The Robinson Prize
Established in 1980 by Dr. Eric Robinson in memory of his wife, the Joan Cahalin Robinson Prize is awarded annually for the best-presented paper at the SHOT meeting by an individual delivering his or her first paper at the meeting. Candidates for the award are judged on the quality of the historical research and scholarship of the paper, but special attention is paid by the awards committee to the effectiveness of the presentation. The only requirement to compete for the Robinson prize is that a candidate must not have previously presented a paper at any annual SHOT conference. There are no age restrictions on entering for this prize. The prize consists of a check for $350 and a certificate.Presenters are encouraged to nominate themselves for the Robinson Prize. To do so, submit a paper or panel proposal to the SHOT Program Committee, following the standard procedures outlined in the Call for Papers. If your proposal is accepted, send the Robinson Prize entry form (download PDF or MS Word version), an abstract (not the complete paper), and a one-page curriculum vita to each member of the Robinson prize committee. Please also send one copy of this material to the SHOT Office, 633 Ross Hall, History, Iowa State University, Ames IA 50011, shot@iastate.edu. The deadline for all committee members to receive the Robinson Prize entry material is July 1.
As first-time presenters, Robinson Prize candidates may benefit especially from Paul Edwards's "How To Give A Talk: Better Academic Speaking in a Nutshell" or these observations from Jonathan Shewchuk.
2008 Robinson Prize Committee
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Shane Hamilton (chair)
Department of History 306 LeConte Hall University of Georgia Athens, GA 30602 shamilto@uga.edu |
Anders Houltz
School of Architecture and the Built Environment KTH - Royal Institute of Technology S-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden houltz@kth.se |
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Per Högselius
Director of Studies, CIRCLE P.O. Box 117, Stora Algatan 4 Lund University SE-221 00 LUND Sweden per.hogselius@circle.lu.se |
Karen R. Utz
Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark 20 32nd Street North Birmingham AL 35222 karen@slossfurnaces.com |
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Finn Arne Jørgensen
Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture Norwegian University of Science and Technology 7491 Trondheim Norway finn.jorgensen@hf.ntnu.no |
Kathryn Steen
History & Politics Department Drexel University 3141 Chestnut St Philadelphia PA 19104-2875 steen@drexel.edu |
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Matthew Wisnioski
Washington University in St. Louis Campus Box 1122 One Brookings Drive St. Louis MO 63130 mwisnios@artsci.wustl.edu |
Tim Stoneman
STS Program Massachusetts Institute of Technology 77 Massachusetts Avenue, E51-094 Cambridge, MA 02139-4307 tim_stoneman@hotmail.com |
For more information, please contact the committee chair or Amy Bix, SHOT Secretary, 515.294.8469, shot@iastate.edu.
Previous Recipients of the Joan Cahalin Robinson Prize
| 2006 | Anna Storm (KTH), “Interpretation Processes in Re-used Industrial Areas” |
| 2005 | Peter A. Shulman (MIT), “Alaska: Infinite Coal Mine of the Imperial Imagination.” |
| 2004 | Jamie Pietruska (MIT), "Every man his own weather clerk: Weather Information Systems, Local Communications Technologies, and a National Weather Service for Agriculture, 1870-1891." |
| 2003 | Matthew Harpster (Texas A&M University), "New rules for old boats: Proportional rules in early-medieval ship design." |
| 2002 | Hyungsub Choi (Johns Hopkins University), "Rationalizing the 'Guerilla State': North Korean Factory Management Reform in the 1960s." |
| 2001 | Lara Freidenfelds (Harvard University), "Technology and the Production of Gendered and Classed Subjects: Tampons in the Twentieth Century United States." |
| 2000 | Devorah Slavin, "'Housekeeperly Instincts': 19th Century Women Inventors and the Myth of the Ingenious Woman." |
| 1999 | Greg Downey, "Human Labor and Human Geography in the Study of Information Internetworks." |
| 1998 | Nina Wormbs, "A New Technology to Save Old Values: The Nordic Direct Broadcasting Satellite." |
| 1997 | Thomas Kaiserfeld, "Mining, Manure and the Military: The Science of Saltpeter and Gunpowder." |
| 1996 | Killian Anheuser, "Fire-Guilding—Technology of an Ancient Craft." |
| 1995 | Barbara L. Allen, "Oil and Water: An Environmental and Cultural History of the Petrochemical Industry in Louisiana." |
| 1994 | Greg Clancey, "The Balloon Frame Revisited: Mechanization, Mass Production, and Prefabrication in American Building-Carpentry." |
| 1993 | Regina Blaszczyk, "Reign of Robots: The Homer Laughlin China Company and Flexible Mass Production, 1916-1948." |
| 1992 | Molly Berger, "Leaving the Light On: The Modern Hotel in America." |
| 1991 | Brett Steele, "A Pioneering Engineer: Benjamin Robins and Eighteenth Century Ballistics." |
| 1990 | Meg Sondey, "An Initial Investigation of Welded Homes in the United States." |
| 1989 | Arwen Mohun, "Women Workers and the Mechanization of Steam Laundries." |
| 1988 | Raman Srinivasan, "Technology Sits Cross-Legged: The History of the Jaipur Foot." |
| 1987 | Diane Q. Webb, "Two Paths to Building National Science and Technology Capabilities: South Korea and Brazil, 1960-1985." |
| 1986 | James H. Capshew, "Engineering a Technology of Behavior: B.F. Skinner's Kamikaze Pigeons in World War II." |
| 1985 | Not presented |
| 1984 | Susan Smulyan, "The Rise and Fall of the Happiness Boys: Sponsorship, Technology, and Early Radio Programming." |
| 1983 | Larry Owens, "Vannevar Bush and the Differential Analyzer: The Text and Academic Context of an Early Computer." |
| 1982 | Mona Spangler Phillips, "Geometry in Gothic Design." |
| 1981 | Christopher Hamlin, "Recycling as a Goal of Sewage Treatment in 19th Century Britain." |
| 1980 | J. Lauritz Larson, "Inventing Technological Systems: A Railway Example." |