UALE Awards

Nominations are now open for Best Book award.

UALE gives out five awards for outstanding achievements by practitioners in our field of labor education. The intent was to generate interest and active participation on the part of UALE members in recognizing the best practices and products coming out of the field.

The award categories are:

  1. Outstanding Contribution to the Field in the previous two years;
  2. Best Book published in the previous two years related to the field of labor education;
  3. New Generation Award for the best first paper presentation. This award is for a labor educator who is presenting for the first time at a UALE conference and is new to labor education;
  4. Best Article in Labor Studies Journal published in the previous year; and
  5.  Lifetime Achievement Award given to a labor educator who has dedicated their life’s work to labor education and building UALE as an organization.

We present these awards at our biennial conference.

Here are the criteria for each of the awards, and the ways the winners are selected:

OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO THE FIELD

This award recognizes an outstanding example of the connection between labor education and activism: a new curriculum, important project, outstanding campaign on an issue, or an exemplary effort to use labor education to strengthen the labor movement. It can involve a formal institution of labor education, either university-, union-, or community-based. Or it can represent an independent effort outside an institutional labor ed program. It can be an on-going program, multi- year effort, or one that has ended.  Some aspect of the program must have occurred within the previous calendar year.   An individual, a program, or a project must be nominated to be considered. After the close of nominations, the UALE Board sends out a list of nominees and the membership determines the winner.

Best Book Published related to the field of Labor Education

This award is for a book published during the previous 2 year period that has been especially valuable in labor education. It is for a book that represents responsible scholarship, new ideas, creative thinking, an intellectual contribution to the labor movement, the broader workers’ movement, labor economics, politics, culture, or any other topic related to work or labor. It should be a book that can be or is used in an educational setting. For consideration, publishers should submit books to the Best Book Committee comprised of three people representing organized labor, university and college-based labor education programs, and community organizations. The committee will select the winner.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

This award recognizes an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of labor education over the course of his or her lifetime. We are intentionally leaving the description open in order to encourage UALE members to think broadly of individuals who have contributed in different ways. Nominations are submitted to the UALE Secretary. After the close of nominations, the UALE Executive Board determines the recipient.

NEW GENERATION AWARD

This award is given for the best paper presentation at the UALE conference by a new or aspiring student, labor educator or researcher. Students and first-time presenters are encouraged to submit papers to a student scholarship selection committee. This committee, appointed by the Board, chooses the best submissions and awards their authors (full or partial) scholarships to the conference. Those selected are scheduled together for one or more panel sessions at the conference, billed as the New Generation panel. The selection committee will attend that session and choose the winner of the award based on the quality of the submitted paper as well as the presentation of the ideas on the panel.

BEST ARTICLE IN LABOR STUDIES JOURNAL


This award is given to the article that not only was well-researched, argues, and written, but also resonates deeply with issues related to labor studies. It is awarded to an article published in the previous two years. The Labor Studies Journal Best Article Award is chosen by the Labor Studies Journal editorial board from among those nominated by the LSJ Board.

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