Posted On: 10/31/2016

The Society for Historical Archaeology’s 2017 John L. Cotter Award will be presented at the 50th Annual Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology in Fort Worth, Texas, in January 2017. Established in 1988, the award is named in honor of John Lambert Cotter (1911–1999), a pioneer educator and advocate for the discipline, and recognizes outstanding achievement by an individual at the start of his/her career in historical archaeology. The individual can either be in training as an undergraduate or graduate student or be a professional at the beginning of his/her career. The award can be given for a single achievement that is truly outstanding in its respective category, but the nature and variety of categories are open. An achievement may be the production of an individual item (e.g., a first book) or a more general category (e.g., building historical archaeology within a local archaeological society). Examples of such achievements include:
 • A first major publication (book, monograph, or report);
• A significant article;
• Major political advocacy work for historical archaeology;
• An outstanding Master’s thesis;
• Publicity for the discipline in the mass media;
• A major museum exhibit;
• Significant work for a scholarly organization.

The range and variety of contributions and achievements is fully open, however, and the categories listed above are only obvious examples.

Nomination Requirements (reflect extended deadline):
The nominee and the primary nominator or nominators must be current, paid-up SHA members. By Friday, November 4, 2016, the nominator must indicate their intent to submit a nomination for the 2017 award to the Chair of the Awards Committee via e-mail. The chair will answer any questions the nominator has about assembling the nomination. The entire nomination packet must be submitted as a complete PDF via e-mail to the Chair of the Awards Committee by no later than midnight on Tuesday, November 15, 2016.

 The nomination packet will contain the following items:
1. A nomination cover sheet for the John L. Cotter Award, which should include: (1) submission date of the nomination and (2) the full name, address, and all contact information for both the nominee and primary nominator(s) (including, for both, a street address, an e-mail address, and office, home, and cell phone numbers).
2. A formal, dated statement, in letter format and signed by the primary nominator(s), documenting the reasons for the nomination (maximum length 5 double-spaced pages).
3. An up-to-date C.V. for the nominee;
4. A copy or sample of the specific achievement (as applicable; if materials cannot be e-mailed, please contact the chair of the Awards Committee to arrange for transfer of the materials via Dropbox);
5. Supporting materials (as appropriate), including summations or different evidence of the achievement and no more than three (3) letters of support to be included with the nomination packet (letters or materials mailed or e-mailed separately to the chair of the Awards Committee apart from the nomination packet will not be included in the nomination). Support letters should be no more than two pages in length.
6. Materials must be submitted in English unless arrangements are made in advance.

Note: Secondary nominators are not required, but if used they can either add their names to the original nomination statement and they may write one of the up to three (3) support letters for the nomination. Secondary nominators, unlike the primary nominator(s), do not have to be members of the SHA or even in the field of historical archaeology.

Contact details for SHA Awards Committee Chair Teresita Majewski: tmajewski@sricrm.com; (520) 721-4309. Mailing address: Statistical Research, Inc., 6099 East Speedway Blvd., Tucson, AZ 85712