The Nichols Graduate Award is given annually for the best paper presented by a graduate student at the BCPS Conference. All graduate students registered for and presenting at the conference are eligible to compete for the award.
Those interested in competing for the Nichols Graduate Award should attach a COMPLETED copy of their paper to be presented at the Conference to an email sent to this address: nicholsaward@acis-bcps2025.net. Entrants should also attach a copy of their current CV to the email. Both documents should be in .doc, .docx, .rtf, or .pdf formats.
All papers to be considered for the 2025 award must be submitted before midnight EST on February 7, 2025. Late entries will not be considered.
Formerly the Chair of the English Department at Georgia Southern University, Jim Nichols was one of the founders of the BCPS Conference, in 1992. Throughout his career, Jim served his students, the department, and the University. Upon his retirement, his philanthropic generosity has supported his former colleagues, as he created and sustains the Nichols/Hamlet Foreign Travel Endowment, which offers an annual award supporting faculty travel abroad. With the Nichols Award, Jim now helps to ensure the continued success of the conference and encourage the next generation of scholars in postcolonial and transnational studies.
The Maureen Murphy Postgraduate Prize is awarded to a graduate student who has presented at the most recent ACIS national conference for an exemplary presentation, and includes an award of $100 plus an official letter of recognition.
Students should submit a PDF of their unrevised paper (fixing typos and cleaning up one’s bibliography is fine, but no other edits, corrections or elaborations may be added) via the form below. Applicants may also include PDFs of their presentation PowerPoints in the event that such materials are necessary for full understanding of their papers. Papers may be submitted in English or Irish.
All papers to be considered for the 2025 award must be submitted before midnight EST on March 7, 2025. Late entries will not be considered.
ACIS President 1985-1987 (the first woman elected to that office), Professor Emerita, and former International Association for the Study of Irish Literature Chair Maureen O. Murphy has been a guiding force in Irish Studies history, research, and education for over four decades. Among her many publications, Murphy co-edited the prize-winning, nine-volume Dictionary of Irish Biography (Royal Irish Academy and Cambridge University Press 2009). Her most recent monograph is the biography Compassionate Stranger: Asenath Nicholson and the Great Irish Famine (Syracuse 2015). She has written more than 100 articles and reviews and given around 400 invited lectures in eighteen countries.