SHEAR Prizes

April 18, 2024—Announcement re the SHEAR Dissertation Prize

The Society for Historians of the Early American Republic (SHEAR) is delighted to announce a new partnership with the University of Virginia Press on the SHEAR Dissertation Prize, which is awarded annually to an exceptional unpublished dissertation pertaining to the history of North America from 1776 to 1861.

“As the scholarly press of the university founded and designed by Thomas Jefferson, a partnership with the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic seems all too fitting. We are honored to collaborate with SHEAR on their mission to foster the study of the early republican period, encouraging broad diffusion of historical insights through print and electronic media to scholars, students, and the general public,” said Eric Brandt, Director of the University of Virginia Press. Paul Erickson, the current President of SHEAR, added, “The University of Virginia Press is an exceptional partner for the SHEAR Dissertation Prize as the organization continues its work of supporting the best scholarship on the early Republic. We look forward to working with the team at UVA Press to highlight the work of rising scholars in the field, and to building awareness of the importance of historical research more broadly.”

SHEAR is the leading scholarly organization for the study of U.S. history from the start of the American Revolution to the beginning of the Civil War. In addition to holding an annual conference, SHEAR publishes the Journal of the Early Republic as well as The Panorama, an online forum for work on the early Republic. The University of Virginia Press has a strong tradition of publishing books that offer new insights and cutting-edge perspectives on the history of the early Republic and the antebellum period leading up to the Civil War. SHEAR Dissertation Prize winners will work with UVA Press’s Editor for History and Politics Nadine Zimmerli on converting their promising dissertations into successful first books. Each SHEAR Dissertation Prize winner will have the opportunity to workshop their first-book manuscripts in Charlottesville with local experts as well as two invited outside readers.