Call for OTSA Submissions 2024 Awards and Prizes
The Ottoman and Turkish Studies (OTSA) is pleased to announce its annual award and prize competitions for 2024. Eight award competitions are listed in this announcement, the last three of which are administered by the American Association of Teachers of Turkic Languages (AATT). Please read the instructions for each carefully, noting the deadlines and details for the submission of materials. OTSA encourages scholars and students to apply for awards and invites teachers to encourage their students to apply as well!
- OTSA BOOK PRIZE ($1000)
- OTSA Article Prize ($300)
- OTSA GRADUATE STUDENT PAPER PRIZE ($200)
- OTSA UNDERGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP ($1500)
- VANGELIS KECHRIOTIS MEMORIAL TRAVEL GRANT ($500)
- THE MÜTEFERRİQA AWARD FOR DIGITAL OTTOMAN AND TURKISH STUDIES ($5,250)
- THE YAVUZ SEZER MEMORIAL ARTICLE PRIZE
- THE JAMES W. REDHOUSE STUDENT PRIZE COMPETITION FOR BEST PROGRESS IN THE TURKISH LANGUAGE ($100)
- AATT WALTER G. ANDREWS OTTOMAN TURKISH TRANSLATION AWARD
- AATT NORMAN ITZKOWITZ TURKISH SHORT STORY AWARD
1. OTSA BOOK PRIZE ($1000)
An annual prize awarded to the most outstanding book in the field of Ottoman and Turkish studies published in the previous year (copyright date of 2023), sponsored by the Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association with the generous support of our dues-paying membership. Nominations may be made by the author, colleagues, publisher, or friends. Translated books, edited volumes, fiction, and textbooks are not eligible. Submissions must be in English.
Conditions for submission:
- Three copies of the nominated book should be provided.
- A copy to each one of the reviewers listed below, along with the address, phone number, and e-mail of the author. Nominations will be acknowledged by the chair of the committee via e-mail upon receipt of all the three copies.
- No additional materials will be considered as part of the submission.
Postmark deadline: no later than May 15, 2024
Copies of the books and nominations should be sent to the following addresses:
Professor Nilay Gündoğan
3349 Shadowmoss Dr.
Tallahassee, FL 32308
Professor Jonathan Wyrtzen
493 College St.
New Haven, CT 06511
Professor Caterina Scaramelli
Department of Earth and Environment
Boston University
685 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215
2. THE OTSA ARTICLE PRIZE
By decision of the OTSA board, the OTSA Article prize will now be awarded on an annual basis, rather than a biennial basis. This prize is awarded for an outstanding article in the field of Ottoman and Turkish Studies. The prize will be awarded to articles published in the previous year (Jan. 2023-Dec. 2023). Only ONE submission may be made per author.
If an author appears as a co-author on a second submission, that is allowable only if the nomination is made by the co-author or a third party (e.g. Can Sinov may not nominate their co-authored paper with Roxelana Osmanova if Sinov has already nominated a solo authored paper, the co-authored paper may still be considered if nominated by Osmanova, or a third party). Eligible submissions include peer-reviewed journal articles and peer-reviewed chapters in edited volumes. Pre-print digital editions of articles published in 2023 which will appear in journal volumes in 2024 or later are eligible, with the proviso that the same article cannot then be submitted for consideration in a subsequent year. Articles which appeared in pre-print in 2023 but will be included in a 2024 journal volume may be submitted for consideration next year (2025), provided the pre-print was not first submitted for a prior award. Submissions must be in English.
Nominations may be made by the author, colleagues, publisher, or friends. Applicants must submit the following in an e-mail:
- The recommender’s name, address, and e‐mail address
- The address, e‐mail address, and phone number of the author
- An electronic copy (as a pdf) of the article
No additional materials will be considered as part of the submission
Materials should be e-mailed to the committee chair, Professor Zeynep Gürsel (z.gursel@rutgers.edu) with “OTSA Article Prize” in the subject line of the e-mail message.
Deadline for receipt of materials: no later than June 15, 2024.
3. OTSA GRADUATE STUDENT PAPER PRIZE ($200)
An annual prize for the best paper in Turkish or Ottoman studies written by a graduate student in Turkish or Ottoman studies during the preceding academic year (2023-24 for the award given in 2024). This award is sponsored by the Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association with the generous support of our due-paying membership. The winning paper will be considered for publication in the Journal of the Ottoman and Turkish Studies (JOTSA).
Applications should include:
- a PDF copy of the paper. It must be a separate, stand-alone paper (15-35 pages) with bibliography. A dissertation chapter that has not been reworked as a separate paper or that does not fall within the page range will not be accepted.
- the institutional affiliation, address, phone number, and e-mail of the author
- the name and email address of the author’s academic advisor
- No additional materials will be considered as part of the submission.
Materials should be emailed to the chair of the prize committee, Professor Aimee Genell (genell@bu.edu)
Deadline for receipt of materials: July 15, 2024
4. OTSA UNDERGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP ($1500)
The annual scholarship from the OTSA Undergraduate Scholarship fund created by the generous donations of our members (especially the late Dr. Nathan Altshuler) over the years provides an introduction to Turkey for qualified undergraduate students who have not had extensive prior experience in Turkey or in Turkish studies. The award is to be used for travel to Turkey and expenses while there, to supplement participation in a program in Turkish language, a study-abroad program, or a work internship; or for study or research in any aspect of Turkey’s history, culture or society.
- Applications should be submitted to [CHAIR]
- Applicants must currently be enrolled in a degree program at an institution of higher education but may be a graduating senior.
- Applicants must also be citizens or permanent residents of the United States or Canada.
Travel may take place anytime between the announcement of the award and September 30, 2025.
Application Requirements:
1. Statement of Purpose, which should include:
- how the proposed time in Turkey connects to the applicant’s experiences, interests, and goals;
- the proposed dates of stay in Turkey and specifics of the program/internship/study, including the sponsoring institution/organization, contact name and numbers
2. Current Curriculum Vitae
3. The most recent Official Academic Transcript. It should be sent directly by the university to the chair of the prize committee, Dr. Efe Balıkçıoglu (emb9660@nyu.edu).
4. Two Letters of Recommendation: Referees should address letters directly to the OTSA Undergraduate Scholarship Selection Committee and submit them to Dr. Efe Balıkçıoglu (emb9660@nyu.edu).
5. No additional materials will be considered as part of the submission.
Deadline for submission of materials: July 15, 2024
5. VANGELIS KECHRIOTIS MEMORIAL TRAVEL GRANT ($500)
This grant will be awarded in memory of Professor Vangelis Kechriotis (1969-2015) to a doctoral candidate undertaking a research trip for his/her dissertation. The grant recipient will be selected by a panel of scholars based on the relevance and potential contribution of the proposed work to the fields and concerns important to Professor Kechriotis, such as the history of Ottoman non-Muslims, Greek-Ottoman and Greek-Turkish relations, or Ottoman Balkan Studies. The selected applicant will be expected to acknowledge the Vangelis Kechriotis Memorial Travel Grant in his/her dissertation and in any subsequent publications that result from the research supported by this grant.
Applicants for the grant are asked to submit the following: a current CV, a copy of the applicant’s dissertation proposal, a description of the specific research trip to be undertaken, a working budget, including what other funds have already been secured, a letter of recommendation from the applicant’s dissertation advisor, addressing the applicant’s qualifications and the significance of the research she/he will be undertaking. (Letters should be printed on official stationery and scanned before sending by email).
- a current CV
- a copy of the applicant’s dissertation proposal
- a description of the specific research trip to be undertaken
- a working budget, including what other funds have already been secured
- a letter of recommendation from the applicant’s dissertation advisor, addressing the applicant’s qualifications and the significance of the research they will be undertaking. Letters should be on official stationery and submitted as an attachment to email.
- No additional materials will be considered as part of the submission.
Materials should be emailed to Professor Ayşe Özdil (ayseozil@sabanciuniv.edu) with “KECHRIOTIS TRAVEL GRANT” in the subject line of the email message.
Deadline for submission of materials: July 15, 2024
6. THE MÜTEFERRİQA AWARD FOR DIGITAL OTTOMAN AND TURKISH STUDIES
With the generous support of Miletos, OTSA has established a new prize to support promising scholarship in the field of Digital Ottoman and Turkish Studies by early career researchers. This award is meant to support work by promising advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and scholars who have completed their Ph.D. within the last three years (no earlier than July 2021). The award will consist of three annual payments of $1,750 for a total of $5,250. The award will be given to the applicant who can best demonstrate potential for a major scholarly contribution using available tools and methods of digital Ottoman and Turkish Studies. This award is not meant for the development of new digital tools – the end product should be a work of scholarship, either a dissertation, book, journal article, book chapter, or other analytical scholarly contribution.
Applicants should submit the following to Professor Fatma Oncel, fatma.oncel@bau.edu.tr, chair of the award committee:
- A Current CV
- A written description of the scholarly work to be undertaken with the support of this award, no longer than five double-spaced pages, 12-point font.
- A sample of academic writing that employs digital tools and methods. This may be a published or unpublished work, including a journal article, term paper, or book chapter, not exceeding 20,000 words.
- The institutional affiliation, address, phone number, and e-mail of the author.
- If the applicant is currently enrolled as a student, the name and contact information of their academic supervisor.
Deadline for submission of materials: July 15, 2024
Information about Miletos: Miletos, Inc., is a Turkish artificial intelligence company that introduced Muteferriqa (https://muteferriqa.com/en), a searchable database of Ottoman Turkish printed books, journals, and newspapers, which are held at the Seyfettin Özege Collection at Atatürk University and the Hakkı Tarık Us Collection at Beyazıt State Library. OTSA hosted an online demonstration of an earlier version of Muteferriqa at the inaugural session of the OTSA Co-Op in July 2021 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LaTM4nFHec). The new version, which is currently available for trial at several research institutions worldwide, includes all the holdings of both collections, as well as transliteration into modern Turkish, translation into English, and image search, in addition to full-text search functionality that was already available in the earlier version the database of which was limited with a small selection of the two collections.
7. THE YAVUZ SEZER MEMORIAL ARTICLE PRIZE
The biennial prize is awarded in memory of Yavuz Sezer (1979-2021) for the article that makes the best contribution to the history of architecture and the urban environment in the Ottoman empire and modern Turkey. The prize is awarded in even‐numbered years to articles published in the previous two-year period (Jan. 2021-Dec. 2023 for the 2024 prize).
If an author appears as a co-author on a second submission, that is allowable only if the nomination is made by the co-author or a third party (e.g. Can Sinov may not nominate their co-authored paper with Roxelana Osmanova if Sinov has already nominated a solo authored paper, the co-authored paper may still be considered if nominated by Osmanova, or a third party). Eligible submissions include peer-reviewed journal articles and peer-reviewed chapters in edited volumes. Pre-print digital editions of articles published in 2021-2023 which will appear in journal volumes in 2024 or later are eligible, with the proviso that the same article cannot then be submitted for consideration in a subsequent year. Articles which appeared in pre-print in 2023 but will be included in a 2024 journal volume may be submitted for consideration in the subsequent cycle, provided the pre-print was not first submitted for a prior award. Submissions must be in English.
Nominations may be made by the author, colleagues, publisher, or friends. Applicants must submit the following in an e-mail:
- The recommender’s name, address, and e‐mail address
- The address, e‐mail address, and phone number of the author
- An electronic copy (as a pdf) of the article
No additional materials will be considered as part of the submission.
Materials should be e-mailed to the committee chair, Professor Namık Erkal (namik.erkal@tedu.edu.tr) with “Yavuz Sezer Article Award” in the subject line of the e-mail message.
Deadline for receipt of materials: no later than July 15, 2024.