ASLH Global Dissertation Prize

[Luke Yarbrough]

Dear NASCAS,

Any dissertation completed in English over the last year on a non-US legal topic may be put forward for the new ASLH Global Dissertation Prize, which I'm helping to judge.

The call is at https://aslh.net/award/global-dissertation-prize/

The full announcement is below.

Best wishes,

Luke Yarbrough

Prize Announcement

The American Society for Legal History (ASLH) is delighted to announce a new prize competition for early-career non-US legal historians. The Global Dissertation Prize, to be offered for the first time in 2026, recognizes the best dissertation from the previous calendar year on topics centered outside the United States. Eligible dissertations must be written in English and submitted for a PhD, JSD, or equivalent doctoral degree, excluding the JD, awarded in the previous calendar year (for example, a dissertation for a PhD awarded in 2025 would be eligible in 2026). Dissertations should not be predominantly focused on the US and may examine contexts, processes, or institutions that are local, regional, imperial, comparative, global, or otherwise. 

Submissions should be made by the author including only (1) the dissertation as submitted to the university for the degree, and (2) a curriculum vitae. 

To be considered for the year’s prize, the author should e-mail a PDF electronic copy of the dissertation and author’s curriculum vitae to the prize committee chair (globaldissertationprize AT aslh.net) with the subject heading: GLOBAL DISSERTATION PRIZE SUBMISSION. Please title the PDF as “author last name” and “short title” .pdf (for example, Adewoye Lawyers Southern Nigeria.pdf).  

Submissions should arrive by 1 June 2026. 

If you have any questions about the prize or your eligibility to apply, please reach out to the prize committee chair, Catherine Evans, catherine.evans AT utoronto.ca.