwartz, America’s Germany: John J. McCloy and the Federal Republic of Germany
  • 1991: Gordon Chang, Friends and Enemies: The United States, China, and the Soviet Union, 1948-1972
  • 1990: Walter Hixson, George F. Kennan: Cold War Iconoclast; Anders Stephanson, Kennan and the Art of Foreign Policy

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The Stuart L. Bernath Lecture Prize

The Stuart L. Bernath Lecture Prize recognizes and encourages excellence in teaching and research in the field of foreign relations by younger scholars. The prize of $1000 is awarded annually.

Eligibility: The prize is open to any person under forty-one years of age or within ten years of the receipt of the PhD whose scholarly achievements represent excellence in teaching and research. Nominations may be made by any member of SHAFR or of any other established history, political science, or journalism department or organization.

Procedures: Nominations, in the form of a letter and the nominee’s c.v., should be sent to the Chair of the Bernath Lecture Committee. The nominating letter should discuss evidence of the nominee’s excellence in teaching and research.

The award is announced during the SHAFR luncheon at the annual meeting of the Organization of American Historians (OAH). The winner of the prize will deliver a lecture during the SHAFR luncheon at the next year’s OAH annual meeting. The lecture should be comparable in style and scope to a SHAFR presidential address and should address broad issues of concern to students of American foreign policy, not the lecturer’s specific research interests. The lecturer is awarded $1,000 plus up to $500 in travel expenses to the OAH, and his or her lecture is published in Diplomatic History.

To be considered for the 2009 award, nominations must be received by February 28, 2009. Nominations should be sent to Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman, San Diego State University, History Department, 5500 Campanile Dr., San Diego, CA 92182-6050 (email: [email protected]).

Recent Winners:

  • 2008 Paul Kramer
  • 2007 Max Paul Friedman
  • 2006 David Engerman
  • 2005 Kristin Hoganson
  • 2004 Kurk Dorsey
  • 2003 Fredrik Logevall
  • 2002 Jussi Hanhimaki
  • 2001 Mary Ann Heiss
  • 2000 Thomas Zeiler
  • 1999 Odd Arne Westad
  • 1998 Robert Buzzanco
  • 1997 Peter Hahn
  • 1996 Elizabeth Cobbs
  • 1995 Douglas Brinkley
  • 1993 Thomas Schwartz
  • 1993 Diane Kunz
  • 1992 Larry Berman
  • 1991 H.W. Brands
  • 1990 Robert McMahon
  • 1989 Richard Immerman
  • 1988 Stephen G. Rabe

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The Stuart L. Bernath Scholarly Article Prize

The purpose of the prize is to recognize and encourage distinguished research and writing by young scholars in the field of diplomatic relations. The prize of $1,000 is awarded annually to the author of a distinguished article appearing in a scholarly journal or edited book, on any topic in United States foreign relations.

Eligibility: The author must be under forty-one years of age or within ten years of receiving the Ph.D. at the time of the article’s acceptance for publication. The article must be among the first six publications by the author. Previous winners of the Stuart L. Bernath Book Award or the Myrna F. Bernath Book Award are ineligible.

Procedures: All articles appearing in Diplomatic History will be automatically considered without nomination. Other nominations may be submitted by the author or by any member of SHAFR.

The award is presented during the SHAFR luncheon at the annual meeting of the Organization of American Historians.

To nominate an article published in 2008, send three copies of the article and a letter of nomination to Michael Krenn, History Department , Appalachian State University, Boone, NC 28608 (email: [email protected]). Deadline for nominations is February 1, 2009.

Recent Winners:

  • 2008 Brian Delay
  • 2007 Sarah Graham
  • 2006 Sahr Conway-Lanz
  • 2005 Lawrence A. Peskin
  • 2004 Max Paul Friedman
  • 2003 Amy L. S. Staples
  • 2002 Seth Jacobs
  • 2001 Joseph Manzione
  • 2000 Paul Kramer
  • 1999 Robert Dean; Michael Latham
  • 1998 Nancy Bernhard
  • 1997 Robert Vitalis
  • 1996 David Fitzsimons
  • 1995 Heike Bungert
  • 1994 Fredrik Logevall
  • 1993 Daniel P. O’C. Greene
  • 1992 Marc Gallicchio
  • 1991 William Weeks
  • 1990 Lester J. Foltos
  • 1989 Robert J. McMahon

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The Stuart L. Bernath Dissertation Grant

Updated 9/10/08
The Bernath Dissertation Grant of $4,000 is intended to help doctoral candidates defray expenses encountered in the writing of their dissertations. The grant is awarded annually at the SHAFR luncheon held during the annual meeting of the American Historical Association.

Applicants must be actively working on dissertations dealing with some aspect of U.S. foreign relations history. Applicants must have satisfactorily completed all requirements for the doctoral degree except the dissertation. Membership in SHAFR is required.

Procedures: Self-nominations are expected. Applications should provide an intellectual justification for their project, conveying the ideas, objectives, methods, and significance of the work. Applications should be no longer than 6 double-spaced pages and must include:

  1. Project description/purpose of study
  2. Significance and scholarly contribution
  3. Brief description of key sources/archives, mention novel research here
  4. Status of project/completion timeline: what’s been done, when will it be finished

In addition, submissions must also include the following:

  1. Budget and justification: provide a breakdown of expenses and explanation of how they will be spent (no more than 1 page for all budget information)
  2. Concise C.V. (1-2 pages)
  3. Dissertation advisor letter of recommendation, to be submitted separately by e-mail to the chair of the prize committee

All application materials should be submitted to the prize committee chair via e-mail with these guidelines:

  1. Subject line of e-mail should clearly indicate “SHAFR application: Last name” as in “SHAFR application: Smith”.
  2. All application materials, except recommendation letters, should be contained in a single document which is in MS Word (*.doc), Acrobat (*.pdf) or rich text file(*.rtf) format

Applicants for the Bernath Dissertation Grant will also be considered for the Gelfand-Rappaport Fellowship.

Within eight months of receiving the award, each successful applicant must file with the SHAFR Business Office a brief report on how the funds were spent. Such reports will be considered for publication in Passport.

The deadline for applications for the 2009 grant is October 15, 2008. Application materials should be sent to Catherine Forslund, Rockford College, [email protected]. Kindly note that applications submitted under the guidelines posted here and otherwise circulated before September 10, 2008 will receive the full and equal consideration of the committee.

Recent Winners:

  • 2009 Christopher Dietrich
  • 2008 Jennifer Miller
  • 2007 Blair Woodard
  • 2006 Peter Shulman, Robert McGreevey
  • 2005 Jessica Chapman
  • 2004 Meredith Oyen
  • 2003 Adam Howard
  • 2002 Larry Grubbs
  • 2001 Hiroshi Kitamura; Clea Bunch
  • 2000 Joseph Henning
  • 1999 Elizabeth Kopelman Borgwardt; Deborah Kisatsky
  • 1998 Max Friedman
  • 1997 D’Arcy M. Brissman
  • 1996 David Fitzsimons
  • 1995 Amy L. S. Staples
  • 1994 Delia Pergande
  • 1993 R. Tyler Priest; Christian Ostermann
  • 1992 Shannon Smith
  • 1991 Eileen Scully
  • 1990 David McFadden
  • 1989 Thomas Zeiler; Russel Van Wyk
  • 1988 Elizabeth Cobbs; Madhu Bhalla
  • 1987 Janet M. Manson; Thomas M. Gaskin; W. Michael Weis; Michael Wala
  • 1986 Valdinia C. Winn; Walter Hixson
  • 1985 John Nielson

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SHAFR Dissertation Completion Fellowship

SHAFR invites applications for its dissertation completion fellowship. SHAFR will make two, year-long awards, in the amount of $20,000 each, to support the writing and completion of the doctoral dissertation in the academic year 2009-10. These highly competitive fellowships will support the most promising doctoral candidates in the final phase of completing their dissertations.

Applicants should be candidates for the PhD in a humanities or social science doctoral program (most likely history), must have been admitted to candidacy, and must be at the writing stage, with all substantial research completed by the time of the award. Applicants should be working on a topic in the field of U.S. foreign relations history or international history, broadly defined, and must be current members of SHAFR. Because successful applicants are expected to finish writing the dissertation during the tenure of the fellowship, they should not engage in teaching opportunities or extensive paid work, except at the discretion of the Fellowship Committee. At the termination of the award period, recipients must provide a one page (250-word) report to the SHAFR Council on the use of the fellowship, to be considered for publication in Passport, the society newsletter.

The submission packet should include:

  • A one page application letter describing the project’s significance, the applicant’s status, other support received or applied for and the prospects for completion within the year
  • A three page (750 word) statement of the research
  • A curriculum vitae
  • A letter of recommendation from the primary doctoral advisor.

Applications should be sent by electronic mail to the chair of the Dissertation Completion Fellowship committee, Professor Emily S. Rosenberg, at [email protected] The subject line should clearly indicate “Last Name: SHAFR Dissertation Completion Fellowship. All application documents must be sent in the same attachment, except for the adviser’s letter, which should be sent from the adviser’s email account.

The deadline for submissions is 1 April 2009. Applicants will receive notification about the outcome by 1 May 2009. The names of the winners will be announced at the annual meeting in June.

Recent Winners:

  • 2008 Min Song, University of Georgia
    2008, Vanessa Mongey, University of Pennsylvania

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The Myrna F. Bernath Book Award

The purpose of this award is to encourage scholarship by women in U.S. foreign relations history. The prize of $2,500 is awarded biannually (even years) to the author of the best book written by a woman in the field and published during the preceding two calendar years.

Eligibility: Nominees should be women who have published distinguished books in U.S. foreign relations, transnational history, international history, peace studies, cultural interchange, and defense or strategic studies. Membership in SHAFR is required.

Procedures: Books may be nominated by the author, the publisher, or any member of SHAFR. A nominating letter explaining why the book deserves consideration must accompany each entry in the competition. Books will be judged primarily in regard to their contribution to scholarship. Three copies of each book (or page proofs) must be submitted with a letter of nomination.

The award is presented during the SHAFR luncheon at the annual meeting of the Organization of American Historians.

The deadline for nominations for the 2010 prize is December 1, 2009. Submit required materials to Frank Ninkovich, St. Johns University, History Department, St. John Hall Room 244-G, St. John’s University, 8000 Utopia Parkway, Queens, NY 11439 (email: [email protected]).

Recent Winners:

  • 2008 Barbara Keys, Globalizing Sport: National Rivalry and International Community in the 1930s
  • 2006 Victoria de Grazia, Irresistible Empire: America’s Advance through Twentieth-Century Europe
  • 2004 Carol Anderson, Eyes off the Prize: The United Nations and the African American Struggle for Human Rights, 1944-1955
  • 2002 Linda McFarland, Cold War Strategist: Stuart Symington and the Search for National Security
  • 2000 Jessica Gienow-Hecht, Transmission Impossible: American Journalism as Cultural Diplomacy in Postwar Germany, 1945-1955; and Cecelia Lynch, Beyond Appeasement: Interpreting Interwar Peace Movements in World Politics
  • 1998 Brenda Gayle Plummer, Rising Wind: Black Americans and U.S. Foreign Affairs, 1935-1960
  • 1996 Nancy Bernkopf Tucker, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and The United States, 1945-1992: Uncertain Friendships
  • 1991 Diane Kunz, The Economic Diplomacy of the Suez Crisis; and Betty Unterberger, The United States, Revolutionary Russia, and the Rise of Czechoslovakia

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The Myrna F. Bernath Fellowship

The Myrna F. Bernath Fellowship was established by the Bernath family to promote scholarship in U.S. foreign relations history by women.

The Myrna Bernath Fellowship of $5,000 is intended to defray the costs of scholarly research by women. It is awarded biannually (in odd years) and announced at the SHAFR luncheon held during the annual meeting of the Organization of American Historians.

Applications are welcomed from women at U.S. universities as well as women abroad who wish to do research in the United States. Preference will be given to graduate students and those within five years of completion of their PhDs.

Procedures: Self-nominations are expected. Applications must include: a prospectus including a paragraph or two on how funds would be expended (8-12 pages), a concise c.v. (1-2 pages), and a budget (1 page). Each applicant must also arrange to have a letter of recommendation submitted separately. All applications and letters must be submitted via e-mail.

Within eight months of receiving the award, each successful applicant must file with the SHAFR Business Office a brief report on how the funds were spent. Such reports will be considered for publication in Passport.

The deadline for applications for the 2009 Fellowship is December 1, 2008. Send applications to Darlene Rivas, Pepperdine University, ([email protected]).

Recent Winners:

  • 2007 Lisa Covert
  • 2005 Jennifer Heckard
  • 2003 Bethany Moreton
  • 2001 Mary Montgomery
  • 1999 Alexandra M. Friedrich
  • 1997 Deborah Kisatsky; Mary Elise Sarotte
  • 1994 Regina Gramer; Jaclyn Stanke; Christine Skwiot
  • 1992 Shannon Smith

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Robert H. Ferrell Book Prize

This prize is designed to reward distinguished scholarship in the history of American foreign relations, broadly defined. The prize of $2,500 is awarded annually. The Ferrell Prize was established to honor Robert H. Ferrell, professor of diplomatic history at Indiana University from 1961 to 1990, by his former students.

Eligibility: The Ferrell Prize recognizes any book beyond the first monograph by the author. To be considered, a book must deal with the history of American foreign relations, broadly defined. Biographies of statesmen and diplomats are eligible. General surveys, autobiographies, or editions of essays and documents are not eligible.

Procedures: Books may be nominated by the author, the publisher, or any member of SHAFR. Three copies of the book must be submitted.

The award is announced during the SHAFR luncheon at the annual meeting of the Organization of American Historians.

The deadline for nominating books published in 2008 is December 15, 2008. Submit books to Robert J. McMahon, Department of History, Ohio State University, 106 Dulles Hall, 230 West 17th Avenue, Columbus OH 43210 (email: [email protected]).

Recent Winners:

  • 2008 James F. Goode, Negotiating for the Past: Archaeology, Nationalism, and Diplomacy in the Middle East, 1919-1941.
  • 2007 Robert L. Beisner, Dean Acheson: A Life in the Cold War
  • 2006 Tsuyoshi Hasegawa, Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the Surrender of Japan
  • 2005 Kenton J. Clymer, The United States and Cambodia
  • 2004 William Taubman, Khrushchev: The Man and His Era
  • 2003 Piero Gleijeses, Conflicting Missions: Havana, Washington, and Africa, 1959-1976
  • 2000 Marc Gallicchio, The African American Encounter with Japan and China: Black Internationalism in Asia, 1895-1945
  • 1999 Emily Rosenberg, Financial Missionaries to the World: The Politics and Culture of Dollar Diplomacy, 1900-1930
  • 1998 Jeffrey Kimball, Nixon’s Vietnam War
  • 1997 Robert Schulzinger, A Time for War: The United States and Vietnam, 1941-1975
  • 1995 Norman Saul, Concord and Conflict: The United States and Russia, 1867-1914
  • 1994 John Lamberton Harper, American Visions of Europe: Franklin D. Roosevelt, George F. Kennan, and Dean G. Acheson
  • 1993 no winner
  • 1992 Mel Leffler, A Preponderance of Power: National Security, the Truman Administration, and the Cold War
  • 1991 David Anderson, Trapped By Success: The Eisenhower Administration and Vietnam, 1953-1961; Diane Kunz, The Economic Diplomacy of the Suez Crisis

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The Norman and Laura Graebner Award

The Graebner Award is a lifetime achievement award intended to recognize a senior historian of United States foreign relations who has significantly contributed to the development of the field, through scholarship, teaching, and/or service, over his or her career. The award of $2,000 is awarded biannually. The Graebner Award was established by the former students of Norman A. Graebner, professor of diplomatic history at the University of Illinois and the University of Virginia, to honor Norman and his wife Laura for their years of devotion to teaching and research in the field.

Eligibility: The Graebner prize will be awarded to a distinguished scholar of diplomatic or international affairs. The recipient’s career must demonstrate excellence in scholarship, teaching, and/or service to the profession. Although the prize is not restricted to academic historians, the recipient must have distinguished himself or herself through the study of international affairs from a historical perspective.

Procedures: Letters of nomination, submitted in triplicate, should (a) provide a brief biography of the nominee, including educational background, academic or other positions held, and awards and honors received; (b) list the nominee’s major scholarly works and discuss the nature of his or her contribution to the study of diplomatic history and international affairs; (c) describe the candidate’s career, note any teaching honors and awards, and comment on the candidate’s classroom skills; and (d) detail the candidate’s services to the historical profession, listing specific organizations and offices and discussing particular activities. Self-nominations are accepted.

Graebner awards are announced at SHAFR’s annual meeting.

The next deadline for nominations is March 1, 2008. Submit materials to George Herring, Department of History, University of Kentucky, 1715 Patterson Office Tower, Lexingon, KY, 40506-0027 ([email protected]).

Recent winners:

  • 2008 Thomas G. Paterson
  • 2006 Gary R. Hess
  • 2004 Warren I. Cohen
  • 2002 George Herring
  • 2000 Robert Divine
  • 1998 Robert Ferrell
  • 1996 Walter LaFeber
  • 1994 Wayne Cole
  • 1992 Bradford Perkins
  • 1990 Richard W. Leopold
  • 1988 Alexander DeConde

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The Michael J. Hogan Fellowship

The Michael J. Hogan Fellowship was established to honor Michael J. Hogan, long-time editor of Diplomatic History.

The Hogan Fellowship of $4,000 is intended to promote research in foreign language sources by graduate students. The fellowship is intended to defray the costs of studying foreign languages needed for research. It is announced at the SHAFR luncheon held during the annual meeting of the Organization of American Historians.

Applicants must be graduate students researching some aspect of U.S. foreign relations history. Membership in SHAFR is required.

Procedures: Self-nominations are expected. Please download and complete the application found here. To be considered for the 2009 award, nominations and supporting materials must be received by February 1, 2009. Submit materials to [email protected]Please note that applications submitted in the older format will still be accepted.

Within eight months of receiving the award, each successful applicant must file with the SHAFR Business Office a brief report on how the funds were spent. Such reports will be considered for publication in Passport.

Recent Winners:

  • 2008 Barin Kayaoglu
  • 2007 Sara Berndt
  • 2006 Ryan Irwin
  • 2005 Heather Dichter
  • 2004 Maraget Peacock
  • 2003 Mark Hove

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The W. Stull Holt Dissertation Fellowship

The W. Stull Holt Dissertation Fellowship of $4,000 is intended to defray the costs of travel, preferably foreign travel, necessary to conduct research on a significant dissertation project. The fellowship is awarded annually at the SHAFR luncheon held during the annual meeting of the Organization of American Historians.

Applicants must be actively working on dissertations dealing with some aspect of U.S. foreign relations history. Applicants must have satisfactorily completed all requirements for the doctoral degree except the dissertation. Membership in SHAFR is required.

Procedures: Self-nominations are expected. Please download and complete the application found here. To be considered for the 2009 award, nominations and supporting materials must be received by February 1, 2009. Submit materials to [email protected]Please note that applications submitted in the older format will still be accepted

Within eight months of receiving the award, each successful applicant must file with the SHAFR Business Office a brief report on how the funds were spent. Such reports will be considered for publication in Passport.

Recent Winners:

  • 2008 Ryan Irwin
  • 2007 Sudeepto Ani Mukherji
  • 2006 Kate Burlingham
  • 2005 Keri Lewis, Jongnam Na
  • 2004 David Snyder
  • 2003 Jason Colby
  • 2002 Erez Manela; Daniel Michael
  • 2001 Mary Montgomery
  • 2000 Jason Parker; Jeffrey Engel
  • 1999 Michael Donoghue; Gregg Brazinsky; Carol Chin
  • 1998 Christopher Endy; Richard Wiggers; Xiaodong Wang
  • 1997 Max Paul Friedman
  • 1996 Philip E. Catton
  • 1995 John J. Dwyer
  • 1994 Christian Ostermann
  • 1993 Darlene Rivas
  • 1992 Robert K. Brigham
  • 1991 Kyle Longley
  • 1990 Katherine A. S. Siegel
  • 1989 Joseph Bedford

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Samuel Flagg Bemis Research Grants

The Samuel F. Bemis Research Grants are intended to promote research by doctoral candidates, by untenured faculty members, and by those within six years of the Ph.D. and working as professional historians. A limited number of grants of varying amounts (generally, up to $2,000) will be awarded annually to help defray the costs of domestic or international travel necessary to conduct research on significant scholarly projects.

Applicants must be actively working on dissertations or post-doctoral research projects dealing with some aspect of U.S. foreign relations history. Applicants must have satisfactorily completed all requirements for the doctoral degree except the dissertation or must hold the Ph.D. Membership in SHAFR is required.

Procedures: Self-nominations are expected. Please download and complete the application found here. To be considered for the 2009 award, nominations and supporting materials must be received by February 1, 2009. Submit materials to [email protected]Please note that applications submitted in the older format will still be accepted.

Within eight months of receiving the award, each successful applicant must file with the SHAFR Business Office a brief report on how the funds were spent. Such reports will be considered for publication in Passport.

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The Betty M. Unterberger Dissertation Prize

The Betty M. Unterberger Prize is intended to recognize and encourage distinguished research and writing by graduate students in the field of diplomatic history. The Prize of $1,000 is awarded biannually (in odd years) to the author of a dissertation, completed during the previous two calendar years, on any topic in United States foreign relations history. The Prize is announced at the annual SHAFR conference.

The Prize was established in 2004 to honor Betty Miller Unterberger, a founder of SHAFR and long-time professor of diplomatic history at Texas A&M University.

Procedures: A dissertation may be submitted for consideration by the author or by the author’s advisor. Three copies of the dissertation should be submitted, along with a cover letter explaining why the dissertation deserves consideration.

To be considered for the 2009 award, nominations and supporting materials must be received by February 28, 2009. Submit materials to SHAFR Unterberger Prize Committee, Department of History, Ohio State University, 106 Dulles Hall, 230 West 17th Avenue, Columbus OH 43210.

Recent Winners:

  • 2007 Jennifer Heckard, University of Connecticut
  • 2005 Jonathan Winkler, Yale University

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The Lawrence Gelfand – Armin Rappaport Fellowship

Updated 9/10/08
SHAFR established this fellowship to honor Lawrence Gelfand, founding member and former SHAFR president and Armin Rappaport, founding editor of Diplomatic History.

The Gelfand-Rappaport Fellowship of $4,000 is intended to defray the costs of dissertation research travel. The fellowship is awarded annually at SHAFR luncheon held during the annual meeting of the American Historical Association.

Applicants must be actively working on dissertations dealing with some aspect of United States foreign relations history. Applicants must have satisfactorily completed all requirements for the doctoral degree except the dissertation. Membership in SHAFR is required.

Procedures: Self-nominations are expected. Applications should provide an intellectual justification for their project, conveying the ideas, objectives, methods, and significance of the work. Applications should be no longer than 6 double-spaced pages and must include:

  1. Project description/purpose of study
  2. Significance and scholarly contribution
  3. Brief description of key sources/archives, mention novel research here
  4. Status of project/completion timeline: what’s been done, when will it be finished

In addition, submissions must also include the following:

  1. Budget and justification: provide a breakdown of expenses and explanation of how they will be spent (no more than 1 page for all budget information)
  2. Concise C.V. (1-2 pages)
  3. Dissertation advisor letter of recommendation, to be submitted separately by e-mail to the chair of the prize committee

All application materials should be submitted to the prize committee chair via e-mail with these guidelines:

  1. Subject line of e-mail should clearly indicate “SHAFR application: Last name” as in “SHAFR application: Smith”.
  2. All application materials, except recommendation letters, should be contained in a single document which is in MS Word (*.doc), Acrobat (*.pdf) or rich text file(*.rtf) format

Applicants for the Gelfand-Rappaport Fellowship will also be considered for the Bernath Dissertation Grant.

Within eight months of receiving the award, each successful applicant must file with the SHAFR Business Office a brief report on how the funds were spent. Such reports will be considered for publication in Passport.

The deadline for applications for the 2009 grant is October 15, 2008. Application materials should be sent to Catherine Forslund, Rockford College, [email protected]. Kindly note that applications submitted under the guidelines posted here and otherwise circulated before September 10, 2008 will receive the full and equal consideration of the committee.

Recent Winners:

  • 2009 Candace Sobers
  • 2008 Min Song
  • 2007 Sarah Manekin
  • 2006 Heather Dichter
  • 2005 Joey S.R. Long
  • 2004 Susan Haskell

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Robert A. and Barbara Divine Graduate Student Travel Fund

The Robert A. and Barbara Divine Graduate Student Travel Fund was established in 2006 to honor Professor and Mrs. Robert A. Divine. A long-time professor at the University of Texas, Bob Divine made a deep impact on the field of U.S. foreign relations history through his numerous, influential books and articles and his careful attention to the education of graduate students. The Divine Fund supports the travel of graduate students who are presenting papers at the annual meetings of SHAFR.

When submitting a paper proposal to a SHAFR annual meeting Program Committee, graduate students in need of travel assistance should indicate their interest in financial support from the Divine Fund. The Program Committee will evaluate those applications and allocate the available funds. The total amount of funding available each year varies, as do the specific awards given. (The Program Committee makes decisions about paper proposals strictly on their merits, and without regard to financial needs indicated.)

Application procedures and details are publicized in each annual Call For Papers for the annual meeting.

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The Link-Kuehl Prize is awarded for outstanding collections of primary source materials in the fields of international or diplomatic history, especially those distinguished by the inclusion of commentary designed to interpret the documents and set them within their historical context. Published works as well as electronic collections and audio-visual compilations are eligible. The prize is not limited to works on American foreign policy, but is open to works on the history of international, multi-archival, and/or American foreign relations, policy, and diplomacy.

The award of $1,000 is presented biannually (odd years) to the best work published during the preceding two calendar years. The award is announced at the SHAFR luncheon during the annual meeting of the American Historical Association.

Procedures: Nominations may be made by any person or publisher. Send three copies of the book or other work with letter of nomination to Edward C. Keefer, Chair, Link-Kuehl Prize Committee: 5218 Manning Place N.W. Washington, D.C. 20016. To be considered for the 2009 prize, nominations must be received by November 15, 2008.

Winners of the Link-Kuehl Award:

  • 2009 David C. Geyer and Douglas E. Selvage, eds., Soviet-American Relations: the Détente Years, 1969-1972.
  • 2005 Jeffrey P. Kimball, The Vietnam War Files: Uncovering the Secret History of Nixon Era Strategy.

Past Winners of the Former Kuehl Award:

  • 2003 Harriet Hyman Alonso, Growing Up Abolitionist
  • 2001 Fredrik Logevall, Choosing War: The Lost Chance for Peace and the Escalation of War in Vietnam
  • 1999 Frances Early, A World Without War: How U.S. Feminists and Pacifists Resisted World War I
  • 1995 Lawrence S. Wittner, One World or None: A History of the World Nuclear Disarmament Movement through 1953
  • 1993 Thomas Knock, To End All Wars: Woodrow Wilson and the Quest for a New World Order
  • 1991 Charles DeBenedetti and Charles Chatfield, The Antiwar Movement of the Vietnam Era
  • 1988 Melvin Small, Johnson, Nixon, and the Doves
  • 1987 Harold Josephson, Biographical Dictionary of Modern Peace Leaders

Past Winners of the Former Link Prize:

  • 2001 Warren Kimball, Churchill and Roosevelt: The Complete Correspondence
  • 1996 John C.A. Stagg, et al., The Papers of James Madison: Secretary of State Series, Volume 2
  • 1991 Justus Doenecke, In Danger Undaunted: The Anti-Interventionist Movement for 1940-1941 as Revealed in the Papers of the America First Committee

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Georgetown Travel Grants

This grant was designed to subsidize research by doctoral students in the archives of the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area. The prize was discontinued in June 2003.

Past Winners:

  • 2003 Tammy Nemeth
  • 2002 Martin Lobenz-Meyer
  • 2001 Hiroshi Kitamura; Brian Etheridge
  • 2000 Elisse Wright
  • 1999 Michael Donoghue

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