Theme

The theme of this SASS meeting is “everyday life”, in the sense that the French theorist Michel de Certeau used the term in his 1980 study, L’invention du quotidien/The Practice of Everyday Life. In this work, which grew out of research originally funded as a study of consumer behavior, de Certeau argues that consumers, as well as people in precapitalist cultures, have the potential to react creatively to commodities, religious doctrines, and other cultural systems. Like canny shoppers at the supermarket, people may strive to combine what’s available to them to make the best possible meal. Colonized people sometimes appropriate aspects of the colonizers’ culture that subvert its oppressive potential. Workers in unrewarding jobs may surf the internet while appearing to conform to bureaucratic routines.

What to make of de Certeau’s emphasis on the positive role of creative bricolage or tinkering? What is its relationship to more explicit forms of resistance or more confrontational strategies to improve conditions for individuals or groups? Does de Certeau’s work allow for more room to maneuver than that of other theorists, such as Michel Foucault?

Michel de Certeau’s work offers a useful framework for exploring the roles of everyday life in literature, culture, and film, but stream proposals and papers need not engage explicitly with it. Other approaches are welcome.

Call for Papers

SASS 2023 will take place on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin from April 20 to April 22. The theme of this SASS meeting is everyday life, in the sense that the French theorist Michel de Certeau used the term in his 1980 study, L’invention du quotidien/The Practice of Everyday Life. In this work, which grew out of research originally funded as a study of consumer behavior, de Certeau argues that consumers have the potential to react creatively to commodities, religious doctrines, and other cultural systems. Like canny shoppers at the supermarket, people may strive to combine what’s available to them to make the best possible meal. What are we to make of de Certeau’s emphasis on the positive role of creative bricolage or tinkering? What is its relationship to more explicit forms of resistance or more confrontational strategies to improve conditions for individuals or groups? Does de Certeau’s work allow for more room to maneuver than that of other theorists, such as Michel Foucault? To what extent does Michel de Certeau’s work offers a useful framework for understanding Nordic literatures, cultures, histories, and societies? The organizing committee encourages submissions that explore the roles of everyday life in Nordic literature, culture, and film, but other topics and approaches are also welcome.

Please submit paper proposals either to the general SASS pool or to the thematic streams by January 6, 2023

Click here to submit an abstract

Streams

Ibsen and the Everyday

Sponsored by the Ibsen Society of America

Stream Leader:  Olivia Gunn

The annual Ibsen Society of America (ISA) stream at SASS welcomes proposals for papers sharing new research on Ibsen on any subject and from all disciplinary approaches.

In 2023, we especially welcome proposals that address our theme “Ibsen and the everyday.” In Ibsen and the Birth of Modernism, Toril Moi argues that the everyday, in its good and bad forms, can define the dividing line between early and late Ibsen: “Hedda Gabler thus inaugurates a new phase in Ibsen’s modernism, one in which idealism comes across as a baffling anachronism.” Here, the notion of the everyday seems to overlap with both goodness and idealism, while manifesting in conflict with the onward march of time. In “Tropological Turns in Peer Gynt,” Ellen Rees asserts, “Confounding de Certeau’s hopeful message of the individual’s ability to inscribe meaning in a world controlled by remote power structures through tactical trajectories, Peer himself fails to find meaning in the long poem of his own walking—he fails to produce a map that he himself can comprehend.” In Peer Gynt, we meet an early character who falls short of attaining the promise of the everyday. Peer’s metamorphoses might even warn against the project of filling in gaps in meaning in our life stories. When it comes to the everyday in Ibsen, we ask:

·      How and why have scholars appealed to theories of the everyday in Ibsen studies thus far?

·      How might the concept continue to assist us in reinforcing or undermining established assumptions about Ibsen’s life, authorship, and reception?

·      Does the everyday constitute the fulcrum of the various conflicting labels that have been used to define Ibsen’s person and production, including early and late, anarchist and bourgeois, symbolist and realist, moralist and degenerate, or optimist and pessimist?

·      How do the everyday forms that constitute Ibsen’s plays—from colloquial dialog to realist settings and props and more—ground (or not) the expression of more abstract themes and questions?

Scandinavian Nationalism and Everyday Life

Stream Leader:  Urpo Nikanne

This stream considers nationalism in Scandinavia from the point of view of nationalism in the everyday lives of Scandinavians. In the Finnish context, for instance, nationalism at the end of the nineteenth century provided a framework for incredible creativity in the areas of cultural life—and in the daily lives of many important Finnish cultural figures. Nationalism was seen in a highly positive light, and this ideology was guided by its concrete, noble goal: Finland’s independence from Russia. Finland’s cultural elite provided the leaders and other key players for the nationalistic and national romantic movement, and this ideology permeated all aspects of their lives. Simultaneously, the everyday lives of lower classes were romanticized and idealized. The poor were recruited for the service of nationalism’s goals as they were portrayed in paintings and depicted as protagonists in poems. First and foremost, their language, Finnish—the language of the peasants—was lifted and promoted as a symbol of the nation, often by the Swedish-speaking elite. Inclusion of all, from the lowest to the highest, was a hallmark of Finnish nationalism at that time. The upper-class promoters of nationalism worked to connect Finland to the world (while separating it from Russia). Their friends and acquaintances formed an international, multilingual group of “Others.”

The attributes of nationalism, have, however, changed during the past century: the concept has acquired new, negative connotations. From an elitist yet inclusive movement, nationalism has evolved to be associated with populism and exclusion. In this stream, we could hear papers addressing the “old” nationalism (a positive concept), as well as conversations about the concept’s pejoration over the past one hundred years.

Some of the topics in this stream could include the following:

• Nationalism in different Scandinavian countries
• Nationalism in Scandinavian politics
• Nationalism in literature, art, and music
• Nationalism in citizens’ and cultural figures’ correspondence
• Nationalism and newspapers
• Nationalism and language
• Nationalism, Elias Lönnrot, and the Kalevala
• The Golden Era nationalists
• Nationalism and socialism
• Change in the everyday meaning of nationalism
• Populism in Scandinavia

­­­Everyday Bodies: bricolage, assemblage, and body language in the Scandinavian Middle Ages

Stream Leaders: Timothy Liam Waters & Kate Heslop

From the dismembered body of Ymir in Norse mythology to the relic fetishism of medieval Christianity, the Scandinavian Middle Ages teem with bodies and body-parts. Just as de Certeau argues that consumers, as well as people in precapitalist cultures, react creatively to commodities, religious doctrines, and other cultural systems; so too did medieval people react creatively when encountering bodies (human and non-human) and having their bodies encountered by materials and cultural systems. As the ‘master medium’ of premodernity, the body crops up in our texts in many guises, creating a diverse range of perspectives and approaches by which to interrogate its presence. This stream seeks to draw upon a breadth of theoretical approaches to Old Norse literary material, including New Materialism, post-Humanism, disability studies, gender studies, narratology, and literary and philological analysis.

We suggest the following themes:

• bodies (of work, of individuals, etc.) as assemblages of cultural or physical matter
• how, why, and where borders are drawn between human and non-human bodies, or between secular and holy, abled and disabled, or differently gendered bodies
• narration of embodied perception and affect
• bodily metaphors
• body-focused discourses (scientific, religious, medical, etc.)
• bodies at work and play in texts, images, or the material record
• the author’s body and the body of the book

This stream will be held as a workshop rather than the traditional set of twenty-minute talks + Q&A. This structure would entail the discussion of a pre-assigned reading (tba) at the beginning of the workshop; a short presentation by each participant (~10 min) of primary materials and/or a theoretical perspective relating to the strand’s theme, followed by a longer discussion; and a concluding roundtable pulling the threads together, facilitated by the stream leaders.

We ask that participants submit one of the following when applying:

• a brief (250 word) abstract detailing the intersection between the scholar’s project and the strand’s theme. This abstract may take the form of an overview of a group of primary materials and the questions the presenter wishes to ask of them.
• an outline teaching syllabus
• a poster layout, for presentations with a significant visual component

All presenters will also be invited to act as respondent for one of the other presenters. The respondent will begin the discussion for their assigned presenter, before the floor is opened to all strand participants.

By experimenting with a workshop format, we hope to support active, collaborative work, centered around a common topic that not only foregrounds the conference theme of Everyday Life, but also allows for a spontaneous free flow of ideas between session attendees. The goal of this workshop will be to facilitate collective engagement and innovation among the typically small group of medievalists attending SASS. The suggested format combining a short presentation of the presenter’s own work, plus a response to another speaker, is intended to add up to the conventional 20 minute presentation, in case funding bodies require evidence of this to support attendance at the conference.

Scandinavians in the Texas Borderlands

Stream Leader:  Dr. Lucia Hodgson (she/her)

This stream takes as its point of departure the geographical location of the SASS 2023 Annual Meeting. The state of Texas borders four U.S states (New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana), four Mexican states (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas), and the Gulf of Mexico. Texas has shared peoples, cultures and histories with these border regions since long before the Texas Declaration of Independence in 1836 and the state remains variously identified with the US Southwest, the US South and Mexico.

Most research on Scandinavian-Americans continues to focus on the U.S. Midwest and Northeast. This stream welcomes papers on Scandinavians in the Texas borderlands, broadly construed, including Scandinavian relationships with the regions, politics, peoples, histories, cultures, and representations of the American West, the American South and Northern Mexico.

Topics can focus on any time period and include but are not at all limited to:

• Settler colonialism and Scandinavian interactions with Indigenous peoples
• Scandinavians and the politics, policies, and practices of U.S. chattel slavery
• Scandinavians and the image of the “Wild West”
• Mexican-Scandinavian communities on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border
• Scandinavian Texas Rangers, frontier violence and vigilante justice
• Scandinavians in the California Gold Rush
• Scandinavian whiteness and racial hierarchies in the U.S. and Mexico 

Nordic Art Music and the Modern Age:  A Series of Lectures/Recitals

Stream Leader:  Colin Levin

The extensive repertory of contemporary Nordic Art Music has begun significant integration into the greater microcosm of contemporary World Art Music, similar in fashion to the other noteworthy bodies of both instrumental and vocal music. The musical works of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands each have begun to garner great interest outside of their countries, and subsequently have begun to disseminate. When introduced even in incidental fashion there is immediate presence of the striking individual nature, not to mention the great beauty, within the vast repertory. The literature emerges pointedly in how it diverges from the compositional trends in other World art music traditions: Nordic composers respond to the idiomatic qualities of their language incomparable to those traditions who similarly assimilate the vernacular of folk traditions. The specific traits of the phonetic sounds of the languages, especially in connection with the oral accounts of the history and folklore, often shape the tradition. At present time Nord Art Music has reclaimed its position amongst its European counterparts, and in many circumstances, significantly surpassed them.

            This stream is to focus on themes of Nordic Art Music in the Modern age, and welcomes papers, lecture recitals, or full recitals that could include the following themes: 

• The relationship between contemporary Nordic poetry and composition 
• The promotion of gender-equity through Nordic composition in the Modern Age
• Nordic LGBTQIA+ compositional trends
• The relationship between Art Songs of the Romantic Era and the Modern Era
• Nordic Phonetic studies in the Modern Age
• Contemporary Nordic Vocal Literature
• The relationship between contemporary Nordic Humor and Art Music
• Contemporary composition that focuses on everyday life
• Nature and its relationship to Modern Nordic Art Music
• Diverging trends in contemporary Nordic String Quartet composition

We especially encourage composers, musicologists, and performers of Nordic Art Art Music to submit to this stream. If proposing a lecture-recital or full-recital, please detail the compositions, the performers, and the performers’ biographies. 

Admission Fees

Individual: $300 ($350 after March 20, 2023) 

Student/Retired: $200 ($250 after March 20, 2023) 

Exhibitor: $500 ($600 after March 20, 2023)

• Individual and Student/Retired admission includes a ticket to the Thursday ASF reception, the Saturday evening banquet, coffee breaks, and all academic sessions. 
• Exhibitor admission includes all of the above for one exhibitor rep as well as a table in the book room and a dedicated page on the event website. 

Click here to register

Conference Hotels

March 31, 2023

Dear SASS Colleagues:

RE: Registration for Conference Hotel is Urgent

I am writing to ask you to register for your hotel room in the conference hotel at our upcoming meeting in Austin, TX by Monday, April 3^rd.

SASS has made a contract with the Otis Hotel and Hotel AC for the conference, April 20-22. The contract guarantees that SASS members can reserve a reasonably priced room during the conference. 

The SASS room rate provides a thirty percent discount on the Otis and AC Hotels’ regular room rate. The SASS room rate is $100 to $150 below the $300-$400 price point for hotel rooms in Austin at this time of the year. SASS delivers a terrific savings for members. 

SASS contracts with hotels for our conference because it is the best way to guarantee the availability of inexpensive rooms for members at the conference. But the contract requires members’ support. 

If SASS fails to meet the minimum number of rooms in our contract, the hotel will charge SASS for falling short of the minimum. This charge can range from thousands of dollars to twenty thousand dollars. 

At least fifty SASS conference participants have not registered for a room at the conference hotel.  

The hotel’s deadline for determining whether we have met our minimum number of rooms is Monday, April 3^rd.

Please register for your hotel stat at the fast-approaching SASS conference in Austin before next Monday, April 13. 

Many thanks for your attention to my request!

Sincerely,

Andrew Nestingen

President

AC Hotel Austin – University

Address:  1901 San Antonio St, Austin, TX 78705

Rate: $259 per night (rates available April 19, 2023-April 23, 2023

Website: AC Hotel – University

Make a Reservation at the SASS rate

The Otis Hotel

Address:  1901 San Antonio St, Austin, TX 78705

Rate: $259 per night (rates available April 19, 2023-April 23, 2023

Website: Otis Hotel

Make a Reservation at the SASS rate

Note: The two hotels are in the same building

Coming in March

Click here to see a larger map

Click here to see a larger map

By-Laws for the Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study (SASS)

In accordance with the Constitution, Article 9, the Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study (SASS) establishes these by-laws. Following the recommendation by the Executive Council, by-laws become effective with the concurrence of a majority of the membership at the annual business meeting.

1. Meetings:
2. In accordance with the Constitution, Article 9, the Annual Meeting is held “primarily for the purpose of reading and discussing learned papers presented by the members, the discussion of methods and materials for the teaching of Scandinavian studies, and, in general, for the discussion of means for the furthering of the aims and purposes of the Society.” Except in special cases as noted below, only members may present papers.
3. All individuals who participate in the Annual Meeting must register and pay all required registration fees. Conference organizers are authorized to establish a single- day fee for conference attendees who attend only for one day.
4. In special cases, scholars or administrators may be invited by the Program Committee to give a presentation on a special topic of interest that is of benefit to the Society generally. In such cases, at the discretion of the program organizers of the Annual Meeting in consultation with the President and Executive Director, such participants may be exempted from the membership requirement and the normal payment of registration fees. Similar exemptions may be made for keynote speakers, entertainers, or select individuals such as those who are specifically invited to attend the banquet and are not giving a paper.
5. In keeping with a long-standing agreement between the Ibsen Society of America (ISA) and SASS, members of the ISA do not need to pay SASS membership fees to present at the SASS annual conference. Such members of the ISA must pay conference registration fees and are encouraged to join SASS.
6. The Executive Council will meet quarterly in-person, electronically, or as a hybrid of both.
7. At Executive Council meetings, in order for the transaction of business, a quorum is necessary. A majority of the Executive Council shall constitute a quorum. Except as otherwise noted, any meeting of the Executive Council at which a quorum is present, the vote of a majority present at the time of the vote shall be the act of the Council.
8. Electronic meetings and hybrid meetings will be conducted in accordance with agreed-upon rules of parliamentary procedure.

1. Committees:
2. Nominating Committee

1. The Committee is responsible for nominating cadidates for Vice-President and the Advisory Committee i     n accordance with Article 5 of the SASS Constitution     .     .

1. The Committee shall consist of three members: the Vice-President, who serves as chair of the Committee, and two Executive Council members who are in their second, third, or fourth year of service.               .

2. Audit Committee

1. The Committee is responsible for conducting the annual audit.

1. The Committee shall consist of five members: the President, the Financial Officer, who serves as chair of the Committee, two Executive Council members who are in their third year, and the Executive Director, who serves in ex officio capacity.

3. The Birgit Baldwin Memorial Fellowship Committee

1. The Committee is responsible for awarding the Birgit Baldwin Memorial Fellowship.

1. The Committee shall consist of the Vice President who serves as chair of the Committee, and the third and fourth year of Executive Council members in Literature, as well as the editor of Scandinavian Studies. In the event that any Executive Council members are unable to serve, the second-year member, and then the first-year member are asked to serve.

4. The Einar and Eva Lund Haugen Memorial Scholarship Committee

1. The Committee is responsible for awarding the Einar and Eva Lund Haugen Memorial Scholarship.

1. The Committee shall consist of five members: Executive Council members from the HISTORY AND SOCIAL SCIENCES in year 2, year 3, and year 4, as well as the current president of the NAHA or an appointed delegate. The editor of Scandinavian Studies serves in ex officio capacity. The committee is chaired by the fourth-year Executive Council member.

5. The Aurora Borealis Prize Committee

1. The Committee is responsible for awarding the Aurora Borealis Prize.

1. The committee shall consist of four members: Two Executive Council members serving in their first year (newly elected) and two members serving in their second year. The Committee is appointed as soon as the election results are announced. The Committee is chaired by a second-year Executive Council member and is appointed by the President of the Society, with an attempt to alternate between fields for the Chair..

1. Officer and Board Member Duties and responsibilities:
2. President

1. The President assumes the presidency after having served a two-year term as Vice-President.

1. The President serves a two-year term.

1. The President acts as the Chief Academic Officer of the Society and provides academic leadership to the Society in matters pertaining to the advancement of Scandinavian study. In addition, the President, among other duties, provides counsel and oversight to the Society’s ongoing fundraising activities and chairs the advisory council meetings and the annual business meeting for the membership. See the SASS Roles and Responsibilities for a full position description.

2. Vice-President

1. The Vice-President assumes the vice-presidency from the end of the annual meeting in the year in which they are elected.

1. The Vice-President serves a two-year term.

1. The Vice-President acts as the Chief Operating Officer of the Society and collaborates with the President in matters pertaining to the advancement of Scandinavian study. In addition, the Vice-President, among other duties, oversees the Society’s elections, oversees the work of the Fellowship and Prize Committees, and takes minutes at the advisory council meetings and the annual business meeting for the membership. See the SASS Roles and Responsibilities for a full position description.

3. Financial Officer

1. The Financial Officer assumes the role of financial officer after having served a two-year term as President.

1. The Financial Officer serves a two-year term.

1. The Financial Officer acts as the Chief Financial Officer of the Society and oversees the financial matters pertaining to the advancement of Scandinavian study. In addition, the Financial Officer, among other duties, ensures that proper financial procedures are followed as outlined in the Society’s policies and procedures and chairs the audit committee that oversees the audit of the Society’s finances presented to the committee one week prior to the annual meeting. See the SASS Roles and Responsibilities for a full position description.

4. Executive Director

1. The Executive Director is hired by an ad-hoc search committee appointed by the President.

1. The Executive Director serves at the discretion of the Executive Council and does not have a fixed-term limit.

1. The Executive Director oversees the administration, strategic planning, financial and legal compliance of the organization and, in addition, has general operational responsibility for the organization. See SASS policies and procedures for a full position description.

5. Managing Editor of Scandinavian Studies

1. The Managing Editor is appointed by the Executive Council.

1. The Managing Editor of Scandinavian Studies serves a five-year term.

1. The Managing Editor manages the Society’s journal, Scandinavian Studies, including the recruitment, review, and eventual publication of scholarly articles in matters pertaining to the advancement of Scandinavian study, and is also responsible for annual reports on the income and expenditures relating to the journal. See the SASS Roles and Responsibilities for a full position description.

6. Reviews Editor of Scandinavian Studies

1. The Reviews Editor is appointed by the Executive Council.

1. The Reviews Editor of Scandinavian Studies serves a five-year term.

1. The Reviews Editor manages the reviews of monographs pertaining to the advancement of Scandinavian study to be published in the Society’s journal, Scandinavian Studies. In addition, the Reviews Editor works in collaboration with the Managing Editor to ensure the publication of the Society’s journal. See the SASS Roles and Responsibilities for a full position description.

7. Advisory Council Members

1. Advisory Council members are elected by SASS membership.

1. Advisory Council members assumes their roles from the end of the annual meeting in the year in which they are elected

Together with the officers, the Advisory Committee members constitute the Executive Council of the Society. Advisory Committee members are expected to know the mission, policies, programs, and needs of SASS and are responsible for carrying out the committee work and additional tasks laid out below and in the SASS Roles and Responsibilities in service of the advancement of Scandinavian study. See the SASS Roles and Responsibilities for a full position description.

8     . Parliamentarian

1. The President of the Society is authorized to appoint a Parliamentarian.

1. The Parliamentarian serves      a five-year term,

1.      The Parliamentarian shall attend the meetings of the Executive Council and serve as advisor to the President and the Executive Council on the Society’s agreed-upon rules of parliamentary procedure and conduct such tasks as the President may assign. The Parliamentarian shall attend all Executive Council meetings and may participate in Council discussions, but has no vote. See the SASS Roles and Responsibilities for a full position description.

1. Emergency appointment power.

1. The Executive Council, under certain circumstances agreed as constituting an emergency by a simple majority vote of the advisory board, may move to appoint emergency officers and/or committees including the appointment of an Emergency Financial Officer, or an Emergency Executive Officer. That officer’s term of service will extend no longer than the end of the following annual conference or their term of service may be terminated at any time by simple majority vote of the advisory council that the emergency state is no longer in effect.

E     . American Council on Learned Societies:

1. The Society is authorized to join the American Council on Learned Societies (ACLS). In consultation with the Executive Council, the President of SASS shall appoint a member of the Society to serve a four-year term as representative to the ACLS, taking into consideration that such representation should alternate between language/ literature specialists and area studies specialists whenever possible.

F     . Fellowships, Scholarships, Grants, and Awards:

1. Birgit Baldwin Memorial Fellowship.

1. The Society awards the Birgit Baldwin Memorial Fellowship. The agreement between the donor(s) and the Society shall stipulate the terms of the Fellowship and the conditions by which the Society awards the Baldwin Fellowship. For the Society to announce a Fellowship competition, the value of the Birgit Baldwin Fellowship fund must equal the value of the original endowment ($500,000).

1. In consultation with the Executive Council, the Birgit Baldwin Memorial Fellowship Committee shall be appointed by the President and shall act in accordance with the terms specified in the Fellowship agreement.

1.      The Executive Council will decide by June l annually if funds are sufficient for a Fellowship competition to be held in the fall of the same year. Applications are due by December 1 and should be sent to the Executive Director. Applications are circulated immediately thereafter by the Executive Director to Committee members. The committee meets by February 1 and reaches a decision by February 15. That decision is immediately forwarded to the President and Vice President for ratification by the Executive Council. The President informs the winner by March 15.

2. The Einar and Eva Lund Haugen Memorial Scholarship.

1. The Society has been designated as the owner and manager of the Einar and Eva Lund Haugen Memorial Scholarship, a restricted endowment transferred by the Norwegian-American Historical Association (NAHA) to the Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study (SASS). The Einar and Eva Lund Haugen Memorial Scholarship of not less than $3000 and no more than 4% of the total value of the existing endowment is intended to support the research and/or writing of the dissertation by outstanding graduate students who have completed their course work and other preliminary requirements for a doctoral degree. The scholarship is intended to support outstanding graduate students whose doctoral dissertation examines a Scandinavian or Scandinavian-American topic in the Social Sciences or History, broadly defined. Applicants for the Haugen Memorial Scholarship must be earning their degrees at a North American university and must be current members of SASS at the time they apply for and are awarded the scholarship. For the Society to announce a Fellowship competition, the value of the Haugen Memorial Scholarship fund must equal the value of the original endowment ($100,000).

1. In consultation with the Executive Council, the President of SASS shall appoint a selection committee of three persons from among members of the Society representing the diversity of fields within Scandinavian studies. A fourth member of the award committee shall be appointed by NAHA, normally the NAHA Editor in Northfield, Minnesota.      
2. The Executive Council will decide by June l annually if funds are sufficient for a Scholarship competition to be held in the fall of the same year. Applications are due by December 1 and should be sent to the Executive Director. Applications are circulated immediately thereafter by the Executive Director to committee members. The committee meets by February 1 and reaches a decision by February 15. That decision is immediately forwarded to the President and Vice President for ratification by the Executive Council. The President informs the winner by March 15.

3. Aurora Borealis Prize

1.      The Society annually awards two Aurora Borealis Prizes to graduate students whose papers as presented at the annual meeting are judged to be the best papers in the categories: of a.) History and Social Sciences, and b.) Arts and Humanities. Students making the submissions are required to indicate the specific category of their submission. The final categorization of the papers, however, rests with the evaluation committee. Papers submitted must be as they had been presented at the previous annual meeting, without additional research or rewriting prior to submission for consideration.

1. The President, in consultation with the Executive Council, shall appoint an award committee to evaluate submissions and choose the winners. Committee members are normally Advisory Committee members in their first and second year of service. The evaluation committee should collect comments for all paper entries and submit them to all authors who submitted papers without attribution to the evaluator.
2. Nominations are solicited at the end of the annual conference and must be sent to the Executive Director by September 15. Applications are circulated immediately thereafter by the Executive Director to committee members. Committee members shall send their comments and rankings to the Chair of the Committee by December 15. Committee recommendations shall be sent to the President by January 15. The President informs the winner by March 15.

4. President’s Grant. The President is authorized to award travel grants to graduate students and independent scholars in order to assist them to attend the annual meeting. All graduate students and independent scholars are eligible for consideration. At the President’s discretion, the amounts of the awards may vary depending on the amount of funds available and the various travel costs for students. Recipients must be current members of SASS and must be presenting a paper at the annual meeting for which they are receiving travel support.