Gypsy Lore Society Young Scholars' Prize
Marian Madison Gypsy Lore Society Young Scholar’s Prize in Romani Studies
The Gypsy Lore Society established the Marian Madison Gypsy Lore Society Young Scholar’s Prize in Romani Studies for the best unpublished paper by a young scholar on a topic in Gypsy and Traveler Studies. The prize is a cash award of $500. When two papers of the same quality are assessed, priority will be given to applicants who are members of the Gypsy Lore Society. The winning paper will be published, after any necessary revisions, in an issue of the journal Romani Studies. The selection committee looks for self-contained scholarly articles of publishable quality that treat some relevant topic in an interesting and insightful way.
In order to be eligible the papers must be:
Written by undergraduate students, graduate students beyond their first year of study and PhDs up to 3 years after awarding of the degree.
A discussion of any topic in the field of Romani Studies.
Unpublished and not under consideration for publication at the time of submission.
Submitted in English.
Between 30 and 40 double-spaced pages.
Submissions should be sent electronically to szahova@yahoo.com and include two documents: (1) the paper, and (2) a separate file containing the title of the paper, an abstract of the paper (no longer than 250 words), the author’s name, affiliation, mailing address, e-mail address, telephone, and date of entry into an appropriate program or of awarding of the PhD.
The deadline for receipt of papers for the current cycle is 31 March 2023. The winner will be announced at the 2023 Gypsy Lore Society Annual Meeting and Conference on Romani Studies.
The committee reserves the right not to award the prize in a given year.
Interested scholars should submit their inquiries and papers to szahova@yahoo.com.
Petr Nuska wins Gypsy Lore Society Young Scholars’ Prize in Romani Studies for 2020
As announced during the opening of the 2021 GLS Annual Meeting and Conference on Romani Studies in Prague, Petr Nuska won the Young Scholars’ Prize in Romani Studies for 2020 for his paper Romani Ethnicity Performance in Klenovec: The Pariahdom Boundary and Its Markers.
Petr Nuska is a PhD candidate at Durham University (UK) and his main professional interest is Visual Anthropology. He is especially interested in ethnographic and documentary film, and its involvement in anthropology and ethnomusicology.
Congratulations to Petr and good luck in his further research!
The paper by Petr Nuska will be published in an issue of the journal Romani Studies. The Gypsy Lore Society established the Marian Madison Gypsy Lore Society Young Scholars’ Prize in Romani Studies for the best unpublished paper by a young scholar on a topic in Gypsy and Traveler Studies. The prize is a cash award of $500.
Abstract of the Winning Paper:
On the basis of long-term ethnographic research (2013–2019) with the community of Romani musicians in Klenovec (Slovakia), this article develops an inductive theoretical model explaining distinct features of local Romani ethnicity performance. It discusses the phenomenon of ethnicity construction through the lens of exclusion processes involving the non-Romani majority – the pariahdom boundary – and the Romani adaptation to the conditions of this boundary. Through this model, the article aims to answer two central questions: 1) How is the pariahdom boundary in Klenovec constructed and maintained from the perspective of non-Roma? 2) Which common strategies do Roma use to adapt to the condition of the pariahdom boundary? The article shows that Romani musicianship in Klenovec is a special form of ethnic performance that allows for the effects of pariahdom boundary to be minimised without sacrificing individual Roma-ness.