Starting in 2022, we are introducing three new awards granted by the Semiotics in Education: Signs, Meanings, and Multimodality SIG. Read more about these awards below.
The Gunther Kress Scholarly Impact Award (2027)
The Semiotics in Education SIG (#110) of the American Educational Research Association seeks nominations for the Gunther Kress Social Semiotics in Education Scholar Impact Award. This award recognizes the work of an international, mid or late career researcher whose scholarship has impacted the field of social semiotics in education.
This biennial award honors the late Gunther Kress, whose scholarship, leadership, and mentorship had a significant impact on the field of social semiotics in education.
All submissions for this award must adhere to the following criteria: (a) The nominated scholar must have received their doctorate 15+ years prior to nomination; (b) The nominee(s) must have a substantial body of work that has had significant impact on the field of social semiotics in education. Impact is broadly defined as having a cumulative program of work that significantly contributes to scholarship, leadership, and mentorship in the field of social semiotics in education. Self-nominations and nominations from graduate students are not permitted for this award.
Nomination materials must be submitted to the SIG Awards Chair and include electronic copies of the following: (1) A nomination letter of no more than 2000 words describing the applicable professional achievements of the nominee and stating the reasons that they are uniquely qualified to receive the award. The nomination letter should explicitly describe the impact of the nominee’s work on the field of social semiotics in education. (2) A copy of the nominee’s most recent curriculum vita.
Nominations letters may be written by an individual scholar or a group of scholars. This SIG will allow nominees who did not win the award in previous years to be re-nominated. Please submit the following materials (see items #1-2) electronically as a PDF or Word Document. Applications with incomplete information will not be considered. Close of nominations for this award is November 1, 2026.
The submission deadline for the 2027 Gunther Kress Social Semiotics in Education Scholar Impact Award is November 1, 2026. To be eligible for consideration for the award, all nominations must be submitted electronically as PDF or MS Word documents to the SIG Awards Chair, Julianna Lopez Kershen (jkershen@ou.edu), on or before the deadline.
The Outstanding Graduate Research Paper Award (2027)
The Semiotics in Education SIG (#110) of the American Educational Research Association seeks nominations for the Outstanding Graduate Research Paper Award. This award recognizes a graduate student research paper on social semiotics in education that is of exemplary conceptual, methodological, and rhetorical quality.
All submissions for this award must adhere to the following criteria: (a) The paper must have been officially accepted for presentation at the AERA annual meeting for the prior year’s conference (i.e., 2026) (either place-based and virtual); (b) The nominee(s) must have conducted the research. If the paper is co-authored, all co-authors must be graduate researchers, and all co-authors will be considered for the award. No faculty authors are permitted on the AERA conference proposal or the paper submitted for the award; (c) Papers should be original research conducted by the nominee(s) that has not been presented elsewhere. The nominee need not be a member of the SIG at the point of application submission.
Nominations are encouraged from both domestic and international graduate researchers for the Outstanding Graduate Research Paper award. Self-nominations are allowed for this award, or nominations may come from a faculty advisor.
Please submit the following materials (see items #1-4) electronically as a PDF or Word Document. Applications with incomplete information will not be considered.
1) SEPARATE COVER SHEET: A cover sheet as a separate document that includes: (a.) paper title; (b) author's/authors' names and affiliations; (c) nominee’s address, phone, email and AERA membership number.
2) PAPER: A full-length, final version of the research paper must be submitted. Shorter conference papers that are typically uploaded into the AERA repository will not be accepted. The final version of the research paper must be prepared for blind review (as a .pdf), following the most current APA style guidelines.
Papers submitted for the award should be formatted in Times Roman size 12 font with 1-inch margins. Papers must not be more than 30 double-spaced pages, excluding tables, figures, references, and appendices. Papers exceeding the maximum page length will be disqualified.
3) AERA ANNUAL MEETING ACCEPTANCE LETTER: An electronic copy of the official AERA acceptance letter for the 2026 annual meeting must be provided (e.g., this may be a .pdf of your acceptance email).
4) FACULTY ADVISOR LETTER: A brief letter from the nominee(s)’ faculty advisor(s) must be provided. The letter must acknowledge that the research was conducted by the nominee(s) while still a graduate student. The faculty advisor(s) should send this letter separately to the Award Chair by email as a PDF or MS word document.
Faculty adviser(s), please ensure that your letter of nomination includes this code of conduct statement:
I know of no conduct by the nominee(s) that does not meet the standards set forth in the AERA Code of Ethics, including with respect to nondiscrimination, non-exploitation, and harassment.
The submission deadline for the 2027 Outstanding Graduate Research Paper Award is December 1, 2026. To be eligible for consideration for the award, all nominations must be submitted electronically as PDF or MS Word documents to the SIG Awards Chair, Julianna Lopez Kershen (jkershen@ou.edu), on or before the deadline.
Graduate Student Travel Award
The Semiotics in Education SIG (#110) of the American Educational Research Association seeks applications for the 2027 Graduate Student Place–Based Travel Award. The SIG will offer two (2) travel awards ($300 per award) to help support graduate student travel or registration for the place-based AERA 2027 conference.
Award Criteria
Applicants for the Semiotics in Education SIG Graduate Student Place-Based Travel Award:
1. Must be a graduate doctoral student at the time of application.
2. Must attend the place-based 2027 AERA conference in Toronto.
3. Must be accepted for presentation on the 2027 AERA Conference Program.
4. Must be presenting work on social semiotics/multimodality.
Travel awards will be designated based on advancement in doctoral studies. All AERA graduate students meeting the eligibility criteria are welcome to apply. If more than two applicants are eligible at the same stage, awardees will be chosen randomly.
The application materials consist of:
1) Your AERA program acceptance letter for the place-based conference, and
2) A brief letter of application with the following information:
- Applicant’s Name:
- Applicant’s Email:
- Applicant’s Institution:
- Applicant’s Mailing Address:
- Applicant’s AERA Membership #:
- Applicant’s Title and Abstract for the AERA Paper accepted for the 2027 conference:
- Name of Advisor or Dissertation Director/Chair & Email:
- Which stage best describes where you (the applicant) are in your doctoral program (please check only one):
__first or second year of coursework
__designing/writing dissertation proposal
__completing pilot study for dissertation
__collecting data for dissertation
__analyzing dissertation data
__drafting dissertation chapters
__preparing for oral defense
Application materials must be sent electronically as PDF or word documents to the Awards Chair, Julianna Lopez Kershen (jkershen@ou.edu) by 5th January, 2027.