HomeEssay Prizes for Emerging Scholars

GUHP Essay Prizes for Emerging Scholars

Up to three GUHP Essay Prizes will be awarded to early-career scholars for unpublished essays associated with graduate and post-graduate work in the field of Global Urban History. Eligible applicants should be GUHP members and can include graduate students, post-graduate scholars not in a tenure-track position, or early career scholars in the first three years of a tenure track position at the time of submission. Scholars who work at institutions in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia are especially encouraged to apply, as are scholars who work on periods before 1850.

Essays must be no longer than 8,000 words in English inclusive of citations, be based on original research, contain full citations to archival and relevant secondary sources, and engage with critical themes in global urban history. Essay topics can include studies of cities as creations and creators of larger-scale historical phenomena of all kinds - from empires and capitalism to global cultural communities and ecosystems; of connective, cross-border, ocean-, river- or borderland urban history; of comparative or connective urban histories; of urban environmental history; and/or studies that in general expand historical research to cities and urban regions that are underrepresented in the current urban historical literature.

The Prize Committee will use the following criteria for evaluating essays for the essay prizes and any honorable mention the committee sees fit to award: clarity and strength of the argument, significance, originality, use of evidence, and depth of engagement with critical themes in global urban history.

Winners will be announced on the GUHP website, in Noteworthy in Global Urban History, on the Global Urban History blog, and on social media. Each winner will receive a monetary award of US$100 and a certificate. Winners are highly encouraged to submit their essays for publication in an urban history journal.

Application instructions for the next award cycle will be circulated in fall 2024.

2023 Essay Award Winners