The Middle East Special Interest Group aims to create a collaborative community of inquiry by bringing together scholars, educators, and development practitioners interested in the study of the region. Through high quality scholarship, dissemination, and service we seek to enhance educational policy, programming, and pedagogy, and to foster understanding of the region's peoples more generally.

In order to further this mission and facilitate the goals of supporting junior scholars and promoting quality emergent scholarship, the CIES MESIG is pleased to announce a Call for Papers for the second annual CIES MESIG Student Paper Prize.

The CIES MESIG invites research papers from graduate students on any topic related to education in the Middle East, North Africa, or in locales with historic or contemporary ties to the region and their peoples. Papers will be reviewed using a blind review process, thus the name(s) of author(s) should not be included on the title page, header, or footer of the paper submission.

The deadline for submissions is: February 25, 2013.

Guidelines for Submissions

Papers of 3500-5000 words, including reference list, on any topic related to education in the Middle East, North Africa, or in locales with historic or contemporary ties to the region and their peoples, should be submitted to the MESIG at cies.mesig@gmail.com with "2013 Paper Prize" in the subject line. An abstract of 150 words should accompany the submission and appear on page 1. The author(s) names should NOT appear on any page of the submission. Please submit papers as email attachments in Word (.doc or .docx) format. Papers should be double-spaced, with 1-inch margins and pagination. Hard copies will not be considered.

In the body of your email, please submit the following information: author(s) name(s), institutional affiliation(s), email address(es), and the name and full contact information of the student faculty advisor.

Submissions must be received by email by the end of the day on February 25, 2013 (EST) to be considered.

Students must have been registered in a graduate program at a recognized institution during any part of 2012 or 2013. There is no geographic limitation to the location of the institution. Students may be of any nationality or citizenship status. Co-authored papers will be considered, provided that all authors fulfill the eligibility requirements.

Submissions will be evaluated by a committee through a blind review process that will consider the merits of each paper, including originality of the research topic, strength of argument, as well as aspects such as: the statement of thesis, delivery, theoretical and methodological approach, discussion of findings and implications. Papers will also be considered for the clarity of writing and potential for publication.

The author(s) of the winning paper will receive recognition at the CIES MESIG Business Meeting at the Annual Meeting of CIES and through the CIES newsletter and MESIG website, in addition to a monetary award of $150 (to be shared in the case of co-authors). In order to receive the award, authors must demonstrate proof of student status.

Questions may be directed to cies.mesig@gmail.com with the subject line "2013 Paper Prize—Query."