Description

The primary goal for the Bernadette J. Brooten Award is to support and encourage early career researchers developing innovative approaches to the critical study of gender, sexuality, and/or embodiment in relation to biblical texts and traditions (broadly cast), especially with projects that foreground feminist, womanist, queer, and/or trans approaches.

Award

There is a $1,000 monetary award. The awarded paper will be delivered at the recipient’s meeting of choice (Annual, International, or Global Virtual) in 2026. No one may receive this award more than once.

Qualifications for Submission

Any SBL member who has received a Ph.D. or Th.D. in biblical studies or a related field within the last ten years or who is currently enrolled as a graduate student in biblical studies or a related field may submit a paper. This paper should be of publishable quality. It must not have been previously published or accepted for publication; however, a paper may be submitted that is under review by a journal or other academic press if a decision to publish has not been reached at the time of submission. If the paper was delivered at an annual or international SBL meeting, it must exhibit significant revision, as demonstrated by submission of both the original draft and the revision.

Submission Requirements

• Applicants must submit the following items no later than midnight (GMT-5) on August 1, 2025.
  • A dated CV
  • A paper, in English, of no more than 10,000 words including footnotes, and doubled-spaced. A bibliography is not required. If your paper is over the 10,000 word limit it will be automatically disqualified; The paper should be formatted as a PDF and submitted anonymously, that is, an author’s name should not appear after the paper’s title or in any heading; neither should any reference be made to the author within the paper in a manner that would reveal the author’s identity.
• All materials should be submitted via the SBL Paper Awards Form page. If you do not receive a confirmation of receipt within two (2) business days, please contact Courtney Godwin.
• Applicants may submit to only one SBL Paper Award (Achetmeier, Brooten, De Gruyter, Diamond, and Freedman) in a given year.
• Previous winners of an award may not apply again for that same award.

Failure to follow all submission requirements may result in an automatic disqualification.

Applicants should consult the SBL Handbook of Style. The subject of the paper is open, but it must advance some dimension of the critical study of gender, sexuality, and/or embodiment in biblical texts and traditions. The paper will be evaluated in accordance with the following criteria: 

• A persuasive thesis that demonstrates quality of scholarship and significance to the field;
• Clarity of expression and thought;
• Originality and creativity.

The Award Committee

The submissions will be reviewed by a committee of three scholars with significant background in the critical study of gender, sexuality, and/or embodiment in biblical texts and traditions (broadly cast), with at least some attention to feminist, womanist, queer, and, or, as trans approaches. Given patterns of historical and ongoing inequities, it will be essential that the reviewers not be drawn exclusively from historically over-represented groups and thus include one (or more) scholar(s) working with womanist, queer, and, or, as trans approaches. To insure this, nominations for scholars to serve on the Brooten Award committee should come from both the Status of Women in the Profession Committee and the Committee for LGBTIQ+ Scholars and Scholarship.

Deadlines

April 1, 2025	Call for Papers open
August 1, 2025	Submission of all materials
October 3, 2025	Announcement of Award
TBD	Presentation at 2026 Meeting