The Women and Gender Studies Creative Activism Award recognizes outstanding undergraduate creative work, broadly defined, that raises awareness around issues of race, ethnicity, sexuality, and gender identity. As Toni Cade Bambara once said, “the role of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible.” This award acknowledges that activism and creative work are inextricably linked and seeks to recognize creative projects that envision a more equitable world. Winning submissions will be shared on the departmental website and otherwise disseminated to the community. The deadline for submissions is Friday April 12th, 2024.
Previous Award Winners
formerly awarded as the WGST Excellence in Inclusion Award, 2016-2019
Eligibility: Eligible creative works must have been created by a CU Boulder student (or group of students) within the year prior to the submission deadline. Applicants must be enrolled in an undergraduate degree program at CU Boulder for the duration of the spring semester when the award is given or must have graduated from a degree program at CU Boulder in the previous fall semester. Students may only submit one project for consideration per awards cycle. Works authored or created by multiple students can be submitted on behalf of the group, with consent of all members.
Criteria: Entries will be evaluated based on quality of the creative work and its ability to raise awareness around issues of equity, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, sexuality, and gender identity.
Winning submissions should help foster an inclusive and welcoming campus climate at CU Boulder for students of all backgrounds, including first generation students, minority students, women, LGBTQ students, and other historically underrepresented groups at the university. We particularly encourage submission of material that has not received prior recognition or awards.
Procedures and Selection: Submissions may take the form of written, visual, video or performance work, among other formats. Written work cannot exceed 10 double-spaced pages (excluding notes and bibliography); video submissions up to 10 minutes in length will be considered. Original art or irreplaceable materials should not be submitted. Please only submit projects with a creative component. Prizes will be awarded at the discretion of the awards committee (comprised of WGST faculty, staff, and students). A prize may not be awarded if the judges do not deem any entries to be of exceptional merit.
Award(s) and Notification: The award certificate will be accompanied by a cash award, in the amount of $500. Up to two awards will be presented annually in the spring semester. For a group submission receiving the award, the award amount would be evenly divided among eligible group members. Any individual student may only receive this award one time. Note: the award may be subject to tax.
Link to application form: https://www.colorado.edu/wgst/wgst-creative-activism-award-application
Email WGST@colorado.edu with any questions.