DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: April 15, 2021

In 2007, the Central Eurasian Studies Society (CESS) established two Book Awards, one for work in the History & Humanities and another for work in the Social Sciences. Since 2018, each award has been given annually.

The CESS Book Award and a monetary prize of $500 is presented to the author of a research monograph, published in the preceding year, that: 1) represents the most important contribution to Central Eurasian studies, or 2) that holds the greatest potential for furthering scholarship on the Central Eurasian region. Two interdisciplinary panels of at least three scholars of Central Eurasia, appointed annually by the CESS Board, consider the nominated works’ scholarly merit, scope of argument, and felicity of style in their deliberations for each award.

In 2021, books in History & Humanities and in the Social Sciences with a publication date of 2020 may be nominated.

The shortlist will be announced in July and the winners will be announced at the 21st CESS Annual Conference, which will take place at Ohio State University in Columbus on October 14-17, 2021.

Rules and procedures for the competition are as follows:

1. Books must be scholarly monographs based on original research and published in English in 2020 (as measured by the printed copyright date; exceptions for books available by the submission deadline may be allowed at the discretion of the chair);
2. Books may be submitted in one category for one competition only, and no book may be considered more than once.
3. Scholarly monographs translated into English from other languages are eligible for consideration.
4. Edited volumes, new editions of previously published books, bibliographies, dictionaries, and textbooks are not eligible.
5. Nominations may be made by either the publisher, author, or a CESS member.
6. To be considered, one hard copy or PDF version of the book should be sent to each of the committee members on the appropriate panel to reach them by the specified deadline.

For the 2021 CESS Book Award competitions, please ensure that hard copies or PDFs of the nominated books reach CESS by April 15, 2021. If submitting a PDF, submissions should be sent to info@centraleurasia.org with the subject line “Book Award Nomination” and an indication of whether it is being nominated for the History & Humanities Award or the Social Sciences Award.

If submitting hard copies of the book, please note the new CESS mailing address:

Central Eurasian Studies Society
PO Box 23046
Saint Louis, MO 63156