SWS Awards
Through our commitment to honoring and celebrating the work of feminist sociologists who are members, SWS offers several awards for students and other professionals.
SWS membership is required to be eligible for awards. All application materials are submitted on the Member Portal, which opens in January.
Awards deadline: April 1, 11:59 pm Eastern
Questions? Read our Frequently Asked Questions about SWS Awards or email contact@socwomen.org.
2027 Beth B. Hess Memorial Scholarship Award Winners Announced!
| Asena Karipek is the 2027 Beth B. Hess Memorial Scholarship Award Recipient. Nahrissa Rush is the 2027 Beth B. Hess Memorial Scholarship Honorable Mention Awardee. The Beth B. Hess Memorial Scholarship Award was established in 2005 to support first generation college students who began their academic careers in a community college, have faced significant obstacles, are committed to teaching, and mentoring other less privileged students, and exemplify Beth’s commitment to professional service and social justice work through activism. Beth B. Hess was a President of SWS and one of our mentoring award winners; she was also the President of the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) and Secretary Treasurer of the American Sociological Association (ASA). These organizations join SWS in supporting the Beth B. Hess Scholar each year. Advanced graduate students in sociology at the dissertation writing stage are invited to apply. |
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| Photo of Asena Karipek The subcommittee is delighted to award Asena Karipek the 2027 Beth B. Hess Memorial Scholarship. Asena is a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology with a graduate minor in Gender & Women’s Studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Her scholarly interests lie at the intersection of gender, religion, and race. Asena began her academic career at Montgomery College in Maryland. She holds a B.A. in Islamic Theology from Istanbul University and M.A. degrees in Religion and Sociology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Asena’s research examines postcolonial feminism and anti-Muslim racism, with particular attention to the racialization of religion and the gendered dimensions of Muslim women’s experiences. Her dissertation work explores how religion, embodiment, and religious practice complicate dominant secular assumptions within feminist theory and shape Muslim women’s identities and everyday lives. |
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| Photo of Nahrissa Rush The subcommittee is delighted to recognize Nahrissa Rush as the 2027 Beth B. Hess Memorial Scholarship Honorable Mention Awardee. Nahrissa is a PhD candidate in sociology at The Ohio State University. She studies race and identity, specifically the racial identity experiences of those with one Black and one white parent. Nahrissa’s dissertation project uses in-depth interviews to understand how racial identity is experienced across the life course, with attention to differences for older adults. She analyzes how these experiences may differ depending on phenotype, class, education, and other characteristics. Nahrissa is also a committed instructor, dedicated to nurturing and challenging the next generation of sociologists. She attended community college in Madison, Wisconsin from 2004-2005, and again from 2012-2015. She earned her bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Minnesota in 2020. The subcommittee is very excited to celebrate Anesa and Nahrissa at the 2027 SWS Winter Conference and looks forward to following their work. |
Below is a summary list of our award opportunities. More information about SWS awards is available on the Member Portal (requires login).
All Members
- Feminist Initiative Award: Supports and encourages the efforts of SWS members to make a difference in their community. Maximum 2 awards per cycle. Learn more >>
Graduate Student Dissertation Awards
- Barbara Rosenblum Dissertation Scholarship: Supports doctoral research in sociology, anthropology, psychology, and related fields on women’s experience of breast and other reproductive cancers and the prevention of these cancers. One award per cycle. Learn more >>
- Beth B. Hess Memorial Dissertation Scholarship: Awards an advanced sociology Ph.D. student, preferably in the last year of their program, who began their study in a community college or technical school. One award per cycle and up to two honorable mentions. Learn more >>
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Esther Ngan-ling Chow and Mareyjoyce Green Dissertation Scholarship: Supports women and non-binary scholars of color who are from underrepresented or marginalized groups who are studying concerns that women of color face domestically and/or internationally or transnationally. One award per cycle and up to two honorable mentions. Learn more >>
Graduate Student and Recent PhD Award
- Cheryl Allyn Miller Award: Recognizes a sociology graduate student or a recent sociology doctorate whose research or activism constitutes an outstanding contribution to the field of women and work. One award per cycle. Learn more >>
Academic & Applied Professional Awards*
*student members not eligible
- Feminist Mentoring Award: Celebrates the power and importance of feminist mentoring. One award per cycle. Learn more >>
- Trailblazer Award: Recognizes a member who exemplifies “trailblazer” qualities of taking risks, changing society for the better, being a leader on campus and/or the community, showing courage, and forging new bold paths in research and activism. One award per cycle. Learn more >>
Applicants will be informed of award decisions by late summer. The award winners will be celebrated at the following annual SWS Winter Conference.
Please contact the SWS Executive Office with any questions at contact@socwomen.org.