Recognition
Awards & Sessions
DRIG presents an annual prize recognizing outstanding graduate student work in disability anthropology.
About the Prize
The DRIG Annual Essay Prize recognizes exceptional graduate student scholarship in disability anthropology. The prize highlights work that advances disability-centered research, engages critically with ableism, and contributes meaningfully to the field.
Submissions are evaluated by the DRIG steering committee for theoretical rigor, methodological innovation, and engagement with disability studies literature. The prize has been awarded annually since 2019, with some years having no award announced.
Submission Guidelines
- EligibilityCurrent graduate students or recent graduates (within the award year) in anthropology or related fields.
- TopicEssays must engage substantively with disability anthropology, crip theory, or disability studies in anthropological perspective.
- LengthEssays should be 6,000–10,000 words, including references.
- SubmissionSubmit via email to the steering committee. Deadlines are announced annually — join the email list to receive notifications.
Essay Prize Winners
Seon Shim
"The Cat That Lives in Your Dreams"
Honorable Mentions
No award announced
Rachel Parks
"Disability Enters the Field: Ethnographic Insight, Painfully Come By"
No award announced
Zihao Lin
"Access as Method"
Hannah Quinn
"Crip Intimacy: Sockfriends, Sexuality, and Cripped Things"
Emily Lim Rogers
"Unwitting Patient Activism: Thinking with Brain Fog, Symptom Talk, and Exhaustion"
Travel Award Recipients
Prior to the Essay Prize, DRIG awarded travel funding to graduate students presenting outstanding disability-focused work at the AAA Annual Meeting.
Cara Ryan, Jane Saffitz
Clara Devlieger, Liz Lewis
Zhiying Ma, Christine Sargent
Kylie Boazman, Michele Friedner
AAA Sessions of Interest
Selected past sessions at the AAA Annual Meeting that reflect the breadth of disability anthropology. Click a year to view the list.