GEORGE N. ATIYEH PRIZE
For Travel to the 2019 Middle East Librarians Association and
the Middle East Studies Association of North America Annual Meetings
The Middle East Librarians Association (MELA) announces competition for the George N. Atiyeh Prize for financial aid in attending this year’s annual meetings of MELA 12-14 November 2019 and of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) 14-17 November 2019. The MELA and conference will be held New Orleans, LA at Loyola University, and MESA will be held at the Sheraton Hotel. Awardees receive a cash award of $400 and have their registration fees for both MELA and MESA paid, in addition to a networking dinner with MELA attendees.
Awardees agree to attend the entirety of both the MELA and MESA conferences, to allow their names and photographs to be used in any publicity by MELA or other organizations contacted by MELA, and to write a report on their conference experience to be published in MELA Notes, the open-access, official journal of MELA (https://www.jstor.org/journal/melanotes).
Applicants must be currently enrolled in an ALA-accredited library/information science program.
Please submit the following information no later than 4 October 2019 via e-mail to at least one of
the George Atiyeh Prize Committee members listed at the end of this announcement:
1. Name, postal address, phone number, e-mail address, and name of program in which currently
enrolled
2. Current resume or C.V.
3. Personal Statement of maximum two (2) pages that includes the following:
- Description of your academic, work-related or other background in Middle East studies and/or
librarianship - Statement of your career goals, including a description of your current course of study
- Statement of why you wish to attend these meetings
4. Names, postal addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses of two references
Applicants will be notified of Prize awards no later than 10 October 2019. Awardees must complete
MESA registration by 24 October 2019 in order to take advantage of the lower pre-registration fee.
The George N. Atiyeh Prize was founded by the Middle East Librarians Association in 1999 to honor
Dr. Atiyeh, retired Head of the Near East Section of the Library Congress, and founding member of
both MELA and the Middle East Materials Project (MEMP), for his many contributions to Middle East
librarianship and scholarship. Dr. Atiyeh is the first honorary life member of MELA.
To submit applications, or for further information, please contact one of the following persons:
Sean E. Swanick, Duke University, George N. Atiyeh Chair
Librarian for Middle East and Islamic Studies
sean.swanick@duke.edu
Heather Hughes, UC Santa Barbara
Comparative Literature and Middle East Studies Librarian
hkhughes@ucsb.edu
Akram Habibulla, Indiana University
Librarian for Middle Eastern, Islamic, and Central Eurasian Studies
akkhabib@Indiana.edu