Rolf Kentner Dissertation Prize
The Rolf Kentner Dissertation Prize is awarded outstanding work in the field of American studies. It honors one of the HCA’s earliest benefactors († 2019) and is endowed with € 1.000 by the Jacob Gould Schurman Foundation.
Eligible for submission are dissertations completed at a German university in the fields of American literature and culture, geography, history, art history, political science, religious studies, sociology, or constitutional law in English or German which are unpublished at the time of submission. It is possible to submit completed dissertations even though the doctoral examination has not yet taken place (if it will take place in the near future). Dissertations should not be older than two years. A multidisciplinary and international panel will select the winner.
Recipients
- 2024: Judith Keller (Heidelberg University)
- 2023: Julia Lange (University of Hamburg)
- 2022: Helen Gibson (Free University Berlin)
- 2021: Natalie Rauscher (Heidelberg University)
- 2020: Juliane Hornung (Köln University)
- 2019: Maria Sulimma ( Duisburg-Essen University)
- 2018: Jonas Anderson ( München University LMU)
- 2017: Annika Elena Poppe (HSFK Frankfurt)
- 2016: Birte Wege (Free University Berlin)
- 2015: Tom Kaden (Leipzig University)
- 2014: Juliane Braun (Würzburg University)
- 2013: Jasper Trautsch (Free University Berlin)
- 2012: Leonard Schmieding (Leipzig University)
- 2011: Frank Usbeck (Leipzig University)
- 2010: Daniel Stein (Göttingen University)
Application
The application period for the Kentner Prize 2026 will begin on March 1st, 2026. Further details will be announced at a later date.