Himes Outstanding Student Paper Award

The award is named in honor of Dr. Joseph Himes. In 1969, he and other sociologists in the state founded the North Carolina Sociological Association (NCSA). In 1969, Dr. Himes became the first African American faculty member to be tenured as a professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG). Prior to his tenure at UNCG, Dr. Himes spent 23 years at North Carolina Central University. From 1965-66, he served as president of the Southern Sociological Society. Additionally, from 1969-71, he served as the first president of the NCSA.

Call for Submissions

  • The North Carolina Sociological Association (NCSA) seeks papers that represent excellence in sociological analysis from both undergraduate and graduate students. The award call for papers coincides with the conference call for papers announcement.
  • NCSA membership and conference fees are deferred for all awardees who attend the NCSA conference. Students who apply for the award should be prepared to attend the annual conference and present their work as part of the special Himes Award Winner Session.


Eligibility requirements are as follows:

  • Any student enrolled in a community college, four-year college/university in North Carolina may submit a paper for consideration.
  • Students who graduated in spring 2017 or summer 2017 are eligible to submit a paper for the 2018 awards.
  • Co-authored papers written by graduate students are eligible for the graduate paper award. The monetary award will be evenly distributed among authors of the winning paper.
  • Co-authored papers written by undergraduate students are eligible for the undergraduate paper award. The monetary award will be evenly distributed among authors of the winning paper.
  • Co-authored papers written by students and faculty members are ineligible for the award.
  • Co-authored papers written by undergraduate and graduate students are ineligible for the award.
  • The same individual is eligible to win the undergraduate award once and the graduate award once.

Each winner receives a monetary award and certificate of recognition from the NCSA. Award winners are recognized at the NCSA Annual Conference and, at the discretion of the winners, papers are published on the official NCSA website. Faculty mentors are recognized at the annual conference and their school/college deans and department chairpersons are notified of this recognition.