HuCom Thesis Prize
On Thursday, December 7, 2023, the Humanitarian Communication Thesis Prize 2023 will take place in UvA’ Humanities Labs in Amsterdam. It is the fourth time that we award this prize for the best master’s thesis on humanitarian communication and the representation of international cooperation and humanitarian aid. The event will be held from 15:00-17:00 hrs in UvA’s Humanities Labs in Bushuis and include the launch of a new Humanitarian Communication Guide and Inclusive Language Glossary.
Download the press release on the HuCom Thesis Prize 2023 here
With the Humanitarian Thesis Prize, we aim to biennially recognize research in the specialized field of humanitarian communication. For this fourth edition, the centre again received many theses that were submitted to a Dutch or Belgian university in the past year and graded with a 7.5 or higher. After assessing all the entries, the jury – consisting of Rodrigo Mena Fluhmann (Disasters and Humanitarian Studies, ISS, HuCom board member), Clara Egger (Global Governance Studies, EUR), Floris Paalman (Media Studies, UvA), and Femke van Heun (WOMEN Inc, winner HuCom Thesis Prize 2021) – arrived to the following six nominees (in alphabetical order):
- Gabriela Anderson (Development Studies, ISS, Erasmus University Rotterdam);
- Hannah Bailon (Societal Resilience, Free University Amsterdam);
- Ditte Blankert (Development Studies, University of Amsterdam);
- Ashleigh Dunstan (International Relations, Utrecht University);
- Adrian Jonathan Pasaribu (Film Studies, University of Amsterdam);
- Emma van der Westen (Film Studies, University of Amsterdam).
During the awards event, the nominated students will present their thesis in Pecha Kucha style (i.e. 20 slides to be shown for 20 seconds each). In addition to the honor, the winner will receive a cash prize of €500. The best presentation will also be rewarded by the jury.
The awards event will start with the launch of a new Humanitarian Communication Guide. This guide, developed by HuCom in collaboration with Partos and the Community of Practice on Inclusive Communication, includes Guiding Principles, an Inclusive Language Glossary (in both Dutch and English), and three Future Briefs reflecting on the history, representation and production of humanitarian communication. The guide will be freely available on the websites of both HuCom and Partos from the launch onwards. After the launch, it is time for the nominated students to present their research and for the jury to announce the winner, and following the ceremony there will be drinks and bites for all participants and attendees.
The Humanitarian Communication Thesis Prize 2023, which is supported by Partos, ASCA and BuzzHouse, is free of charge and open for all to attend. Those interested to attend the event are invited to register at https://bit.ly/hucom-guide-launch-and-thesis-prize.
HuCom Thesis Prize 2023 Call for Applications
Have you recently completed your master thesis on humanitarian communication or the representation of international coperation? Do you want to share your research with a broader audience and get recognition for your work from an expert jury? Then submit your thesis for the Humanitarian Communication Thesis Prize 2023!
Every two years we award the HuCom Thesis Prize to the best Master’s thesis on the representation of the Global South written by a student at a Dutch or Belgium university or other academic institution in the Netherlands or Belgium. The winner receives the thesis prize and a €500 cash prize!
To enter the competition and be eligible for the HuCom Thesis Prize 2023, a few conditions apply. Your thesis must have been:
- completed between September 1, 2021 and September 1, 2023;
- written at a university or other academic institution in the Netherlands or Belgium;
- written in English;
- awarded with a 7,5 grade or higher;
- focused on communication (in the broadest sense) on development issues in the Global South, in any discipline or area of knowledge, including humanitarian communication, discourses of international development, the use of stereotypes of ‘developing’ countries and peoples, or on any other topic related to both communication and the Global South.
Your thesis will be reviewed by a selected committee and assessed on the following criteria:
- Academic quality and originality;
- Societal relevance and urgency;
- Writing style and argumentative structure of the thesis.
To enter the competition, please fill in the registration form at https://bit.ly/hucom-thesis-prize-2023 and send a digital copy of your thesis (and a proof of your grade) to [email protected] by November 1, 2023 (mentioning ‘HuCom Thesis Prize 2023’). In case the file is bigger than 10MB, please use WeTransfer or a similar file transfer site.
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION: NOVEMBER 1, 2023 (EXTENDED DEADLINE!)
The award will be presented at a celebratory public event on December 7, 2023 in Amsterdam. For any remaining questions, please contact [email protected].
And the winner of the HuCom Thesis Prize 2023 is…
𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀… 𝗚𝗮𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗮 𝗔𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻! On Thursday, December 7, 2023, the jury awarded the 𝗛𝘂𝗖𝗼𝗺 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 (as well as the Prize for the Best Pecha Kucha Presentation) to 𝗚𝗮𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗮 𝗔𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 for her excellent thesis 𝗧𝗼 𝗕𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝘁(𝘀) 𝗼𝗳 𝗩𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗯𝘂𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗴𝗮𝘂𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗠𝗶𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮 (Development Studies, ISS/EUR). Congratulations! The jury found her thesis, among other things, ‘relevant’, ‘convincing’, ‘critical’ and ‘self-reflective’. In addition, the jury gave a special mention to 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗮𝗵 𝗕𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗼𝗻 for the ‘innovative’ method use and ‘exceptionally clear’ presentation of information in her thesis 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮. Congratulations to you too!
And congratulations go to all the nominees, as they, like the jury mentioned yesterday as well, all ‘presented great work and contributed to the study, understanding and addressing of international cooperation, humanitarian crises and disasters.’ Finally, we would like to thank the jury, consisting of 𝗥𝗼𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗼 𝗠𝗲𝗻𝗮 𝗙𝗹𝘂𝗵𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗻, 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗮 𝗘𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿, 𝗙𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘀 𝗣𝗮𝗮𝗹𝗺𝗮𝗻 and 𝗙𝗲𝗺𝗸𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗻 𝗛𝗲𝘂𝗻, for all their work, 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗮 𝗞𝗼𝗼𝗹𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘀 (Partos) and 𝗪𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗢𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 (HuCom) for launching the 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (about which soon more!), and 𝗚𝗶𝗴𝗶 𝗣𝗮𝘀𝗰𝗼 𝗢𝗻𝗴-𝗔𝗹𝗼𝗸 for hosting the event so eloquently. And, of course, thank to all of you who attended the event, it was great having you!
Previous editions of the HuCom Thesis Prize
In 2018 we organized the Humanitarian Communication Thesis Prize for the first time. That edition, Emma Vogt won the prize for the Best Thesis, while Miriam Ocadiz Arriaga (now one of our board members!) received a Special Mention for her research and Gabriel Ramirez Acevedo (now also one of our board members!) the prize for Best Pecha Kucha presentation. Then, in 2019, Dani Haudenschild won the prize for Best Thesis, while Brittany Keller won the prize for Best Pecha Kucha presentation. After an absence of one year, in 2021 we organized the HuCom Thesis Prize for the third time. This time, the winner was Femke van Heun with her thesis entitled ‘The Politics of Framing Menstrual Health and Hygiene Interventions: Challenging or Upholding Menstrual Stigma?’ In addition, there was a special mention for Katie Banks, while Katerina Zejdlova received the prize for Best Pecha Kucha.
More about the HuCom Thesis Prize 2021
With the Humanitarian Thesis Prize, we aim to biennially highlight, stimulate, and recognize research in the specialized field of humanitarian communication. For this third edition, the centre received a record-number of theses that were submitted to a Dutch or Belgian university in the past year and graded with a 7.5 or higher. After assessing the many entries, the jury – consisting of Gabriel Ramirez Acevedo (HuCom board member, Political Science, UvA), Judith van de Kamp (Julius Center for Global Health, UMC Utrecht), Esther Philippen (University Centre for Development Cooperation, Brussels), and Dani Haudenschild (University Kassel, winner of the previous HuCom Thesis Prize) – arrived to the following nine nominees (in alphabetical order):
- Alejandra Nino Aguirre (New Media and Digital Culture, Utrecht University)
- Katie Banks (International Development Studies, University of Amsterdam)
- Femke van Heun (International Development Studies, Utrecht University)
- Josh McDonald (New Media and Digital Culture, University of Amsterdam)
- Elaine O’Donnell (Gender Studies, Utrecht University)
- Manon Peek (International Development Studies, Wageningen University)
- Isabelle Persson (International Development Studies, Utrecht University)
- Marrit Woudwijk (Conflict Studies, Utrecht University)
- Katerina Zejdlova (Latin American Studies, University of Amsterdam)
During the HuCom Thesis Prize 2021, the nominated students presented their thesis in Pecha Kucha style (i.e. 20 slides to be shown for 20 seconds each). In addition to the honor, the winner received a cash prize of 250 euro. The best presentation was also be rewarded by the jury.
The ceremony event in CREA’s Theatre Hall (Theaterzaal) started with a short welcome by host Audilla Vaughn aka Femmetastic and the screening of the short film Without Shoes, You Won’t Survive (2021, 15’) by director Christine Pawlata, who also introduced and discussed the film with the audience. After the screening, it was time for the nominated students to present their research and for the jury to announce the winner. Following the ceremony there were drinks and bites in the adjoining CREA Café. The HuCom Thesis Prize 2021, which was supported by ASCA and BuzzHouse, was free of charge and open for all to attend. As we were not facing capacity restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic anymore, people did not need to register in advance if they wanted to join on location.
Download the original press release of the HuCom Thesis Prize 2021 here
Photo: Franck Doho