CFP: Angus Kerr-Lawson Prize (For Research on Santayana)
Submission deadline: July 9, 2025
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THE GEORGE SANTAYANA SOCIETY
Angus Kerr-Lawson Prize
The George Santayana Society offers the annual Angus Kerr-Lawson Prize awarding $1000 for high quality research on any aspect of the life and thought of philosopher George Santayana. The award honors the lifetime of scholarship of Angus Kerr-Lawson (1932-2011). Kerr-Lawson was one of the original members of the George Santayana Society. His outstanding contributions to Santayana studies included editing and writing for the journal he helped found, Overheard in Seville: Bulletin of the George Santayana Society.
The prize is available to any scholar not more than eight years out of graduate school. This includes junior faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, and independent scholars. Original research essays rooted in any aspect of the life and thought of George Santayana will be accepted and reviewed by the George Santayana Society editorial board. The board selects and votes on a winner to receive the award.
Essays are welcome that relate Santayana’s writings to those of other figures in the American tradition and beyond, as well as to contemporary social, literary, aesthetic, and philosophical concerns. Suggested themes to explore include materialism and naturalism; realism, pragmatism, and idealism; metaphysics and morals; and issues connected to American culture and intellectual history.
The winner will receive $1000 and be invited to present the winning paper at the Society’s annual meeting in early January 2026. The winning essay will be submitted for publication in the edition of Overheard in Seville that follows that meeting. The winner will be notified by October of the year preceding the January date of the Society’s annual meeting. Authors should prepare submissions for blind review (no exposing references to the author within the composition) and send electronically in Word, ODT, or PDF format to:
The subject line of the email should read:
“Kerr-Lawson Prize Submission, [author’s name].”
The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, 9 July 2025. We prefer applicants to send a letter of intent by 1 June 2025.