The Association for the Rhetoric of Science, Technology, and Medicine (ARSTM) Book Award recognizes exceptional books that advance the rhetoric of science, technology, or medicine. Any book published in the preceding two years is eligible. For example, books eligible for the 2020 award would have been published in 2018 or 2019.
Award recipients will be recognized at the ARSTM business meeting during the National Communication Association in November of the award year and will receive a plaque and a one-year membership in ARSTM.
Recent Winners
2020: John Lynch
The Origin of Bioethics: Remembering When Medicine Went Wrong
Michigan State University Press, 2019
Honorable mention:
- Emma Bloomfield, Communication Strategies for Engaging Climate Skeptics (Routledge, 2020)
- Morgan G. Ames, The Charisma Machine (MIT Press, 2019)
2019: Christa Teston
Bodies in Flux: Scientific Methods for Negotiating Medical Uncertainty
University of Chicago Press, 2017
Honorable mention:
- Amy Koerber, From Hysteria to Hormones: A Rhetorical History (Pennsylvania State University Press, 2018)
- Ian E. J. Hill, Advocating Weapons, War, and Terrorism: Technological and Rhetorical Paradox (Pennsylvania State University Press, 2018)
Award Criteria
Criteria for evaluation are as follows:
- How well the book extends or enacts practical and theoretical knowledge related to the rhetoric of science, technology, and medicine;
- Its potential for cross-disciplinary fertilization and/or public engagement;
- Its potential for teaching future generations of rhetoric of science, technology, and medicine scholars;
- The accuracy, clarity, and organization of the book’s presentation;
- The overall quality of writing and thinking.
Note: Current ARSTM officers and directors are not eligible for awards, per ARSTM by-laws.
Nominations & Judging
Nominations should be sent by someone well acquainted with the nominee’s work. Self-nominations are encouraged.
Judging follows a two-stage review process.
Stage 1. Preliminary Review. The initial nomination package must include an electronic copy of:
- A cover letter recommending the book for the award (limited to two pages and providing a detailed rationale for the nomination),
- A table of contents for the book, and
- The introduction and a single representative chapter from the book. Nomination packages should be sent as a PDF e-mail attachment.
Stage 2. Final Review. Finalists will be notified after the preliminary selection process. Full copies of manuscripts that advance to the final round will be requested for delivery to each committee member by August 15th. Winners will be announced by October 15th.
While each book is eligible for two years after its publication date, it must be specifically re-nominated the second year of eligibility in order to be reconsidered. Re-nomination requires resubmitting the nomination package as the members of the awards committee change year-to-year. If you were a finalist in the previous year, full copies of the book will only be required for any new committee members, not the entire committee.
Note: Lead authors who have won previously cannot be nominated again within 5 years.
Submitting Initial Nomination Packages
Send nomination packages electronically to the Chair of the Book Award Committee. Nominations should be sent as a PDF e-mail attachment.
2021 Book Award Committee Chair: Dani DeVasto,
de*****@gv**.edu
Nomination deadline: June 1, 2021
Book Award Committee
The Committee is appointed every year by the ARSTM President. It will include at least one previous winner and two other members of ARSTM selected to ensure representation of the major fields of interest: science, technology, and medicine. The President will appoint committee members with experience writing, publishing, reviewing, and judging books in the field of rhetorical studies of science, technology, and medicine. One member of each year’s committee will be appointed to serve a two-year term—one year as a member and another as chair. If the winner has cause not to participate, the President will appoint an alternative person to serve a one-year term.
2021 Book Award Committee
Dani DeVasto (Chair), Assistant Professor, Grand Valley State University (
de******@gv**.edu
)
Christa Teston, Associate Professor, The Ohio State University
John Lynch, Professor, University of Cincinnati