Prizes and Grants
The American Folklore Society recognizes outstanding achievement in the field of folklore by awarding seven major prizes, as well as numerous section-sponsored prizes in specific subject areas. Taken together, the recipients of these prizes embody excellence across the spectrum of work in our field.
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AFS-Sponsored Prizes
The American Folklore Society recognizes outstanding achievement in the field of folklore by awarding eight major prizes. Most of these prizes are named for remarkable folklorists, and you can find information about all of them in this section.
Prizes -
AFS Lifetime Scholarly Achievement Award
This award is bestowed every year at the American Folklore Society annual meeting on a living senior scholar in recognition of outstanding scholarly achievement over the course of a career. Applications due April 15
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AFS Presidential Award for Meritorious Service
This award recognizes exceptional service to the discipline that goes above and beyond our usual research, documentation, presentation, or conservation. This award is given at the discretion of the current President of AFS.
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Américo Paredes Prize
This prize recognizes excellence in integrating scholarship and engagement with the people and communities one studies, or in teaching and encouraging scholars and practitioners to work in their own communities. Applications due August 15
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Archie Green Award
The Archie Green Award recognizes and honors local cultural leaders and workers outside the Society’s membership who have made significant contributions to the expressive life of their own communities. Applications due July 1
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Benjamin A. Botkin Prize
Each year, the Public Programs Section of the American Folklore Society joins with the AFS Executive Board to award the Benjamin A. Botkin Prize to an individual for significant lifetime achievement in public folklore. Applications due September 15
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Chicago Folklore Prize
The Chicago Folklore Prize is awarded to the author(s) of the best book-length work of folklore scholarship for the year and is the oldest international award recognizing excellence in folklore scholarship. Applications due April 15
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Judith McCulloh Award for Lifetime Service to the Field
This annual award is given for extraordinary contributions in service to the American Folklore Society and/or the field of folklore, resulting in furthering the visibility and success of our discipline and profession. Applications due April 15
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Kenneth Goldstein Award for Lifetime Academic Leadership
Recognizes outstanding achievement by a living scholar in academic leadership relating to folklore. "Leadership" includes folklore program development, organizational and center development, teaching, and advising. Applications due April 15
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Zora Neale Hurston Prize
AFS awards this prize to a graduate or undergraduate student for the best work in any medium—including but not limited to papers, films, sound recordings, or exhibitions—on African American folklore. Applications due August 15
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AFS Grants
The American Folklore Society is committed to the growth and strength of our members, undertaking initiatives to remove barriers to engagement and research. AFS relies on the generosity of members and individuals just like you, whose contributions support these efforts.
Contribute -
AFS Gerald L. Davis Grant
The American Folklore Society provides a limited number of grants, ranging from $500 to $2000, to foster the participation, inclusion, and affirmation of persons of color who are invested in community development. Grants may fund travel to the AFS Annual Meeting, project support, or both.
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AFS Graduate Fieldwork Grant
These grants support field research by graduate students pursuing careers in folklore, aiming to foster excellence in folklore research by allowing students to develop ambitious projects grounded in long-term ethnographic engagement and to help to create diverse cohorts of new researchers whose conversations will cumulatively advance the field of folklore studies and strengthen the Society. Applications due April 15
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Annual Meeting Financial Support
AFS and AFS Sections provide funding to support engagement in the AFS Annual Meeting. Support ranges from registration fee waivers to a variety of travel stipends to support participation by students, participants of color, and international or independent attendees. Some AFS Sections provide travel support for researchers in their areas of interest.
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Section Prizes and Stipends
Several AFS interest-group sections also sponsor prizes for outstanding work in various areas of the field. You can read the following summaries and click the links to individual section pages for more information.
More about Sections -
Aesop Prize and Accolades
The Aesop Prize and Accolades, awarded by the Children’s Folklore Section, recognize exceptional books, for children or young adults, that are based on folklore. Applications due August 15
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Archie Green Student Travel Award
The AFS Public Programs Section provides up to three awards of up to $500 each, named for folklorist and activist Archie Green of San Francisco, for students to defray costs of traveling to the meeting. Applications due August 15.
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Barbro Klein Prize
This prize is awarded by the Nordic and Baltic Folklore Section to a student for an outstanding conference paper, article-length essay, or research-based media production on a folklore topic having to do with Northern Europe and/or the diasporas of its various peoples. Applications due September 15.
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Bertrand H. Bronson Paper Prize
The Music and Song Section of the American Folklore Society sponsors the Bertrand H. Bronson Student Paper Prize, which is awarded to the best student project that combines research and analysis of some aspect of a music or song tradition. Applications due September 15
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Brenda McCallum Prize
The Brenda McCallum Prize is awarded by the Archives and Libraries Section to an individual or institution for producing an exceptional work related to archival collections of folklife materials. Applications due August 1
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Bill Ellis Prize
The New Directions in Folklore Section offers this prize for the best graduate student essay that combines research and analysis on folklore, broadly construed, and digital culture, popular culture, or new media. Applications due September 15
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Compañero de las Américas Award
Awarded by the Folklore Latino, Latinoamericano y Caribeño Section, this biennial award goes to the individual who has made significant contributions to the understanding of Latino, Latin American, or Caribbean folklore, and whose contributions fall within the context of the AFS annual meeting theme or venue. Applications due: TBA
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Dan Crowley Memorial Research Award
This prize is awarded by the Creative Writing and Storytelling Section for an outstanding student paper that explores the process of storytelling and creating narrative. Applications due July 1
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Don Yoder Prize
The Folk Belief and Religious Folklife Section of the American Folklore Society invites submissions for The Don Yoder Prize for the Best Graduate Student Paper in Folk Belief or Religious Folklife, with an honorarium of $500. Applications due June 1
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Dorothy Howard Folklore and Education Prize
The Dorothy Howard Prize is awarded by the Folklore and Education Section to individuals or organizations whose work effectively encourages educators or students to use the study of folklore and folkloristic approaches in any educational environment. Applications due September 20
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Elaine J. Lawless Travel Award
The Folk Belief and Religious Folklife Section awards a travel stipend of up to $500 to be awarded to a graduate student to participate in the Society’s annual meeting. Applications due May 1
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Elli Köngäs-Maranda Prizes
Each year, the Women’s Section of the American Folklore Society awards two prizes in honor of pioneering scholar Elli Köngäs-Maranda. The prizes recognize superior work on women’s traditional, vernacular, or local culture and/or feminist theory and folklore. Applications due July 15
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Folklore and Science Annual Prize
Folklore and Science Prizes are awarded to presentation-length papers (approximately 10 pages of text), focusing on the boundaries, intersections, and interdisciplinary exchanges between folklore and science. Applications due July 15
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Fernand Braudel Mediterranean Folklore Graduate Student Prize
The Mediterranean Studies Section of the American Folklore Society invites submissions for the Fernand Braudel Prize for an Outstanding Student Research Paper in Mediterranean folklore with an honorarium of $500. Applications due July 1
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Independent and Public Folklore Travel Stipend
The AFS Public Programs Section and the Independent Folklorists’ Section offer an AFS Annual Meeting travel stipend of $750.00. The award supports travel costs for a member of the AFS Independent Folklorists’ Section involved in public folklore to attend the AFS annual meeting and to present their work. Applications due August 1
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Iona and Peter Opie Prize
The Iona and Peter Opie Prize is awarded by the Children’s Folklore Section approximately every two years to the author of the best recently published scholarly book on children’s folklore. Applications due August 15
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John Wesley Work III
The AFS African American Folklore Section sponsors this annual award that honors and spotlights applied folklorists, ethnographers, and ethnomusicologists who actively focus on the research, documentation, recording, and highlighting of African American culture through performance, written word, and music in their scholarly works. Applications due May 1
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Jonathan T.Y. Yeh Award
The Jonathan T.Y. Yeh Award for Student Scholarship in Asian and Asian American Folklore was presented by the Transnational Asia/Pacific section, with the generous sponsorship of Dr. Nora Yeh, from 2010 to 2017.
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Joseph Goodwin Queer Folkloristics Student Paper Prize
This prize is awarded by the LGBTQIA+ Section for the best undergraduate or graduate student paper or production on either 1) ethnographic work with a specific LGBTQIA+ group or aspect of vernacular culture, 2) the intersection of queer theory and folkloristics, or 3) a critical analysis of genders and sexualities more broadly defined. Applications due September 15.
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Kara Nicole Bayless Prize
Awarded by the Graduate Student and Young Professional Section to the best paper by a graduate student on the current theme of the American Folklore Society annual meeting, this is a biannual award(even-numbered years). Applications due September 15
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Leonard Norman Primiano Book Prize on Vernacular Catholicism
This Prize, offered by the Folk Belief and Religious Folklife Section, is given to a recently published book-length monograph on vernacular Catholicism. Applications due May 1
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Leonard Norman Primiano Graduate Student Travel Award
The Folk Belief and Religious Folklife Section gives this travel award to a graduate student to deliver an AFS annual meeting conference presentation on vernacular Catholicism and to participate in the Society’s annual meeting in person. Applications due May 1
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Leonard Norman Primiano Retired Scholar Travel Award
The Folk Belief and Religious Folklife Section awards travel stipends to retired scholars to deliver an AFS annual meeting conference presentation on the topics of vernacular Catholicism or vernacular religion. Applications due May 1
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Polly Grimshaw Prize
The Grimshaw Prize is intended to support folklore or ethnomusicology projects with a significant connection to libraries and/or archives. Applications are due July 1
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Polly Stewart Student Travel Stipend
This award supports travel costs (transportation, meeting registration, lodging and/or per diem expenses) for members of the AFS Women’s Section and who plan to attend the annual meeting and present her/his work. Applications due August 15
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Raphael Patai Travel Award
The Jewish Folklore and Ethnology Section sponsors the Raphael Patai Travel Grant of up to 300 USD for a student of Jewish folklore and ethnology to attend the Annual Meeting of the American Folklore Society. Applications due: TBA
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Richard Reuss Prize
The Richard Reuss Prize for Students of Folklore and History is a biennial prize awarded in odd years by the History and Folklore Section that honors Richard Reuss (1940-1986), founding editor of The Folklore Historian and a leading chronicler of folklore studies. Applications due: TBA
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Robinson-Roeder-Ward Fellowship
Each of this prize's namesakes was a person of vision, scholarship, and activism, and they inspired a generation of folklorists working in K-12 education. The prize is awarded to an educator who is engaged in folklore, ethnography, or cultural heritage and K-12 education. Applications due: TBA
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Saboohi I. Khan Award for Student Scholarship in Asian and Asian American Folklore
The award aims to mentor graduate and undergraduate students and to foster and encourage scholarly research and publication on Asian and/or Asian American folklore and folklife. Applications due August 15
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Sue Samuelson Prize
The Foodways Section of the American Folklore Society invites submissions for the Sue Samuelson Award for best student paper on food and foodways. Papers should be based on original fieldwork or research and utilize current folkloric approaches to analysis and interpretation. Applications due March 15
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W. W. Newell Prize
The Children’s Folklore Section annually offers the W. W. Newell Prize, which includes a $200 award, for the best essay by students or emerging scholars on a topic in children’s folklore. Applications due September 15
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Warren E. Roberts Prize
The Folk Arts and Material Culture Section of the American Folklore Society invites submissions for its annual Warren E. Roberts Prize for Best Student Paper in Folk Art and Material Culture. Applications are due September 15
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Wayland D. Hand Prize
The Wayland D. Hand Prize is awarded in even years by the History and Folklore Section for the best book combining historical and folkloristic methods and materials. The biennial prize honors the eminent folklorist Wayland D. Hand (1907-1986). Applications due June 1
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William Still Citation
The Politics, Folklore, and Social Justice Section awards its William Still Citation in select years for lifetime achievement in community cultural work. The award goes to organizations or individuals who have combined traditional arts and culture with a vision for social justice. Applications due August 15
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William A. Wilson Prize
The Folk Belief and Religious Folklife Section of the American Folklore Society invites submissions for the William A. Wilson Prize for the Best Undergraduate Student Paper in Folk Belief or Religious Folklife, with an honorarium of $250. Applications due June 1
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Women's and Independent Folklorists' Sections Annual Meeting Award
The Independent Folklorists’ Section and the Women’s Section of the American Folklore Society present an award each year to support participation in the AFS Annual Meeting. The award supports costs such as transportation, meeting registration, lodging and/or per diem expenses) for an independent folklorists who is working on women’s issues to attend the annual meeting and to present their work. Applications due July 15
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Support Prizes and Participation
You contribution can help sustain these resources that foster research and participation in our field.
See other ways to support AFS -
AFS Prizes and Stipends
Your gift can ensure we can continue to present prizes to reward achievements in the field, or travel stipends to support participation in the AFS annual meeting by students, international participants, and people of color.
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AFS Graduate Fieldwork Grant
Your donation supports a grant program to foster excellence in folklore research by allowing students to develop ambitious projects grounded in long-term ethnographic engagement.
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Leonard Norman Primiano Endowment and Prizes
Gifts to this fund support research and scholarship in Leonard’s own area of vernacular religion, including a book prize and travel stipends for student and retired annual meeting participants.
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AFS Section Prizes, Journals, and Stipends
You can give whenever you like to AFS Sections to support their prizes and other activities. Find your Section in the Store to contribute.
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Fee Waivers for Students and Early Career Professionals
Your donation supports scholarships for membership and meeting registration by those students or early career professionals who reach out to AFS to seek assistance.
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International Sponsorship
Sponsor an international colleague: your colleague will receive all the benefits of AFS membership.