Elaine Salo Honours Prize

Call for Applications: Anthropology Southern African Elaine Salo Prize for Honours Essay Competition

Anthropology Southern Africa is pleased to invite submissions for the Elaine Salo Prize for the best essay submitted by an Honours student in 2020, 2021 and 2022. This is a retrospective call, as the prize wasn’t offered in those years. We will be sending out another call for applications for 2023, along with the conference documents.

The Elaine Salo Prize was introduced in 2016 to commemorate the contribution of Elaine Salo[1] to the discipline of anthropology. The prize-winning essay is selected based on the work that best excellently exemplifies ethnographic work.

Elaine Rosa Salo trained in anthropology at UCT in the early 1980s. She was a feminist scholar and completed her PhD at Emory University. One of her foci in her research were gendered roles in Mannenberg, Cape Town. She was part of the African Gender Institute at the University of Cape Town from 2000 to 2008, before leaving to become director of Women and Gender Studies at the University of Pretoria. She became associate professor in political science and international relations at the University of Delaware in 2014.

Requirements Eligibility: Any student previously enrolled in an Honours Anthropology programme for the years 2020, 2021, and 2022 is invited to submit an essay based on work conducted during their Honours enrolment / registration. The submitted work must be unpublished.

Manuscript format: No more than 5,000 words (plus notes and references), single spaced, 12 point font, using a consistent and recognised referencing style (for example that used by ASA), paginated and with a running head, and carefully proofed. All essays should be submitted in word format (not PDF). Do not include author name on the manuscript or any identifying information. Essays that do not meet the format criteria will not be judged and no feedback will be given.

Cover page: Include a cover page with title of the paper, author’s full contact information, institutional affiliation, degree programme and the name and contact information for the chief supervisor/advisor.

Accompanying document: Include a brief letter of support and completion from your supervisor (one page maximum) on official letterhead.

Short motivation: Please include a short motivational letter (one page maximum) on how your Honours research contributes to the research interests and research works of Salo and how you intend to continue with the research further (e.g. at Masters and Doctoral level).

Evaluation criteria: rationale and conceptual framing, relevance of topic/analysis, organisation, style and clarity of writing, quality of discussion and interpretation. Essays that highlight an innovative or fresh approach to any of the ASNA or regional ethnographic themes are encouraged.

The Elaine Salo Prize comes with a monetary gift, book gifts, opportunity for (non-peer reviewed) publication in ASA and other prizes at discretion of ASA. The judging panel is made up of two ASA editors and one member of the ASnA Executive Council. The winner will be announced at the 2023 Anthropology Southern Africa conference in the Western Cape.

Submissions (paper and accompanying documents) and general enquiries to be made to ASNA President, Dr Gcobani Qambela (gcobaniq@uj.ac.za), with the subject line, “Elaine Salo Prize‟ by the due date: 28th of April 2023.

All shortlisted authors will receive feedback from the judging panel.

[1] See Kelly Gillespie, “Elaine Rosa Salo (1962–2016),” Anthropology Southern Africa 40, no. 3 (2017): 217–223.