The Richard F. Salisbury Award

Award Information

The Richard F. Salisbury student award is given in memory of Dr. Richard Frank Salisbury, a founding member of the McGill University Department of Anthropology as well as the McGill Centre for Developing Areas Studies. Dr. Salisbury was the author of From Stone to Steel (1962) and A Homeland for the Cree (1986). His leadership on the James Bay Project helped the James Bay Cree and the Government of Quebec to work out the historic treaty that has become a model for reconciling Indigenous autonomy with economic development. Dr. Salisbury passed away in 1989.

The Richard F. Salisbury Student Award is given each year to a PhD candidate, enrolled at a Canadian university, for the purposes of defraying expenses incurred while carrying out dissertation fieldwork. The winner of each award is also invited to present their preliminary findings to the annual meeting of the Canadian Anthropology Society/Société canadienne d’anthropologie.

Value

The award is $2000.

Eligibility

Applications can be made by any student member of CASCA undertaking doctoral level research in the field of anthropology at a Canadian university. Preference will be given to those who have completed their comprehensive examinations, have approved thesis proposals, and are within one year of beginning fieldwork. CASCA recognizes that some eligible candidates may not be studying in anthropology programs, however all candidates must be members of CASCA when making their applications. The intent of the award is to assist with fieldwork expenses.

The award recipient will:

Submit a report, with a summary which will be published in Culture
Present a report at the CASCA annual conference in the year following the reception of the prize (travel costs will be covered in the same amount as those offered as student travel awards that same year)

Criteria

An outstanding academic record and an excellent research proposal with innovative scholarly import and social relevance.

Submission

Each application should include

A Salisbury Award application form, signed, with items 2-4 attached
A curriculum vitae, including education history, Ph.D. courses, presentations, awards, honours, teaching, grants, and publications (up to three pages).
A research proposal, including: theoretical framework, research problem/question, methodology, objectives, and social and scholarly significance (two pages).
A budget for research, including planned use of Award funds, requests to other sources and funds received to date (one half to one page).
Two letters of reference about the applicant’s qualifications and the research proposal, one of which must be from the applicant’s thesis supervisor (these are to be sent directly by the referees).