William and Edwyna Gilbert Award
The William and Edwyna Gilbert Award for the Best Article on Teaching History annually recognizes outstanding contributions to the teaching of history through the publication of articles in journals, magazines, and other serials. Originally the “William Gilbert Award,” named in memory of William Gilbert, a longtime AHA member and distinguished scholar-teacher of the Renaissance at the University of Kansas, it was renamed the William and Edwyna Gilbert Award in 2012 after Edwyna Gilbert passed away and left an additional $110,000 to supplement the original $10,000 bequest for the award.
Articles with a publication date of 2018 are eligible for consideration for the 2019 award. Authors must be members of the AHA. Both the author of the winning article and the journal that publishes it will each receive the award. Journals and individual members may submit nominations on the teaching of history (including scholarship of teaching and learning, methodology and theory of pedagogy). Journals, magazines, and other serials can submit up to two articles for each award cycle.
Each nomination must include the following:
- Award nomination form (you will be prompted to complete this form online in step 3 of the application process)
- A brief letter of support (no more than two pages)
- A copy of the article
Deadline, Submission Information, and Notification
The AHA has partnered with Interfolio to manage our nomination process. Submitting a nomination package through Interfolio is FREE for nominators. When submitting a nomination, if you don't already have an account with Interfolio, you will be asked to set up an account and create a password, but you will NOT be charged any fee to create the account.
Nominations must be submitted through Interfolio by May 15, 2019, to be eligible for the 2019 competition. Mailed, e-mailed, or faxed applications will not be accepted. Recipients will be announced on the AHA website in October 2019 and recognized during a ceremony at the January 2020 AHA annual meeting in New York City.
For questions, please contact the Prize Administrator.
2018 Gilbert Award
Leah Shopkow, Indiana University
“How Many Sources Do I Need?,” The History Teacher 50, no. 2 (February 2017), 169–200
Leah Shopkow’s article identifies a common problem of practice in history classrooms and describes how she shifted her instruction in order to improve the research and writing of her students. Through her iterative interventions, Shopkow explicitly introduced students to assessing current historiography, selecting evidence, and making an argument. In the article, she includes not only her classroom-based research but also the assignment and rubrics she created.