William and Edwyna Gilbert Award
The 2020 submission deadline has passed. Awardees will be announced this fall.
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 additional funds to supplement the original bequest for the award. See the list of past recipients.
Eligibility
Articles with a publication date of 2020 are eligible for consideration for the 2021 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.
Application Process
Log into your MY AHA account at historians.org/myaha and click “Available Awards” in the Awards, Grants, and Fellowships section. If nominating someone else, select the Nominate button and search for the nominee’s existing record or create a new record.
- Fill in the application form, which includes the nominee’s contact information and the names of additional nominees (if group nomination).
- Upload an Application Packet as a single PDF. Include the following documents:
- Letter of support (up to 2 pages)
- Copy of the article
Nominations must be submitted by May 15, 2021, to be eligible for the 2021 competition. Mailed, emailed, or faxed applications will not be accepted. Recipients will be announced on the AHA website in October 2021 and recognized during a ceremony at the January 2022 AHA annual meeting in New Orleans.
For questions, please contact the Prize Administrator.
2019 Gilbert Award
Sam Wineburg, Stanford Univ.; Mark Smith, Stanford History Education Group; and Joel Breakstone, Stanford Univ.
“What Is Learned in College History Classes?” Journal of American History 104 (March 2018)
This article takes up the challenge of designing appropriate assessments for measuring student learning in college history classes. The authors present three sample assessment exercises on reading and interpreting sources, each of which could be adapted to other fields of history, along with an illuminating discussion of student responses. The assessments provide an opportunity to reevaluate how we engage history learners and teach skills of historical thinking within the classroom and beyond.