2010 Rudolf Virchow Awards

Rudolf Virchow, a 19th century German physician, was a key founder of social medicine. His contributions centered on his recognition that multiple intersecting factors – social, political, and economic – produce disease and illness. He argued that the circumstances and deprivations of poverty increase people's susceptibility to disease and result in reduced life expectancy and quality of life. He eloquently articulated the limits of medicine in the absence of material security, a sentiment which informed his view that nation-states play an important role in ensuring health security for a citizenry. Virchow viewed advocacy as an essential part of health praxis, and, in keeping with this legacy, the Critical Anthropology for Global Health Caucus honors Virchow's work with three awards.

The annual Rudolf Virchow Awards are given by the Critical Anthropology for Global Health Caucus, a special interest group of the Society for Medical Anthropology. The Professional Award honors a recent published article, and the Graduate and Undergraduate Student Awards honor recent student papers that have not yet benefited from editorial review. Winning submissions combine a critical anthropology focus with rich ethnographic data, and best reflect, extend, and/or advance critical perspectives in medical anthropology.

Submissions
The submission deadline for the 2010 Rudolf Virchow Awards is July 30, 2010. Awards are made in the following categories:

1) Professional,
2) Graduate Student, and
3) Undergraduate Student (see below).

We encourage you to submit your own work and/or to nominate papers of your students or articles of colleagues.

If you wish to submit a paper for consideration, please e-mail the paper and a cover letter of introduction to the 2010 Virchow Awards chair, Susan Erikson, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, at slerikson@sfu.ca by July 30, 2010. Hard copies are no longer accepted. Confirmation of receipt will be sent. To ensure a prompt and fair review, papers will not be accepted after the July 30, 2010 11:59 pm PST deadline.

Professional Award Category
The professional award will be awarded for an article or chapter published during 2009 in a peer-reviewed journal (print or online) or peer-reviewed edited volume. Articles may be singly- or co-authored. Technical reports and other contracted works are not considered for
this award. Professional articles must be submitted electronically in Adobe PDF format as they appeared in print.

Graduate Award Category
The graduate student award will be awarded for a paper that was written in 2009 or 2010 and that has not yet been subjected to editorial review. Papers that have been submitted to a journal or edited volume, but that have not yet benefited from review may be included in this category. Theses and dissertations will not be accepted. However, a summary no longer than 30 pages (inclusive of references) of a thesis or a dissertation that can stand on it own, or a chapter that has been revised to stand on its own will be considered for this award. Papers from students who have graduated are still accepted in this category as long as the paper was written in 2009 or 2010. Graduate student papers must be submitted in Adobe PDF or Word format with a title-only first page. File sizes must be less than 2MB. The document must exclude the author's name, author's advisor, and university affiliation throughout. The cover letter should include this information. Only papers, not interactive media, will be considered for this award.

Undergraduate Award Category
The undergraduate student award will be awarded for a paper written in 2009 or 2010 while the student was still an undergraduate. Honors theses are not accepted. However, a shortened version no longer than 30 pages (inclusive of references) of the thesis or a chapter from the thesis that has been revised to stand on its own will be considered for this award. Undergraduate student papers must be submitted in Adobe PDF or Word format with a title-only first page. File sizes must be less than 2MB. The document must exclude the author's name, author's advisor, and university affiliation throughout. The cover letter should include this information. Only papers, not interactive media, will be considered for this award.