The Peter Kong-ming New Student Research Competition, held annually by the Society for Applied Anthropology, celebrates outstanding student research in the applied social and behavioral sciences. This prestigious award honors Peter Kong-ming New, a distinguished medical sociologist-anthropologist and former SfAA president, whose work focused on applying the social sciences to address critical issues in health care and human services.
Peter Kong-ming New’s family continues to uphold his legacy by supporting this competition, which fosters the next generation of applied social scientists. The competition awards the best student papers on a research project related to health care or human services, reflecting his dedication to these fields.
- Open to undergraduate and graduate students enrolled during the calendar year prior to the award presentation.
- Doctorate holders are ineligible.
- Submissions must be single-authored and based on original, unpublished field research in the social sciences.
- First and second-place winners are not eligible for future competitions.
- Manuscripts must be no smaller than 12-point font, double-spaced, and no more than 45 pages in length, including footnotes, tables, and appendices.
- It is important that your anonymized manuscript does not contain any identifying information such as author names or affiliations.
- The paper should report on original field research that applies social sciences to issues in health care or human services.
- Multiple-author submissions are not eligible.
- Unaltered undergraduate papers or graduate theses are not acceptable.
- The applicant must have been a student at a College or University during the calendar year immediately preceding the presentation of the award.
- Originality
- Research design and methods
- Clarity of analysis and presentation
- Contribution to applied social sciences
- First Place: $3,000, an engraved Steuben crystal trophy, $350 travel stipend, and two nights’ lodging at the SfAA Annual Meeting
- Second Place: $1,500, $350 travel stipend, and two nights’ lodging
- Third Place: $750, $350 travel stipend, and two nights’ lodging
- The first-place award recipient must present their paper at the SfAA Annual Meeting and submit it to Human Organization for review and possible publication.
- Submission deadline: November 30
Several winning manuscripts from previous years have been published in Human Organization. Potential applicants may wish to review these articles.
- Devon D. Brewer, “Hip Hop Graffiti Writers’ Evaluations of Strategies to Control Illegal Graffiti,” Human Organization, volume 51, #2 (Summer, 1992), pp. 188-196. First Prize Winner, 1991.
- Elizabeth L. Krause, “The Looking Glass of Historic Preservation in Micronesia: A Reflection of Modernization and Changing Values,” Human Organization, volume 51, #2 (Summer, 1992), pp. 197-201. Second Prize Winner, 1991.
- Nancy Romero-Daza, “Multiple Sexual Partners, Migrant Labor and the Makings of an Epidemic,” Human Organization, volume 53, #2 (Summer, 1994) pp. 192-205. First Prize Winner, 1993.
- Peter Hessler, “Sikestown: An Ethnography of a Town and Its Youth,” Human Organization, volume 52, #3 (Fall, 1993), pp. 316-324. Second Prize Winner, 1992.
- Gery W. Ryan , “Can We Predict What Mothers Do: Modeling Childhood Diarrhea in Rural Mexico,” Human Organization, volume 55, #1 (Spring, 1996), pp. 47-57. First Prize Winner, 1992.
- Sandy Smith-Nonini, “Primary Health Care and its Unfulfilled Promise of Community Participation: Lessons from a Salvadoran War Zone,” Human Organization, volume 56, #3 (Fall, 1997) pp. 364-374. First Prize Winner, 1995.
- Melissa A. Checker, “‘It’s In the Air’: Redefining the Environment as a New Metaphor for Old Social Justice Struggles,” Human Organization, volume 61, #1 (Spring, 2002) pp. 94-105. First Prize Winner, 1999.
- Andrew M. Gardner, “The Long Haul from Deregulation: Truck Drivers and Social Capital in the Louisiana Oilpatch”, Human Organization, Vol. 61, #4 (Winter, 2002), pp. 390-398. First Prize Winner, 2000.
- Miriam Williams Boeri, “’Hell, I’m an Addict, But I Ain’t No Junkie’: An Ethnographic Analysis of Aging Heroin Users”, Human Organization, Vol. 63, #2 (Summer 2004), pp. 236-245. First Prize Winner, 2001.
- Bryan Tilt, “Perceptions of Risk from Industrial Pollution in China: A Comparison of Occupational Groups”, Human Organization, Vol. 65 #2 (Summer 2006), pp. 115-127. First Prize Winner 2004.
- Xianghong Feng, “Preliminary Evaluation of the Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Fenghuang County, China,” Human Organization, Vol. 67 #2 (Summer 2008), First Prize Winner 2005.
- Jennifer R. Wies, “Professionalizing Human Services: A Case of Domestic Violence Shelter Advocates,” Human Organization, Vol. 67 #2 (Summer 2008), First Prize Winner 2006.
- Sheena Nahm, “Between Stigma and Demand,” Human Organization, Vol. 68 #4 (Winter 2009), First Prize Winner 2008.
- Karen E. Dyer, “From Cancer to Sexually Transmitted Infection: Explorations of Social Stigma among Cervical Cancer Survivors,” Human Organization, Vol. 69 #4 (Winter 2010), First Prize Winner 2009.
- Robin Valenzuela “The Nashville John School: Affective Governance and the Reintegrative Shaming Approach.” Human Organization: Fall 2016, Vol. 75, No. 3, pp. 249-257, First Prize Winner 2015.
- Justin Raycraft “Islamic Discourses of Environmental Change on the Swahili Coast of Southern Tanzania” Human Organization (2021) 80 (1): 49–60, First Prize Winner 2019
- Halle Young, “Pain-full Worlds: Coming of Age with Chronic Pelvic Pain Peter K. New Student Award Paper” Human Organization (2021) 80 (3): 183–191, First Prize Winner 2021
