LEH Requests Nominations for 2015 Humanities Awards
The LEH is now accepting nominations for the 2015 Humanities Awards for outstanding achievement in and contributions to the humanities. Awardees will be honored at the 2015 Bright Lights Awards Dinner on April 23, 2015 at the Capitol Park Museum in Baton Rouge.
Individuals, institutions or organizations may submit nominations. Individuals, however, may not nominate themselves. Letters of nomination should not exceed two pages, and should detail specific accomplishments that qualify the nominee for the award. A curriculum vita for the nominee and other letters of support should accompany the letter of nomination.
Nominations must be received in the LEH office no later than 5 p.m. December 18, and should be addressed to:
Chair, Humanities Awards Committee,
Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities
938 Lafayette St., Suite 300
New Orleans, LA 70113.
Nominations also may be faxed to LEH (attention to Chair, Humanities Awards Committee) at 504-529-2358 or emailed to [email protected].
Award categories include:
- Lifetime Contribution to the Humanities
- Humanities Documentary Film of the Year
- Michael P. Smith Documentary Photography
- Humanities Book of the Year
- “Light Up for Literacy”
The “humanities,” as defined by Congress, include the study of literature, history, philosophy, modern and classical languages, linguistics, archaeology, jurisprudence, art history and criticism, ethics, comparative religion, and those disciplines of the social sciences employing historical or philosophical approaches such as cultural anthropology or social theory.
The LEH Board of Directors will select nominees who best exemplify one or more of the above categories. No single humanities area will receive primary consideration, but the nominees’ activities must reflect one or more disciplines in the humanities.
Awards criteria include:
- Lifetime Contributions: Honors citizens who have supported and been involved in public appreciation of issues central to the humanities. The 2014 winner of this award was journalist and documentary filmmaker Peggy Scott Laborde, whose contributions to the cultural life of Louisiana provide an ever-growing audience with intimate portraits of subjects ranging from the history of Mardi Gras to the evolution of jazz.
- Michael P. Smith Documentary Photography: Honors documentary photographers whose subject matter exemplifies Louisiana topics and aesthetics. Nominations may be for a complete body of work or for a single project. The 2014 winner was photographer Richard Sexton of New Orleans.
- Humanities Documentary Film of the Year: Awarded to the documentary film that best exemplifies scholarship on Louisiana topics or by Louisiana documentary filmmakers. Last year, this award went to Bayou Maharajah, by Lily Keber of New Orleans.
- Humanities Book of the Year: Awarded to the book that best exemplifies scholarship on Louisiana topics or by Louisiana writers. Receiving awards in 2014 award were A Company Man: The Remarkable French-Atlantic Voyage of a Clerk for the Company of the Indies, by Marc-Antoine Caillot, edited by Erin M. Greenwald and Livestock Brands & Marks: An Unexpected Bayou Country History, by Christopher Everette Cenac, Sr., M.D., F.A.C.S.
- Light Up for Literacy (Inaugural award): Honors individuals who have made significant and lasting contributions to literacy efforts in the state. The award is presented in partnership with the Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library of Louisiana and the Library of Congress.
For additional information about the annual humanities awards, contact LEH Interim President Miranda Restovic at [email protected] or visit the LEH website www.leh.org.
