Himes Outstanding Student Paper Awards

About the Himes Award

The award is named in honor of Dr. Joseph Himes, a founding member and the first president of NCSA (1969-1971). In 1969, Dr. Himes became the first African American faculty member to be tenured as a professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG). Prior to his tenure at UNCG, Dr. Himes spent 23 years at North Carolina Central University. From 1965-66, he served as president of the Southern Sociological Society.

Call for Submissions

The North Carolina Sociological Association (NCSA) seeks papers that represent excellence in sociological analysis from both undergraduate and graduate students.

NCSA membership and conference fees are deferred for all awardees who attend the NCSA conference.  Students who apply for the award should be prepared to attend the annual conference on Friday, February 28, 2025, in Raleigh, NC to present their work as part of the special Himes Award Winner Session.

Eligibility requirements are as follows:

·        Any student enrolled in a community college, four-year college/university in North Carolina may submit a paper for consideration.

·        Students who graduated in spring 2024 or summer 2024 are eligible to submit a paper for the 2025 awards.

·        Co-authored papers written by graduate students are eligible for the graduate paper award. The monetary award will be evenly distributed among authors of the winning paper.

·        Co-authored papers written by undergraduate students are eligible for the undergraduate paper award. The monetary award will be evenly distributed among authors of the winning paper.

·        Co-authored papers written by students and faculty members are ineligible for the award.

·        Co-authored papers written by undergraduate and graduate students are ineligible for the award.

·        The same individual is eligible to win the undergraduate award once and the graduate award once.

Award Information

This competition comes with the following monetary awards:

·        $150 for winning undergraduate paper (2-year institutions)

·        $150 for winning undergraduate paper (4-year institutions)

·        $250 for winning graduate paper

Additionally, each winner receives a certificate of recognition from the NCSA. Award winner are recognized at the NCSA Annual Conference and, at the discretion of the winners, papers are published on the official NCSA website. Faculty mentors are recognized at the annual conference and their school/college deans and department chairpersons are notified of this recognition.

Judgment criteria:

·        accurate, focused, and thorough review of the pertinent sociological literature

·        use of method related to topic

·        appropriate use of evidence in drawing conclusions

·        ability to use theoretical analysis and interpretation

·        insight and creativity

·        writing skill, clarity, coherence, and proper use of citations and documentation

Submission guidelines:

·        To nominate a paper for the Himes Outstanding paper award, please follow this link. Self nominations are encouraged.

·        To nominate a paper for the Himes Award, you will need to be signed into a Google account.

Submission Deadline

·        The submission deadline for the 2025 paper awards is January 14, 2025.

·        If you have questions, please contact Robyn Brown at brownraa@uncw.edu.

Lea Chen (left) receives the 2024 Himes Outstanding Student Paper Award from NCSA President-Elect Victoria Kurdyla (right). ©Madison Bathke