The Clark Award

The National Board of Directors of TAK invites entries for the 2019 Albert Clark Award, given annually for the best papers in religious studies or theology, as judged by a panel established by the Board. Each competition winner in each category (undergraduate or graduate) will receive a $500 award, and the runner-up in each category will receive a $250 award. The winners and runners-up will have their essays published in the Journal of Theta Alpha Kappa. Other excellent essays submitted for the competition will be chosen to appear in the Journal.

Competition Guidelines: The competition is open to current students at the undergraduate or graduate level who satisfy one of these conditions: a) currently enrolled in or having graduated from a school with a TAK chapter, provided that the paper was written while attending that school and submitted for the competition within 12 months after graduation; or b) currently in a school that does not have a TAK chapter, provided that the student was inducted in a chapter of TAK at a school previously attended. Papers may be submitted through TAK faculty representatives or independently. In either case, a cover letter should indicate the name of the entrant, the school, status as undergraduate or graduate, permanent mailing address, and mailing addresses to be used after January 2019.

Ø  Essays in religious studies and in all fields of theology are welcome.

Ø  Only one essay per author will be considered, and the essay may not be considered for publication elsewhere during the duration of the competition.

Ø  All essays submitted will be considered both for the Albert Clark Award and for publication in the Journal.

Ø  Papers should be double-spaced and should not exceed 20 pages, including endnotes, in 12-point font size.  

Ø  The cover letter should include the author’s name, mailing address, email address, and school name; the manuscript  must be free of any information that may identify the author and may not contain comments by previous readers.

Ø  A manual of style should be followed, preferably the Chicago Manual of Style. The citation of all source material, including information drawn from electronic sources or the Internet, should be as complete as possible.

Ø  Winners will be chosen and notified of the judges’ decisions in March 2019.

Deadline for submission is January 25, 2019.

Send cover letter and the essay by email to: Dr. Bernadette McNary-Zak, JTAK Editor (mcnary_zak@rhodes.edu)

Clark Awards Previous Winners List: