01.12.09: CELJ Annual Awards Ceremony
Golden Gate Room 6, San Francisco Hilton
Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for attending this session and our 2008 Annual Awards ceremony. As Vice President of CELJ, it is my privilege to announce the winners of this year's competition in five editorial categories.
Before I announce the 2008 award winners, the Executive Committee of the CELJ would like to recognize the judges of this year's competition. We rely on the judges' insights and discernment, their professional expertise and deft experience. If present, please feel free to stand as I call your name, and receive the deep appreciation of the entire CELJ membership. The 2008 international team of judges were, in alphabetical order:
Thomas Beebee, Pennsylvania State University
Marshall Brown, University of Washington-Seattle
Christy Desmet, University of Georgia
Margery Fee, University of British Columbia
Sujata Iyengar, University of Georgia
William A. Johnsen, Michigan State University
Annemarie Jutel, School of Midwifery at the Otago Polytechnic, New Zealand
Cindi Katz, City University of New York
Nancy Miller, Columbia University
Tom Radko, Journal of Scholarly Publishing Series Editor for Transaction Publishers
Carolyn D. Roark, Editor of Ecumenica
Peter Stitt, Editor of The Gettysburg Review at Gettysburg College
Christine L. Sundt, Editor, Visual Resources: An International Journal of Documentation
and Joe Weixlmann, Provost, Saint Louis University. Please give our judges a round of applause.
Now let me present the first award of the afternoon. The 2008 award for Best Journal Design goes to the online journal Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy. Accepting the award for Kairos is its Editor, Dr. Cheryl E. Ball, Assistant Professor of New Media at Illinois State University. In praising Kairos, one judge said:
[T]he opportune moment... has come to use the word "awesome." It's a fitting descriptor for the third Kairos design [which] is one of the best I've seen: it's thoughtful, it reflects the on-going possibilities of the Web, it's painlessly accessible, and it skillfully encourages the browser to play [and] explore.... Kairos truly values design as an integral element, and the staff's hard work steering the evolution of that design over the past 12 years... has paid off handsomely.
Congratulations to you, Cheryl, and to all involved in the production of Kairos!
Our second award is for the Best New Journal; it is presented this year to Community Literacy Journal. Accepting the award are the Co-editors of Community Literacy Journal, Michael R. Moore of Michigan Technological University and John Warnock of the University of Arizona. One judge expressed admiration for the "far reaching" scope and "visually pleasing" design of Community Literacy Journal as well as "its democratic approach to literacy studies." About its focus on the "important but under-rated aspect of literacy studies," the judges found that Community Literacy Journal makes an original contribution using a compelling presentation. "Its articles elegantly integrate insights from non-academic and academic authors. Its ethos is clear and wide-ranging." The judges also extolled "the interdisciplinary nature of [Community Literacy Journal], and its willingness to embrace different scholarly disciplines." Finally, the judges remarked CLJ's fearless reach beyond "the usual boundaries of academia to topics of interest ... out in the wider world." Congratulations, Michael and John!
The 2008 Phoenix Award for Significant Editorial Achievement is presented to English Language Notes. Representing English Language Notes today is its Managing Editor, Karen Jacobs. The Phoenix Award honors the labor involved in the rejuvenation of an established periodical as well as the revitalized product that emerges from that labor. In delivering their unanimous decision for this year's selection, the judges' notes were succinct and emphatic in their choice of English Language Notes, writing: "We feel that this journal has been significantly improved, indeed transformed—inside and out. The journal is ready for the 21st Century." Congratulations to you, Karen, and to all involved in breathing new life into ELN!
Each year, the most competitive, perhaps most coveted CELJ award might well be the Best Special Issue Award. This year, rising to the top of a stack of nearly 30 entries for this prize was positions: war capital trauma, edited by Tani Barlow of Rice University. Accepting the award in Dr Barlow's absence is Jocelyn Dawson, Institutional Exhibits and Direct Marketing Coordinator for Duke University Press. In praising this special issue, one judge wrote:
The theme of trauma has been with us for [years], but this special issue expands it both geographically, with essays that address a number of Asian cultures, and also conceptually, by linking [to trauma] the idea of capital—symbolically placed between war and trauma in the issue's title....This is also an issue that many readers will enjoy cover-to-cover, due both to its coherence and comprehensiveness, [as well as] to the intriguing ... images found in its pages.
All of the judges praised the issue for openly addressing "the cliché of trauma," and moving well beyond the journal's usual focus on "'East Asian Cultural Critique' to offer a discussion readily transposable to other sites." Congratulations to the editors and contributors of this special issue of positions!
The final 2008 award is the Distinguished Editor Award, presented this year to Ronald Bayor, who in 1981, founded the Journal of American Ethnic History. Accepting the award for Dr Bayor is his colleague at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Dr Nihad Farooq. The judges were unanimous in selecting Professor Bayor, commending him for editorial work that "defined the field [of Ethnic History] generously and broadly, and provided scholars working in areas often neglected by other journals with a publication venue." The judges honor Dr Bayor for his loyal and inspired leadership of the Journal of American Ethnic History; during those 17 years, he "led a major scholarly effort to define, clarify, and analyze the most important issues in ethnic history broadly defined"—and during that time, "the quality, scope, and vision of the publication have significantly evolved. His achievements not only show a profound commitment to the disciplines of history and US ethnic studies, but also an incredible commitment to service in the profession more generally." Thank you, Dr Farooq, for accepting this honor in Ron Bayor's stead tonight. Please convey our warmest congratulations to him when you return to Georgia!