The call for nominations for this award is now Open. APPLICATIONS are due by MONDAY, JANUARY 27, 2025.

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CLICK HERE FOR THE PAPER OF THE YEAR AWARD APPLICATION.

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CLICK HERE FOR THE CREATIVE OF THE YEAR AWARD APPLICATION.

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NRHC Paper of the Year Awards

Applications Due: January 27, 2025  

The Paper of the Year Award recognizes outstanding papers presented as panel talks at the NRHC annual conference. Winning papers will be published and featured in a special Conference Edition of Illuminate, the NRHC Undergraduate Research Journal.

Qualifications and Criteria:

• Students must be registered to present a panel talk to apply for this award.

• Papers will be evaluated on the strengths of their content, organization, evidence/argumentation, and writing mechanics.

 

NRHC will award the top paper within each conference strand. Conference strands include:

• The Arts (Music, Performing Arts, Film & Photography, Fine Arts)

• Business, Economics, and Technology

• Education

• History, Politics, and Culture

• Honors Education and Practices

• Language, Literature, and Philosophy

• Media Studies and Communication Arts (Mass Media, Journalism, and Digital Communications)

• Natural Sciences, Mathematics, and Allied Health

• Social Sciences (Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, Archaeology, Geography, and Jurisprudence)

 

Each paper should include a synopsis or abstract, limited to a maximum of 300 words.  References should be formatted in either APA or MLA style, depending on the standard for the discipline. 
 

Papers with footnotes can be considered, but please know that contributors will be required to remove and format footnotes to the Illuminate style guidelines. All submissions should be double spaced with a size 12 Times New Roman font. 
 

Submissions must include a clear statement of purpose and will be evaluated based on content, analysis, organization, grammar, spelling and formatting.
 

All digital images should be submitted as .jpg or .png files with a high resolution of at least 300 dpi.  Images can be in black and white or in color.   For images that have been altered in Photoshop or any other program, both the original and altered image should be submitted. Images embedded in documents are not acceptable. 
 

Images must be open access if they are to be published by this journal. If authors do not own the rights to the images, they will be asked to provide hyperlinks to the original image so the journal can link to the images directly. Further, for authors in the sciences that have papers with multiple formulas, tables, etc., those must be formatted as .jpgs or .pngs for publication by the author and submitted to the journal as separate files.  
 

Submission: All application materials should be submitted via our online Google form by Monday, January 27. 2025 at 11:59 p.m. Click here to access the form. Applications will be evaluated by strand reviewers and/or members of the NRHC Executive Board.
 

Notification: Winners will be announced the week of the conference when the Conference Edition of Illuminate goes live. These winners are expected to attend the NRHC Awards Ceremony. Their names and photographs will be listed on the NRHC website. Moderators will announce during panel sessions if any nominees and/or winners are on their panel. 

NRHC Creative of the Year Awards
 

Applications Due: January 27, 2025  

The Creative of the Year Award recognizes outstanding creative work that may be presented at the conference as part of the Performing Arts and Film Showcase and/or Art Gallery. However, submissions that aren’t being presented at the conference but celebrate the conference theme are welcome. Winning creative works will be published and featured in a special Conference Edition of Illuminate, the NRHC Undergraduate Research Journal.

Qualifications and Criteria:

• Students must be registered for NRHC to apply for this award. Students who are presenting a creative piece at NRHC can apply but this award invites creative applications from non-presenters.

• Creative will be evaluated on the strengths of their content, organization, and overall presentation based on the type of work.
   

NRHC will award at least one submission from each of the following creative categories:

• Photography

• Poetry

• Short Fiction

• Creative Nonfiction/Essay

• Fine Art

• Illustrations

• Short Films

• Recorded Music

• Pre-recorded performance arts (i.e. theater, dance)

Creative works should include a title and an artist’s statement, limited to no more than 300 words. 

All digital images should be submitted as .jpg files with a high resolution of at least 300 dpi.  Images can be in black and white or color.   For images that have been altered in Photoshop or any other program, both the original and altered image should be submitted. Images embedded in documents are not acceptable. 

Any style of poetry can be submitted.

Short fiction is limited to a maximum of 5000 words, double spaced, size 12 Times New Roman font.

Essays are limited to a maximum of 2500 words, double spaced, size 12 Times New Roman font.   

Short films, recorded music, or pre-recorded performance art should submit .MP4 video files that are no longer than 10 minutes. 
 

Submission: All application materials should be submitted via our online Google form by Monday, January 27, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. Click here to access the form. Applications will be evaluated by strand reviewers and/or members of the NRHC Executive Board.
 

Notification: Winners will be announced the week of the conference when the Conference Edition of Illuminate goes live. These winners are expected to attend the NRHC Awards Ceremony. Their names and photographs will be listed on the NRHC website. Moderators will announce during panel sessions if any nominees and/or winners are on their panel. 

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