Each semester the AHC offers a cash prize to the best undergraduate research paper or project based substantially on materials — manuscripts, archives, rare books, photos, maps, audio, film and video, etc. — at the American Heritage Center.  The award is entirely funded by voluntary donations from faculty and staff at the American Heritage Center.

• Every faculty member from every department is eligible to submit, on behalf of his/her students, two projects each semester.
• Students are welcome to initiate application so long as their submission is accompanied by a letter from a faculty member.
• Submission will consist of a copy of the product (or in the case of a web project, an active link to the full project) and a cover memo by the faculty member—both can be in electronic form, if in Word or IE-accessible markup.
• Submission signifies acceptance of the terms of submission, below.
• Projects other than traditional research papers must include a process paper, a 500-1000 word explanation of which sources were used and how, and a summary of the process of creating and developing the project.

Submission date is December 21, 2012.

A committee appointed by the AHC’s Director and comprised of its faculty and staff will select the winning project or projects.  As a condition of accepting the award, the student(s) must agree to allow the AHC to post his/her project on its website, so that future applicants can benefit from their example and so that the student will be able to cite the website on their curriculum vitae.  As a condition of accepting the award, the student(s) must agree to permit the AHC to publish his/her/their photo in its newsletter, Heritage Highlights, and in its Annual Report, in both instances to accompany reports of the award.  The decision of the judging committee will be final, though with the student’s permission excerpts from the committee’s evaluation of the award-winning submission will be posted on the website along with the paper or project itself. The award itself will be in the form of a certificate and a check for $500.00.  No restrictions are placed on the funds.

Erin Kimberly Lund won the Undergraduate Research Award during the spring semester of 2012 for a research paper that emerged from her independent study with Toppan Rare Books Curator Anne Marie Lane.

AHC Undergraduate Research Award Recipient Erin Kimberly Lund with Anne Marie Lane.

Submit your work and you could be the next winner of this award!  The AHC looks forward to reviewing all of the entries submitted.  We wish you the best of luck!