The deadline for submissions to the CASDW/ACR’s Annual Award for Best Dissertation is Friday, April 12, 2024. The Joan Pavelich CASDW/ACR Annual Award for the Best Dissertation in Writing and Discourse Studies recognizes an outstanding PhD dissertation in writing studies, discourse studies, rhetoric, literacy education, communication studies, applied linguistics, or a cognate field. The awards will be given to students in a Canadian university or to a Canadian student studying outside Canada.

To be eligible, dissertations must have been defended between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023. An announcement of the winning dissertation will be made at the 2024 CASDW/ACR annual conference and the winner will be invited to present their work at the 2025 conference without needing to go through the proposal process. Nominees do not need to be CASDW/ACR members and self-nominations are highly welcomed.

The award includes a prize of $100 and a one-year free CASDW membership for the following year.

The deadline for nominations is Friday, April 12, 2024. Dissertation writers are encouraged to submit their work if it speaks to some of the following criteria:

·        Builds on or extends previous scholarship relevant to discourse and writing studies as well as addresses a notable gap in the scholarship; 

·        Re-conceives discourse and writing studies work through divergent thinking or diverse experiences;

·        Poses and addresses a significant research question;

·        Contributes new knowledge to writing and discourse studies and highlights the importance of its findings;

·        Showcases relevant and/or innovative methodology.

Applicants/nominators should send the following items to Nazih El-Bezre (Nazih.El-Bezre@ubc.ca):

·        a PDF file containing the dissertation (or a link to an online repository),

·        a CV, and

·        a cover sheet with the applicant’s full name, citizenship, institution and degree program, and contact information for their primary supervisor.

Committee Members:

Nazih El-Bezre (Nazih.El-Bezre@ubc.ca)
Katja Thieme
Alys Avalos Rivera
Leah Burns