The Cushing-Glasscock Award
Each year Cushing Memorial Library collaborates with the Melbern G. Glasscock Center for Humanities Research in providing research awards to Texas A&M graduate students in the humanities. Two awards of up to $2,000 are presented each year to provide a summer residency for graduate research at Cushing.
Criteria for submissions as as follows:
Academic Merit: Does the project contribute significantly to its given field? Does the thesis offer an unusual or unique approach to its topic?
The Cushing/Glasscock Award should promote serious research conducted by graduate students. Topics and papers should be of sufficient and appropriate length, parameter, and depth to warrant scholarly attention and publication. Because Cushing material is required, topics should make use of the unique nature of the Library’s holdings.
Connection Between Materials and Research: Is there a significant and appropriate relationship between the materials used and the thesis of the project?
The bulk of the project should be primarily concerned with information found in Cushing materials. There should be a clear explanation in the student’s application (or embedded in the thesis) that specific Cushing materials are essential to that project.
Research Sustainability: Does the project’s thesis have significant academic weight to provide an adequate research project?
Again, the Cushing/Glasscock Award should promote serious research. A suitable research project would of necessity require the mandatory month of residence in Cushing Library to perform research, and would therefore need to have a thesis of adequate depth to carry the project along.
Use of Cushing Materials: Are the bulk of resources used unique to the Cushing Library and Archives? Do these materials make the research project itself unique by their nature?
The project requires the use and emphasis on Cushing materials. As many of these materials are unique, a research project using them would require appropriate subject matter (preferably in the student’s field) as a thesis with most if not all of the reference material being supplied by Cushing Library.
Research Afterlife: Will this project contribute to the student’s specialty in their field? Does the project promise to be of use to others in that field?
The research project should be relevant to the graduate student’s field and interests. It should also preferably be unique enough in nature (because of the Cushing materials) that it itself could later provide a useful secondary source for other scholars in the same field.
Calls for Submissions are released in winter. Winners are announced in May. In the Fall winners present on their research at the Award Ceremony.
2007-2008 Award Winners:
• Nicole DuPlessis (English), "Actual Literacies in Virtual Worlds: Literacy, Society, and Self in Science Fiction from Wells through Bradbury."
• Jared Peatman (History), "The Gettysburg Address and the Civil War Centennial, 1961-1965."