AUSTIN, Texas Art History Professor Julia E. Guernsey has been named the grand prize winner of the 2013 University Co-op Robert W. Hamilton Book Awards for her work “Sculpture and Social Dynamics in Preclassic Mesoamerica.”
The Hamilton Awards are among the highest honors of literary achievement given to published authors at The University of Texas at Austin. This year’s winners were announced Thursday, Oct. 17, at the Four Seasons Hotel.
The Hamilton Awards are named in honor of Professor Robert W. Hamilton, the Minerva House Drysdale Regents Chair-Emeritus in Law. Hamilton was chair of the board of the University Co-op from 1989 to 2001 and was in large measure responsible for the Co-op’s uncommon growth and profitability during that period.
All books, including scholarly monographs, creative works (e.g., novels and anthologies of poetry), exhibition catalogues, textbooks and edited collections published by The University of Texas at Austin faculty and staff are eligible to compete for the Hamilton Book Author Awards Program.
This year’s winners are:
$10,000 Grand Prize winner of the Hamilton Book Awards:
“Sculpture and Social Dynamics in Preclassic Mesoamerica”
Author: Julia E. Guernsey, Ph.D.
Department of Art and Art History, College of Fine Arts
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
In “Sculpture and Social Dynamics in Preclassic Mesoamerica,” Guernsey focuses on the significance of an enigmatic but abundant type of Preclassic monumental stone sculpture known as the “potbelly,” and she links its development to the social and political transformations that accompanied the formation of the first state-level societies in Mesoamerica. This book is a unique study that bridges the domains of art history, archaeology and anthropology in an exploration of the social role of sculpture during the Preclassic period in ancient Mesoamerica.
There were also four winners who took home $3,000 runner-up prizes:
James K. Galbraith LBJ School of Public Affairs
“Inequality and Instability: A Study of the World Economy Just Before the Great Crisis“; Published by Oxford University Press
Francis J. Gavin LBJ School of Public Affairs
“Nuclear Statecraft: History and Strategy in America’s Atomic Age“; Published by Cornell University Press
Robin D. Moore Butler School of Music, College of Fine Arts
“Musics of Latin America“; Published by W.W. Norton and Co.
Laurie Scott, Butler School of Music, College of Fine Arts and Cornelia Watkins, Lecturer in Music at Rice University,”From the Stage to the Studio: How Fine Musicians Become Great Teachers“; Published by Oxford University Press
The University Co-operative Society also announced winners for its highly regarded research awards at the event.
Sharon Vaughn, professor of special education, was awarded the $10,000 Career Research Excellence Award for maintaining a superior research program over many years at the university. Vaughn’s body of research has clarified best practices for teaching children to read. This is a profoundly important scientific endeavor that has had a positive effect on our educational system, with even broader positive societal implications.
Marilyn Armour, professor and director of the Institute for Restorative Justice and Restorative Dialogue, was awarded the $5,000 Best Research Paper Award for “Assessing the Impact of the Ultimate Penal Sanction on Homicide Survivors: A Two State Comparison,“ Marquette Law Review, co-authored with Mark Umbreit of the University of Minnesota.
Andrew Shea of the Department of Radio-Television-Film in the College of Communication won the $5,000 Creative Research Award for outstanding creative achievement by a faculty member at The University of Texas at Austin in his area of specialization. Examples include documentaries, filmmaking and creative writing. Faculty members from all colleges and schools are eligible for nomination.
About the University Co-operative Society:
The University Co-op is a not-for-profit corporation owned by the students, faculty members and staffers of The University of Texas at Austin. Since 2000, the University Co-op has given more than $33 million to the university in the form of gifts, grants and rebates.
For more information, contact: Hulan Swain, hswain@universitycoop.com, 512-476-7211 ext. 2094
