Description

The CCCC James Berlin Memorial Outstanding Dissertation Award, offered by the National Council of Teachers of English, honors a graduate whose dissertation contributes to composition studies through research or scholarly inquiry. The award committee recognizes completed work that improves the educational process or adds to the field’s body of knowledge.

Recognized scholarship spans writing instruction and assessment, multilingual writers’ literacy practices, language policy, disability and graduate student professionalization, community literacy, rhetoric, and cultural identities. Recent honored dissertations have also examined generative AI prompts as an emerging genre for AI literacy. The award’s focus encompasses both educational practice and the development of knowledge within composition studies.