Joseph T. Flibbert Graduate Student Paper Award 

Congratulations to the 2023 Flibbert Award winners! This year, two papers tied for first place.

First Place Award ($250)

Ashley Althoff
Brace for Impact: An Autoethnography
Nominated by Professor Kathleen Schlenz, Occupational Therapy

Michael Mahin
Rhetorical (de)construction of the Hollywood “It Girl”
Nominated by Professor Jan Lindholm, English department

Second Place Award ($200)

Chloe Browning
ICare Inc. Needs Immediate Hire
Nominated by Guorong Zhu, Management Departmen

Named in honor of Salem State professor Joseph T. Flibbert, this annual award has been given for more than two decades in recognition of outstanding graduate student writing and research. 

About Joseph Flibbert: 

After receiving a PhD from the University of Illinois in 1970, Flibbert joined the English faculty at Salem State, where he worked for nearly thirty years, until his death in 1999. During his tenure, Flibbert served as department chair and director of graduate studies in English. A distinguished Hawthorne and Melville scholar, Flibbert most notably taught American literary works and literature of the sea, subjects about which he lectured extensively at home and abroad. In addition to his work at the college, Flibbert served as president of both the Nathaniel Hawthorne Society and Salem Athenaeum. His published works include Melville and the Art of Burlesque (1974), “Poetry in the Mainstream,” in America and the Sea: A Literary History (1995), and Salem: Cornerstones of a Historic City (1999). 

Award: 

The award is open to all disciplines and topics. First, second, and third prizes will be awarded to graduate student papers that display excellent scholarly research, which the Flibbert committee defines as an investigative or creative inquiry contributing to the development of knowledge. Papers can be either critical or creative–including quantitative or qualitative research, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction. 

• First prize: $250 

• Second prize: $200 

• Third prize: $100 

Submission deadline: April 15, 2024

Guidelines:

• Student papers must be nominated by faculty. Papers should have been written for a graduate course completed during the summer 2023, fall 2023, or spring 2024 semesters.

• Each graduate faculty member can nominate only one paper.

• Papers should be no more than 30 typed, double-spaced pages and should include a title page indicating: student’s name, nominating faculty member’s name and department, semester, and course for which the paper was written.

• The faculty-nominated paper must be received by April 15, 2024. Nominating faculty member should submit a clean copy, with no comments or grades written on the paper, to ssu-research@salemstate.edu with the subject “Flibbert Award Submission.”

Flibbert Award committee members will read submissions and choose first, second, and third prizes by May 1, 2024. Winners are invited to present their work at the Faculty and Graduate Research Symposium on Research Day, which will be held on Friday, May 3, 2024.

Questions? Contact the Center for Research and Creative Activities.