ADEC Student Paper Award Submissions

ADEC invites the submission of student papers to be considered for one of three awards for the 2026 Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, March 3-6, 2026:

• Mary E. Brown Undergraduate Student Paper Award
  
• Richard Kalish Graduate Student Paper Award
  
• Dr. Hannelore Wass Cross Cultural Student Paper Award

In order to submit a paper for consideration, the student must be currently enrolled as an undergraduate or graduate student (depending on award), or have graduated within the last year.

Student Paper Award winners will receive a $1000 stipend to support conference attendance.

 

Application Deadlines:

Student Paper Submissions Due	December 15, 2025, 11:59pm ET
Submission Review Completed	January 12, 2026
Award Recipients Notified	January 16, 2026

 

Mary E. Brown Undergraduate Student Paper Award

Award presented to an outstanding undergraduate paper dealing with a topic related to dying, death, loss and bereavement. Paper must be a requirement for an undergraduate course or formal independent study at a recognized institution of higher learning.

Candidate Criteria

• Individual must be currently enrolled as an undergraduate student or have graduated within the past year

Submission Requirements

The nominee is required to submit the online submission form below collecting the following information:

• Nominee name, phone number and email address
• Institution attending, program of study or date of graduation, if relevant
• A letter from the professor of the course or independent study for which the paper was written verifying student status, the course title, and authenticating student's sole authorship of the paper submitted
• Copy of the guidelines or independent study agreement for the assignment
• PDF copy of paper (limit of 20 pages, excluding references)

 

 

Richard Kalish Graduate Student Paper Award

Award presented to an outstanding graduate paper dealing with a topic related to dying, death, loss and bereavement. Paper must be a requirement for a course, a formalized independent study, or a required component of the student's program of study at a recognized institution of higher learning.

Candidate Criteria

• Individual must be currently enrolled as a graduate student or have graduated within the past year

Submission Requirements

The nominee is required to submit the online submission form below collecting the following information:

• Nominee name, phone number and email address
• Institution attending, program of study or date of graduation, if relevant
• A letter from a professor at the student's institution a) verifying student status (and graduation date if relevant), b) including the name of either the course for which the paper was written or a description of the independent study or required component of their program of study for which the paper was written, c) authenticating student's sole authorship of the paper, and d) verifying that the student has not received feedback about the paper through a formal peer review / journal submission process
• Copy of the guidelines or independent study agreement for the assignment
• PDF copy of paper (limit of 25 pages, excluding references)

 

Dr. Hannelore Wass Cross Cultural Student Paper Award

Award presented to an outstanding undergraduate or graduate paper dealing with a topic related to dying, death, loss and bereavement where there is an emphasis or concentration on cross-cultural aspects of the phenomena studied. Paper must be a requirement for a course, a formalized independent study, or a required component of the student's program of study at a recognized institution of higher learning.

Candidate Criteria

• Individual must be currently enrolled as a graduate or undergraduate student or have graduated within the past year

Submission Requirements

The nominee is required to submit the online submission form below collecting the following information:

• Nominee name, phone number and email address
• Institution attending, program of study or date of graduation, if relevant
• Description of either: 1) how the paper relates to a culture different from the author's own [please identify your cultural affiliation(s)] or 2) which cultures are being compared in the paper
  
• A letter from a professor at the student's institution a) verifying student status (and graduation date if relevant), b) including the name of either the course for which the paper was written or a description of the independent study or required component of their program of study for which the paper was written, c) authenticating student's sole authorship of the paper, and d) verifying that the student has not received feedback about the paper through a formal peer review / journal submission process
• Copy of the guidelines for the assignment or independent study agreement
• PDF copy of paper (limit of 25 pages, excluding references)