The Janet M. Fitchen Paper Prize for Anthropology

Janet M. Fitchen was a professor of anthropology at Ithaca College from 1977 until her untimely death in 1995. She gained national recognition for her research on rural poverty in the US. She was the author of numerous articles and two books: Poverty in Rural America (1981) and Endangered Spaces, Enduring Places: Change, Identity, and Survival in Rural America (1991). 

In addition to her extensive research she was a distinguished teacher and was recognized with a Dana Teaching Award in 1988. In her memory, friends, and colleagues have established an endowment (The Janet Fitchen Student Development Fund) to support anthropology students at Ithaca College. 

The Student Paper Prize for Anthropology, launched in 1997, is one of the many important ways that her endowment is being used to assist students. One prize is awarded annually.

The Prize
The successful applicant will be presented with $100 and a certificate noting their achievement, and her/his name will be inscribed on the Fitchen prize plaque in the department.

Eligibility
This prize is designed to honor an anthropology major or minor who has written an outstanding paper on some aspect of anthropology in the last academic year. While the competition is not restricted to papers written for Anthropology courses, a criteria on which all papers will be judged is anthropological content. The paper must be between 10 and 20 double-spaced pages and include a bibliography.

Deadline
Spring semester

Procedures for Submitting a Paper
Students are responsible for filling out the application form and submitting three (3) copies of their paper to the Chair of the Anthropology Department before the deadline. The Chair will distribute the papers to the review committee.

Composition of Review Committee
A panel made up of faculty members will review the papers. The review committee will assess the paper on the basis of its originality, sophistication, organization, clarity and anthropological content. This award is not based on the financial need of the applicant. Applicants will be notified via mail of the outcome of their application.

Responsibilities of Awardee
The successful applicant will be responsible for meeting with the review committee to mutually decide upon a new book in the field of anthropology that our Library should own. That book will be purchased by the Anthropology Department and donated to the Gannett Library in recognition of the recipient of the paper prize and in honor of Janet Fitchen.

 

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