Institute for Religion, Culture and Public Life

Opportunities

The Claremont Prize for the Study of Religion

The Institute for Religion, Culture, and Public Life at Columbia University is seeking submissions to its annual Claremont Publication Prize for the Study of Religion. The publication prize is awarded to the best first book manuscript by early career scholars working in any discipline of the humanities or social sciences. Manuscripts should be completed but should not have been submitted for publication anywhere other than to the Claremont Publication Prize. Submissions can be on any aspect of the study of religion, including the study of secularism. Prize-winners will be invited to participate in a book workshop with members of the IRCPL faculty board, and the book, when finalized, will appear in IRCPL’s series, “Religion, Culture, and Public Life,” published by Columbia University Press.

See previous winners here. You may also find guidance on best practices from Columbia University Press useful as you prepare your application for IRCPL. Please find Columbia University Press’s proposal guidelines here.

Deadline for submission

  • Tuesday, September 2, 2025 by 11:59pm Eastern Time

Eligibility

The international competition is open to scholars working in the social sciences and humanities. Submissions must meet the following criteria:

  1. Authors must have received their PhD on or after January 1, 2018 and by September 2, 2025.

  2. The manuscript must be single-authored.

  3. The submission must be a complete manuscript of the author’s first book (excluding edited books).

  4. The manuscript must not be under consideration at any other press.

    Timeline

  • September 2, 2025: Deadline for submission

  • November 2025: Notification by selection committee of short list

  • January 20, 2026: Full short-listed manuscripts due

  • January 2026 – March 2026: Short-listed manuscripts reviewed

  • March/April 2026: Prize winner announced by IRCPL

  • 2026-27 Academic Year: Workshop for winning book with Columbia University faculty members

    Submission Instructions

Applicants should email the following materials to ircpl@columbia.edu. Please merge application form, CV and book précis into one PDF file; the book chapters should be sent as a separate PDF file attached to the same email. All file names should include the applicant’s last name.

  1. Completed application form (found here).

  2. Brief CV. Maximum 2 pages, double-spaced. Please include contact details for two references.

  3. Book Précis. Maximum 2000 words. Please include: (a) Title; (b) Abstract; (c) Full description (thesis, purpose, methodological approach, and intended contribution to literature); (d) Chapter outline; and (e) Market considerations and intended audience.

  4. Two Polished Book Chapters, including low-res images (if applicable). IRCPL strongly suggests that one of the submitted sample chapters be an introduction.

Email ircpl@columbia.edu with any questions.