Essay Contest

For the nineteenth consecutive year, the John A. Adams ’71 Center for Military History & Strategic Analysis at the Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Va., is pleased to announce that it will award prizes for the best unpublished papers on Cold War military history. The contest promotes innovative scholarship on Cold War subjects.

Any aspect of the Cold War (1945-1991) era is eligible, including papers on military strategy, plans, and operations; the relationship between the armed forces and society; international security affairs; Cold War alliances; and the connections between Cold War military history and contemporary geopolitical challenges. The essay may embrace a U.S. or global focus.

Prizes: First prize will earn a plaque and a cash award of $2,000; second prize, $1,000 and a plaque; and third prize, $500 and a plaque.

Procedures: Authors should submit their entry electronically to the Adams Center at the Virginia Military Institute by Friday, Nov. 3, 2023. Please format your submission as a MS Word document and limit your essay to a maximum of 7,500 words (minimum 4,000 words) of double-spaced text, exclusive of documentation and bibliography. A panel of judges will examine all papers; the Adams Center Director will announce the winners in December 2024. The first-prize winning essay will appear in The Journal of Military History.

Submissions to: adamscenter@vmi.edu

Questions to:

Dr. M. Houston Johnson V
Intirim Director, John A. Adams ’71 Center for Military History & Strategic Analysis
Department of History
Virginia Military Institute
Lexington, VA 24450
johnsonmh@vmi.edu
540-464-7840

or

Ms. Deneise Shafer
Administrative Assistant
shaferdp@vmi.edu
540-464-7338
Fax: 540-464-7246

Online at: vmi.edu/adamscenter

On Facebook at: facebook.com/acmhsa

On Instagram: @vmiadamscenter

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