SECOLAS awards four prizes each year: the Alfred B. Thomas Book Award, the Sturgis Leavitt Award for Best Article, the Breanna C. David Student Paper Award, and the Helen Delpar Award for Best Article in The Latin Americanist. The awards are presented at the annual meeting, and the names of the winners and their works are printed in The Latin Americanist.

The awards consist of a cash sum. The Executive Committee and the membership determine the amount of each award.

Each award is administered by a committee that decides the winner and sets the contest’s policy, such as deadlines. Committees may decide to award honorable mentions if they so desire. Information on submitting works for any awards is on the conference page.

The Alfred B. Thomas Book Award

List of Alfred B. Thomas Award Recipients | Award Committee

The Alfred B. Thomas Award is awarded annually for the best book on a Latin American subject published by a SECOLAS member in the previous year. Co-authored works may be considered, but not anthologies or edited works. Books may be in any language. Authors must have been members of SECOLAS for the two calendar years preceding the year in which the prize will be awarded and the year the award is given.

Selection of the winning book is made by a committee of three members, at least one of whom is not a historian, selected by the Executive Committee. Members serve for three years on a rotating basis.

For this year’s competition, authors must have been members of SECOLAS in 2025 and 2026 and in good standing in 2027.

This competition is for books published in 2026.

DEADLINE: Have your publisher send a copy of the book to each member of the committee postmarked no later than Friday, 15 January 2027.

2027 Thomas Award Committee:

Dr. Louise Walker (2027, Chair)
Northeastern University
Department of History
18 Rambler Road
Boston, MA 02130

Dr. Christoph Rosenmüller (2028)
Middle Tennessee State University
Department of History
1301 E. Main Street
Box 23
Murfreesboro, TN 37132

Third Committee Member: TBA

The Sturgis Leavitt Award for Best Article

List of Sturgis Leavitt Award Recipients | Award Committee

The Sturgis Leavitt Award is given annually for the best article or book chapter on a Latin American or Iberian subject published by a SECOLAS member in the previous calendar year. The article may be written in any language. Preference will be given to articles that have an appeal beyond a single discipline. The winner must be a member in good standing of the year in which the article or chapter was published and the year the award is given.

The winning article or book chapter is selected by a committee of three members selected by the Executive Committee. Members serve for three years on a rotating basis.

The 2027 competition is for articles and book chapters published in 2026.

Email a copy of your article or book chapter to the award committee by Friday, 15 January 2027.

Please note: Articles published in The Latin Americanist will not be eligible for consideration for this award as they are automatically entered for consideration for the Helen Delpar Award.

2027 Sturgis Leavitt Award Committee:

Dr. Denisa Jashari (2027, Chair)
Department of History
Syracuse University
djashari@syr.edu

Dr. José Antonio Galindo Dominguez (2028)
Centro de Estudios Históricos
El Colegio de México
jagalindo@colmex.mx

Dr. Jason Ahlenius (2029)
Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Vanderbilt University
jason.ahlenius@vanderbilt.edu

List of Award Recipients | Award Committee

The Breanna C. David Award is presented annually to the graduate student and SECOLAS member who has presented the best graduate student paper at the current year’s meeting. Submitted papers should be no more than 20 pages in length including notes and/or bibliography.

The winning paper is selected by a committee of three members selected by the Executive Committee. Members serve for three years on a rotating basis.

Helen Delpar Award for Best Article in The Latin Americanist

List of Delpar Award Recipients | Award Committee

This award is given annually to the best article published in SECOLAS’ journal The Latin Americanist in the year preceding the annual meeting.