Rooke Memorial Prizes 2015

The British-Italian Society (BIS), in conjunction with the Society for Italian Studies (SIS), is pleased to announce the holding again this year of the Rooke Memorial Prizes, a competition aimed at raising the profile of Italian Studies at British Universities. Once again, it has been made possible by the generous bequest of a long-standing BIS member, the late Rosemary Rooke.
Prizes to the value of £1,250 will be offered as follows:

(a)    Undergraduate
£500 either for a final-year essay (2,500 to 5,000 words) or for a dissertation (5,000 to 10,000 words), submitted by a final-year undergraduate student graduating in Summer 2015.

(b)    Postgraduate
£750 for an MA dissertation or part (typically a chapter) of an MPhil or PhD thesis (10 to 20,000 words).  The dissertation or chapter should have been completed either in 2014 or 2015.  

Each University/Institution is invited to submit ONE candidate under (a), (b) or both, following a pre-election process, conducted in each case by the Italian Department (or equivalent) in consultation with their colleagues in Italian Studies in other departments as appropriate.
For practical reasons, the subject matter will be confined to the humanities and social sciences relating to Italy, from the Middle Ages to the present day.
Essays may be submitted in English or Italian.
Essays should be accompanied by a brief CV (one side of A4) of the candidate, indicating in particular which stage they have reached in their studies, and by a supporting letter from a tutor or supervisor.

All essays, together with the relevant CV and letter of support, must be submitted electronically by 31st July 2015 to the Chair of the Society for Italian Studies, Professor Claire Honess, at c.e.honess@leeds.ac.uk.
A panel of judges drawn from the BIS, the SIS and the Italian Embassy in London will deliberate with a view to announcing and presenting the awards early in 2016.
Enquiries should be made to Professor Honess at the email address above.