PSA Awards

Deadlines for award nominations:

Except for the Distinguished Scholarship Award, the deadline for all 2024 awards nominations is February 1, 2025.

Where to send naward nominations"

Send nominations materials for the Distinguished Scholarship Award, Distinguished Contribution to Sociological Praxis Award, Distinguished Undergraduate Student Paper Award, and Distinguished Graduate Student Paper Award to awards@pacificsoc.org

Send nominations materials for the Dean S. Dorn Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Award and the Early Career Award for Innovation in Teaching Sociology teaching.awards@pacificsoc.org

Send nominations materials for the Social Conscience Award to social.conscience@pacificsoc.org

Available Awards for PSA 2025

The Distinguished Scholarship Award  - The Distinguished Scholarship Award is granted to sociologists from the Pacific region in recognition of major intellectual contributions embodied in a recently published book or series of at least three articles on a common theme. To be eligible for the 2023 award, a book or the most recent article in a series must have been published in 2022 or later. If a book has both a hardback and paperback copyright date and no significant changes have been made in the book between editions, the committee will consider the earlier copyright date as the one determining eligibility for the award. Nominations must be from individual members of the PSA; the Committee does not accept nominations from publishers. Edited books are not eligible for this award. The deadline for nominations is November 15, 2024. You will need to send three copies of the book; request mailing address when you submit nomination information. Send nominations to awards@pacificsoc.org .

The Dean S. Dorn Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Award - The Dean S. Dorn Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Award honors individuals whose distinctions as teachers have made a significant impact on how sociology is taught. It is typically given for contributions spanning several years or an entire career. Nominations for this award should be submitted in packet form and include the following information: 1) a summary statement of the nominee’s contributions to the teaching of sociology that may include, but is not limited to, honors and awards received by the nominee, publications or scholarly activity related to teaching/pedagogy, papers presented at national conferences on teaching/pedagogy, innovative approaches to teaching, a discussion of the nominee’s impact in disseminate knowledge, leadership in teaching, or mentoring students; 2) a current curriculum vitae; 3) a minimum of four letters of support — at least two from students and two from colleagues — including the nominator’s letter; and 4) other supporting documents as deemed relevant (optional). Prior nominees are encouraged to re-submit updated materials. For the 2025 cycle, this award will be given by the PSA Committee on Teaching; send nominations to teaching.awards@pacificsoc.org .

The Early Career Award for Innovation in Teaching Sociology - The Early Career Award for Innovation in Teaching Sociology is designed to honor and encourage the work of assistant professors (untenured), graduate student lecturers, and lecturer faculty. “Early career” is defined as fewer than seven years of teaching experience. This award recognizes innovative and creative approaches to teaching and/or mentoring that advance equity with historically excluded communities. This includes approaches that challenge structural and institutional barriers, particularly those faced by historically excluded communities, and/or improve diversity, inclusivity, and equity with students from said communities. Application Requirements: (A) Statement of Nomination written by a colleague or an applicant (self-nomination). This statement should define, describe, and demonstrate the following: a situational context revolving around inequality, an innovation in teaching sociology to intervene in said context, and innovation’s impact. (B) Two Letters of Support: At least one letter of support should be from a professional colleague, such as a staff member, a faculty member serving in an administrative role (e.g., department chair), or senior faculty member. It is encouraged that the second letter of suppport is authored by a student. (C) Current C.V. for the nominee. (D) Supplemental Material: Nominee or nominator should provide items that demonstrate (a) evidence of the innovation itself (e.g., examples of pedagogical practice, assignment) and (b) evidence of this innovation’s success in advancing equity (e.g., student evaluations, peer teaching evaluations). For the 2025 cycle, this award will be given by the PSA Committee on Teaching; send nominations to teaching.awards@pacificsoc.org .

The Distinguished Contribution to Sociological Praxis Award - The Distinguished Contribution to Sociological Praxis Award honors sociological work in the Pacific region (whether by an academic or non-academic), that has made a positive impact on social and organizational institutions, improved organizational performance, contributed to community betterment, and/or eased human suffering. Nominations for this award should be submitted in packet form and include the following information: 1) a nominating letter that provides an overview of the nominee’s distinguished praxis contributions, which should make clear how the nominee’s work has made a positive impact and how the contributions are above and beyond typical professional service; 2) a minimum of two letters of support from individuals having direct knowledge of the nominee’s contribution to sociological praxis; 3) supporting documents, examples of which include, but are not limited to, presentations at scholarly conferences, published articles, reports, media materials, community documents, or grant/contract proposals primarily authored by the nominee, that speak to this significant contribution. Prior nominees are encouraged to re-submit updated materials. Send nominations to awards@pacificsoc.org .

The Distinguished Contribution to Sociological Perspectives Award - Each year, the Distinguished Contribution to Sociological Perspectives Award honors an outstanding article published in the most recent volume of Sociological Perspectives. To be eligible, the article must be worthy of special recognition for outstanding scholarship and contribution to the discipline. For the 2025 award, the article must have been published in 2023 (Vol. 66). For the 2024 awards cycle, awardee will be selected by the PSA Publications Committee.

The Distinguished Undergraduate Student Paper Award - The Distinguished Undergraduate Student Paper Award recognizes an undergraduate student or students for a paper of high professional quality. This award includes a $200 honorarium and two nights of lodging at the conference hotel. To be eligible a paper must be: 1) worthy of special recognition for outstanding scholarship; 2) written by an undergraduate student or students in the Pacific region; 3) written or substantially revised in the last year; 4) presented at the upcoming PSA annual conference; and 5) in article format (needs to meet the standards for a submission to Sociological Perspectives–maximum 10,000 words or 40 pages, inclusive of all figures and graphs). Nominations for the award must include a copy of the paper, an abstract, and a minimum of one letter of support. You are encouraged to resubmit your nomination, and please note that incomplete nominations will not be taken into consideration. Note: an individual faculty may nominate a maximum of 3 papers for this award. Send nominations to awards@pacificsoc.org .

The Distinguished Graduate Student Paper Award - The Distinguished Graduate Student Paper Award recognizes a graduate student or students for a paper of high professional quality. This award includes a $200 honorarium and two nights of lodging at the conference hotel. To be eligible a paper must be: 1) worthy of special recognition for outstanding scholarship; 2) written by a graduate student or students in the Pacific region; 3) written in an article format, under review, or published in 2022 or later. 4) presented at the upcoming PSA annual conference; and 5) in article format (needs to meet the standards for a submission to Sociological Perspectives–maximum 10,000 words or 40 pages, inclusive of all figures and graphs). Nominations for the award must include a copy of the paper, an abstract, and a minimum of one letter of support. You are encouraged to resubmit your nomination, and please note that incomplete nominations will not be taken into consideration. Send nominations to awards@pacificsoc.org.

The Social Conscience Award - The Pacific Sociological Association’s Social Conscience Award is given to a worthy community-based organization located in the city in which the PSA Annual meeting is held — for 2025, this is San Francisco, California. This is a monetary award and honors a community organization that is engaged in providing a much-needed social service in the community. The awardees will be selected by the Social Conscience Committee; send nominations to social.conscience@pacificsoc.org 

2023-2024 Awards Committee Members:

Amy Lubitow, Portland State University

Claudia López, California State University, Long Beach

Maria Mora, California State University, Stanislaus

Sojung Lim, Utah State University

Chioun Lee, University of California Riverside (Co-Chair)

Michael Cope, Brigham Young University (Co-Chair)