The Association for Queer Anthropology (AQA) is proud to announce the 2012 Ruth Benedict Book Prize Competition for outstanding anthropological scholarship on a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender topic.

The Ruth Benedict Book Prize is presented each year at the American Anthropological Association’s annual meeting to acknowledge excellence in a scholarly book written from an anthropological perspective about a topic that engages issues and theoretical perspectives relevant to LGBTQ studies. The Prize is awarded in each of two separate categories, one for a single-authored monograph and another for an edited volume.

Submissions may be on any topic related to lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people, or other gender/sexual formations and categories from any world culture area. Topics may include the study of normativity, queer theory, and the social/historical construction of sexual and gender identities, discourses and categories. Authors may represent any scholarly discipline, but the material submitted must engage anthropological theories and methods. Submissions may be self-nominated or may be sent by a press or another person.

Books submitted for the competition must have a publication date of 2011 or 2012 and may not have been submitted previously.  Page proofs of books scheduled for 2012 publication are acceptable but please include a letter from the publisher confirming the anticipated publication date of 2012.

To nominate a work, please submit one copy of the book or edited volume to each of the four committee members listed below, with the author or editor’s name, mailing address, email address, and telephone number printed clearly on a separate cover letter indicating that it is a submission for the Ruth Benedict Book Prize. Three voting committee members are former winners of the Ruth Benedict Book Prize.  A fourth, non-voting, member is a graduate student representative from AQA.  All submissions must be received by FRIDAY July 20, 2012.

Send any inquiries to the Ruth Benedict Book Prize Committee Chair, Mary L. Gray (QcentraL@indiana.edu)

2012 Ruth Benedict Book Prize Committee Members:

Evelyn Blackwood
5349 E. 200 No.
Lafayette, IN 47905

Erin L. Durban
PO Box 3356
Tucson, Arizona 85722

Mary L. Gray
P.O. Box 425517
Cambridge, MA 02142

Roger Lancaster
Cultural Studies
MSN 5E4
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030-4444