ISCH Prize Competition for Cultural Historians

In order to support cultural historical research and encourage scholars in their early career, the International Society for Cultural History (ISCH) has offered over the years a prize for the best unpublished article on cultural history. In 2023, the ISCH decided to turn the competition into a prize for the best ISCH conference presentation by an early career scholar in the annual ISCH conferences.

The prize for 2026 is 350 €.  The ISCH Prize is granted to conference presentations that make an insightful contribution to scholarship on cultural history through methodological innovation, theoretical originality or historiographical significance. The author of the winning paper will also be encouraged to rework it as an article and submit it to the society’s journal, Cultural History where its acceptation will be subject to normal peer review.

Scholars who are either preparing their PhD or have obtained their PhD in the last five years, and present a paper at the Paris 2026 conference, can participate in the competition. Candidates should send the same paper they read at the conference: the papers will be evaluated as conference presentations, and there is no need to polish or rework (minor modifications are allowed). Only the text version of the presentation will be evaluated – not the oral presentation given at the conference.

Papers on any aspect of cultural history, on any historical period or geographical area will be accepted for consideration. Submissions should be unpublished works in English. The submissions should include a cover sheet with author information, a short CV, and the paper itself. If the candidate has presented the paper accompanied by slides, they should be included too. All files should be in PDF format.

To submit an entry, please send a complete application by email to the Chair of the Prize committee, Josephine Hoegaerts, at j.a.i.hoegaerts@uva.nl

Your submission must be sent not later than 30 September 2026. The winner will be announced by December.