International Studies & Programs

Home > GenCen > Awards > Paper and Activism Awards

Paper and Activism Awards

Tracy Dobson Activism Award

Submissions for the 2024 Tracy Dobson Award are due by March 1st 2024, via the qualtrics form linked here

Tracy Dobson Award for Undergraduate Student Feminist Activism

The Center for Gender in Global Context conducts this annual activism competition, named to honor Tracy Dobson's tireless efforts to bring gender equity to MSU and launching MSU's enhanced plan to recruit and retain women faculty and administrators. Her commitment to inform and inspire students to work for social justice led many to law school and to seek careers in public service through elected positions or the nonprofit sector. Professor Dobson retired in 2011 from MSU's Department of Fisheries and Wildlife. The award honors an MSU undergraduate who has distinguished themself through exemplary local, national, or international activism on behalf of gender equity and social justice. The award recognizes those who have achieved a leadership position on behalf of their chosen cause. Evidence of commitment to a feminist cause through their college career as well as dedication to a career in some aspect of gender equity and social justice is required.

To apply for the award, students must submit a CV/resume and a three-page description of their work with a feminist or gender equity cause. A letter of support from a supervisor, co-worker, peer activist, or MSU faculty/staff mentor is highly encouraged with applications (PDF format).

Applications will be reviewed by a faculty/staff committee, and the award will be presented at the following GenCen Annual Reception. The awarded student will receive a $300.00 prize.

Tracy Dobson Award Past Winners

  • 2022
    • Julia Walters, for her efforts toward supporting and advocating for reproductive rights and access to care at the local and national level. Supporting reproductive rights through her internship at the Michigan Senate, strategizing with other leaders to encourage students to vote on Prop 3, and by representing MSU at Vice President Harris' coalition on student leaders for reproductive rights.  
  • 2021
    • Lexi Hampton, for her activism in the realm of both gender equity and social justice, and in her leadership efforts with MSU's Women's Council, the WILD conferences, as well as MSU's Take Back the Night and the MSU Center for Survivors
  • 2020
    • Taylor Belyea, for her exemplary efforts as an advocate for the advancement of gender equity through safe, accessible reproductive healthcare.
  • 2019
    • Katie Paulot, for her tireless efforts as an avid supporter, resource, and advocate for survivors of sexual violence.
  • 2018
    • Selena Huapilla-Perez, for her efforts as a change agent for Latinx students on-campus, as well as for underrepresented populations in the Greater Lansing area. 
  • 2017
    • No winner selected
  • 2016
    • Audrey Matusz, for her efforts in creating intersectional feminist spaces, including with the launch of the "Sometimes Art House" and at the Impact Student Radio Station.
  • 2015 
    • Alysa Hodgson, for her advocacy for LGBTQ populations and her leadership in starting a new LGBTQ community youth organization.
    • Cayley Winters, for her advocacy for sexual freedom and her consistent volunteer work with MSU Students for Choice and Planned Parenthood.
  • 2014
    • Kyra Stephenson, for her leadership in and dedication to preventing sexual assault and relationship violence, and her advocacy for survivors.
  • 2013
    • Jazmen Moore, for her leadership in, advocacy for, and dedication to the prevention of sexual assault and domestic violence.
    • Ryan Tarr, for his leadership in and dedication to peer education on masculinity and hegemony in the feminist and sexual assault prevention movements
  • 2012
    • Theresa Squires, for her leadership in, advocacy for, and dedication to gender, disability, and social justice.

Mary Anderson Paper Award

Submissions for the 2024 Anderson Award are due March 1st, 2024, via the qualtrics form linked here

Mary Anderson Award for the Best Undergraduate Paper on Women and Gender in Global Perspective

The Center for Gender in Global Context invites MSU undergraduate students to submit a paper for its annual competition, named to honor former women's rights activist and MSU Women's Studies scholar Mary Anderson, who lost her battle with breast cancer in 1993. The paper should have been completed within the past academic year and should focus on issues related to women and gender in global perspective. Papers should be approximately 15-20 double-spaced pages in length (or the equivalent in effort for films, websites, etc).

Papers will be reviewed by a faculty committee, and the award will be presented at the next GenCen Annual Reception. The awarded student will receive a $300.00 prize.

Mary Anderson Award Past Winners

  • 2022
    • Steven Brooks, "Prescribing Gender: Doctors in Early American Marriage Counseling"
  • 2021
    • Taylor Belyea, "The Gendered Politics of Global Population Control"
  • 2020
    • Chloé Damon, "Gendered Nationalisms and Absolutism in Thailand: The Appointment and Dismissal of Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi"
  • 2019
    • Georgia Artzberger, "The 2015-2016 Latin American Zika Epidemic and the Intersection of Reproductive Laws"
  • 2018
    • Jonathan Walkotten, "Expanding PrEP: Mitigating LGBTQ+ Health Disparities"
  • 2017
    • Jenaca Cryder, "Feminicide in Ciudad Juárez: A Complex Analysis of a Violent Epidemic"
  • 2016 
    • Bronwen McVeigh, "Death, Divas, and Divorce: Reestablishing Male Dominance Through French Grand Opera"
    • Audrey Schaefer, "Pleasurable Shame: The Feminist Work of Marilyn Minter"
  • 2015
    • No winner selected
  • 2014 
    • Kyra Stephenson, "Transnational Families: Moroccan Women's Experiences in European Migration"
    • Emma Davis, "Women of Dadaab: Gendered Experiences of Somali Women in the Dadaab Refugee Camps"
  • 2013
    • Adam D. Harrison, "Gendered Sexual Violence as a Systematic Weapon of War: The Peruvian and Rwandan Comparative Case Study"
  • 2012
    • Rachel Marsden, "Patriarchy and Health: Cultural and Societal Contributions to Fistula in Ethiopia"
  • 2011
    • Chelsea Gallagher, "Caring for the North: Female Domestic Workers in Los Angeles and Rome"
    • Melissa Graham, "Mass Rape and the Bosnian War: Female Bodies as Sites of Oppression and Resistance"
  • 2010
    • Rebecca Farnum and Aileen Reid, "Feminists in Fundamentalism: Orthodox Jewish Women and Empowerment"
  • 2009
    • Hannah Rubitschun, Emily Dubosh, Megan Havrilla, and Rachael Soren, "Female Genital Mutilation: The Intersection of Law and Policy on Bodily Rights"
  • 2008
    • Yvette Efevbera, "What's Happening to Uganda's Girls? The Effects of War on Youth Culture in Northern Uganda"
  • 2007
    • Amanda Baranowski, "'More Determined:' Women's Participation in Environmental Movements in Ecuador, Bolivia, and Brazil"

RCGV Paper Award

Submissions for the 2024 RCGV Award are due March 1st, 2024, via the qualtrics form linked here

Award for Best Undergraduate Paper on Gender-Based Violence: Presented by the Research Consortium on Gender-based Violence

The Research Consortium on Gender-based Violence (RCGV) in collaboration with the Center for Gender in Global Context (GenCen) is excited to provide a $300 award for the best undergraduate paper related to gender-based violence. Gender-based violence includes any form of harm that is both a consequence and cause of gender power inequities. It can be physical, psychological, sexual, economic, or sociocultural, and includes but is not limited to sexual abuse, rape, intimate partner abuse, incest, sexual harassment, stalking, femicide, trafficking, gendered hate crimes and dowry abuse. 

Papers for the undergraduate student submission should have been completed within the past academic year and should focus on any issue related to gender-based violence. Papers should be approximately 15-20 double-spaced pages in length with a title page and list of references. The student submitting the paper should be first author if it is a multi-author published or conference paper.

Papers will be reviewed by a committee of 3-4 faculty and graduate student members of the Research Consortium on Gender-based Violence. The award will be presented at the next GenCen Annual Reception. The awarded student will receive a $300.00 prize.

RCGV Past Award Winners

  • 2022
    • Julia Walters, "Unfit for Choice: An Examination of The Hyde Amendment's Segregated Abortion Accessibility"
  • 2021
    • No winner selected
  • 2020
    • Jacquelyn Adams, "Transwomen's Experience of Gender-Based Violence"
  • 2019
    • Allie Pail, "The Influence of Gender in Refugee Camp Safety: A Case Study of Moria, Lesvos"
  • 2018
    • No winner selected
  • 2017
    • Emma Repp, "Ni Una Menos: The Fight to End Femicide in Latin America"

Rita S. Gallin Paper Award

Submissions for the 2024 Gallin Award are due March 1st, 2024, via the Qualtrics form linked here

Rita S. Gallin Award for the Best Graduate Paper on Women and Gender in Global Perspective

The Center for Gender in Global Context conducts this annual graduate student paper competition, named for Rita S. Gallin, Professor of Sociology at Michigan State University, in honor of her 13 years as director of the Women and International Development Program and her scholarship in the area of women, gender, international development, and globalization. The paper should have been written within the past academic year, should be approximately 20 double-spaced pages in length, and should focus on issues related to women, gender, international development, and globalization.

Papers will be reviewed by a faculty committee, and the award will be presented at the next GenCen Annual Reception. Winning authors will receive a $300.00 prize.

Rita S. Gallin Award Past Winners

  • 2022
    • Jessica Saba, "'No free homeland without free women': Tal'at's indigenous feminist movement"
  • 2021
    • Alaina Bur, "Feminist Political Ecology: Playing to the Strengths"
  • 2020
    • Anna Christina Martínez-Hume, "'I've Lived It in My Own Flesh': Empowerment, Feminist Solidarity and NGO Worker Subjectivity in Maya Guatemala"
  • 2019
    • Inna Mirzoyan, "To Intersectionality & Beyond: A Review on Queering Intersectional Approaches"
  • 2018
    • Jessica Ott, "'You have to decide to believe or not to believe:' Women's rights activism and Islamic jurisprudence in Zanzibar"
  • 2017
    • Kelly Colas, "'Patients without much culture:' Physicians’ Characterizations of Indigenous Women at a Public Mexican Hospital"
  • 2016
    • Kristin Denise Rowe, "'Young, Upwardly Mobile Women': Global Identity and Female Subjectivity in Contemporary Nigeria"
  • 2015
    • Emily Riley, "The Politics of Téranga: Gender, Power, and the Political Equality Movement in Senegal"
  • 2014
    • Kelly Birch, "Salvadoran Deported Men's Return to 'Home'"
  • 2013
    • Rowenn Kalman, "Shaping Environmental Subjects in Andean Peru: Gender-mediated Experiences of a New Environmental Consciousness"
  • 2012
    • Sabrina Perlman, "Native American Women and Diabetes: Voices in Suffering and Solutions"
  • 2011
    • No winner selected
  • 2010
    • Emily Antoon, "Ya Sartan Ya Mout: An Alternative Approach to the Mammography Screening Controversy in Israel"
  • 2009
    • Lexine Hansen, "Environmental (In)Justice: Water Conservation in Rural Jordan"
  • 2008
    • No winner selected
  • 2007
    • H. Louise Davis, "Famine Porn: The Construction and Appeal of Ethiopian Madonna Icons in Televised News Coverage of Famine"
  • 2006
    • Holly Dygert, "Especially Encultured: Indigenous Women's Struggles in Mexican Development"
  • 2005
    • Suzanne Schneider, "On the Periphery of Midwifery: A Critical Analysis of a Community-Based Cancer Screening Program in Mexico"
  • 2004
    • Carmen Bain, "Auditing Labor Standards in the Global Agrifood Chain: The Social and Ethical Implications for Chile's Farm Workers"
  • 2003 
    • Michael Madison Walker, "Women, Water Policy and Reform: Examining Global Water Debates and Implications for Women"
    • Deborah Wilson, "Routes to Low Mortality in Predominately Muslim Countries"
  • 2002
    • Rui Niu, "Rising Expectations: A Study of Parental Expectations for Girl's Education in China's Sichuan Province"
    • Jason Konefal, "The Invisibility of Space in Development: Re-Inscribing Space Through a Feminist Politics of Place"
  • 2001
    • Kari Bergstrom, "Legacies of Colonialism and Islam for Hausa Women: A Historical Analysis, 1804 to 1960"
ISP Instagram ISP Twitter Linked IN

GenCen on Social