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Call for Award Nominations- 2026
The Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction is seeking nominations* for the following awards:
Awards
George Herbert Mead Award
Charles Horton Cooley Book Award
Herbert Blumer Award for Best Graduate Student Paper
Helena Lopata Mentor Excellence Award
The Kathy Charmaz Early-In-Career Award
Award descriptions can be found on the Awards page.
*All award winners must be members of the SSSI in good standing at the time of the award presentation in June, 2026.
The George Herbert Mead Award
Nomination deadline: April 15, 2026
The George Herbert Mead Award is given annually to recognize a scholar’s career contributions to the field of symbolic interactionism.
Nominations should be submitted electronically to the chair of the committee. Mead award nominations should include (a) a letter of nomination detailing the nominee’s contributions to symbolic interactionist thought and to the symbolic interactionist community, (b) at least two letters of support, (c) a current CV, and (d) any other relevant supporting documentation.
Chair: Lisa-Jo van den Scott - kvandenscott@mun.ca
Committee: Christopher Conner, Gary Alan Fine, Jeffrey Ulmer
Charles Horton Cooley Award for Best Recent Book in Symbolic Interaction
Nomination deadline: March 31, 2026
Cooley award nominations must include a brief letter of nomination outlining the book’s notable contributions to symbolic interactionist thought, and a copy of the book for each committee member. Please contact the SSSI Secretary at sssinteraction@gmail.com with your nomination letter and to arrange for copies of the book to be sent to the committee. Copies of the books must be received by the committee by the March 31 deadline. If you are submitting a nomination for the Cooley Award, please ensure that you contact the publisher as soon as possible to allow sufficient time for copies of the books reach the committee. Electronic copies are permitted and are preferable where shipping will cause delays. Nominated books must have been published within the three preceding years of the award (i.e. between March 2023 and March 2026).
Committee: Joel Best, Giovanna Follo, Asia Friedman, Chelsea Starr
Herbert Blumer Award
for Best Graduate Student Paper in Symbolic Interaction
Nomination deadline: April 15, 2026
Awarded to a graduate student paper; the paper may be published or unpublished but must have been written while the candidate was a student and may only be submitted prior to the conferral of a terminal degree. Papers should be submitted electronically to the members of the committee, care of the SSSI Secretary at sssinteraction@gmail.com. The submission must be accompanied by a brief letter of nomination describing the candidate’s current stage of study (undergraduate, MA, PhD) and the stage and context for which the paper was prepared (e.g., as part of course work or a major research paper/dissertation, directed research, etc.). Self-nominations are accepted.
Committee: Alex Hoppe, Michael O. Johnston, Heather Shay, J Sumerau
Helena Lopata Award for Excellence in Mentorship
Nomination deadline: April 15, 2025
Nominations should be submitted electronically to the chair of the committee. All nominations should include (a) a letter of nomination outlining the candidates significant contributions to mentoring, (b) a current CV, and (c) up to five letters of support, ideally from people with different mentoring relations with the candidate, that testify to a sustained career of outstanding mentorship.
Chair: Ross Haenfler - haenfler@grinnell.edu
Committee: Beth Montemurro, J. Patrick Williams
Kathy Charmaz Early-in-Career Award
Nomination deadline: April 15, 2026
Nominations should be submitted electronically to the committee. All Charmaz award nominations should include (a) a letter of nomination detailing the candidate’s contributions to symbolic interaction and most noteworthy research and publications thus far, (b) up to four letters of support that address the award criteria, (c) the candidate’s CV, (d) other supporting documentation, as appropriate (e.g., publications)
Chair: Martin Harbusch - martin.harbusch@uni-siegen.de
Committee: Sydney Hart, Dirk vom Lehn, Yuchen Yang
