Annually, the University of Louisville awards significant cash prizes in five fields: Music Composition, Religion, Education, Psychology, and Ideas Improving World Order. Next year, the prize will be at least $100,000 in each category.

For over 15 years, I have directed the administration of the award for the World Order award. Basically, I chair the initial review committee that is housed within the Department of Political Science — and oversee the rest of the process.

The World Order Award’s basic purpose is described on our webpage:

Submissions will be judged according to originality, feasibility and potential impact, not by the cumulative record of the nominee. They may address a wide range of global concerns including foreign policy and its formation; the conduct of international relations or world politics; global economic issues, such as world trade and investment; resolution of regional, ethnic or racial conflicts; the proliferation of destructive technologies; global cooperation on environmental protection or other important issues; international law and organization; any combination or particular aspects of these, or any other suitable idea which could at least incrementally lead to a more just and peaceful world order.

All relevant ideas published or publicly presented between January 2006 and December 2010 are potentially eligible. Previously submitted nominations may be resubmitted.

Perhaps you know of a work that should be nominated — or perhaps you authored such a work. If so, I would encourage you to act now (and read the rest of this post). The Department is accepting nomination forms and cover letters for the 2012 competition until Friday, January 14, 2011. Completed 2012 files are due by February 14, 2011.

The Grawemeyer webpage includes useful information about the nomination and selection processes and hosts material about past winners and their prize-winning works. Regular Duck readers may recall that I write an annual post about the winner. The post about the 2011 winner, Kevin Bales, can be found here.

The initial submission process is relatively simple:

Nominators must complete a very short form (available as a pdf file on the webpage) and submit a nomination letter. We especially encourage nominations from individual scholars and policy-makers, though we most frequently receive them from publishers. Self-nomination is permitted, but keep in mind that reviewers receive copies of these letters (update: apparently, self-nomination is no longer allowed).

We will also need four copies of the nominated work; however, publishers typically provide all books.

For further information, just visit the website or contact me or my assistant, Ms. Arlene Brannon. We do accept scanned or faxed copies of forms to open nomination files and establish that initial deadlines have been met.