Irene Ledesma Prize

The Irene Ledesma Prize is a cash award of $1000 for graduate student research in gender and western women’s history. The Irene Ledesma Prize is named in honor of Dr. Ledesma’s important contributions to the fields of Chicana and working-class history.

• The $1,000 prize supports travel to collections or other research expenses related to histories of women and gender in the North American West.
• The recipient will also receive a one-year complimentary membership to the CWWH.

The award will be presented at the CWWH Breakfast at the annual Western History Association conference.

Eligibility

• Applicants must be enrolled in a PhD program at the time of application.

Evaluation Criteria 

The Committee evaluates proposals according to the following criteria:

• How well the applicant stated their research question and the significance of the overall project.
• How well the applicant demonstrated their knowledge of the primary source materials related to the proposal.
• How well the applicant framed their project in terms for the broader theoretical/historiographical issues significant to the topic.
• How well the proposal addressed the issues of gender and/or women’s history in the North American West.
• How well the proposed budget details the applicant’s stated research agenda.

Application Instructions

To apply, submit one copy of each of the following (as a single PDF file) to each member of the committee:

1. Cover sheet with your name, contact information, project tile, name of reference
2. Curriculum Vitae (5-page maximum)
3. A brief description of the research project and an explanation of how the prize funds would support the research (not exceeding three double-spaced pages, addressing the above criteria)
4. A line-item budget
5. Letter of support from the student’s dissertation advisor

• Danae Jacobson (Chair) | Colby College | [email protected]
• Philis Barragán Goetz | Texas A&M University, San Antonio | [email protected]
• Sasha Suarez | University of Wisconsin, Madison | [email protected]