Graduate Student Prizes

Each year, GSWS sponsors a dissertation prize and a graduate student paper prize honoring the late Professor Tamara Horowitz, a feminist philosopher.

Tamarą Horowitz Graduate Student Paper Prize

Tamara Horowitz (1950-2000) was an associate professor of Philosophy and Women Studies and an active member of the Steering Committee of Pitt's Women's Studies Program, now GSWS. In her memory, GSWS sponsors each year a competition for the best paper written by a graduate student at Pitt in the previous year. Submissions ought to be independent work originally produced for a graduate course or independent study at Pitt, ideally between 20 and 40 pages in length, although the submissions may have been subsequently revised or prepared for publication. 

Digital submissions for the 2023 competition are due by noon on Monday, May 15, 2023 to gsws@pitt.edu. Authors' names should be removed from the submitted essays but included on the Horowitz Competition cover sheet that must be submitted as well. The submissions will be judged and awards made by a panel of judges drawn from GSWS and University faculty. The GSWS Program reserves the right not to award a prize in a given year.

Previous winners of the Tamara Horowitz Graduate Student Paper Prize are listed here. 

GSWS Dissertation Prize

All Pitt PhD students are eligible for this $200 prize, which is awarded to the best dissertation that directly and substantially addresses topics related to gender, sexuality, or women, broadly understood. Doctoral candidates planning to graduate imminently as well as those students who graduated during the previous school year may submit complete dissertations for the prize.

Our Dissertation Prize cover sheet must be submitted digitally along with a digital copy of the dissertation to gsws@pitt.edu. Submissions for the next competition will be due Monday, May 15, 2023, by noon.

The submissions will be judged and awards made by a panel of judges drawn from GSWS and University faculty. The GSWS Program reserves the right not to award a prize in a given year.

Previous winners of the GSWS Dissertation Prize are listed here.