Awarded monthly, the Sidney Prize honors outstanding works of socially conscious journalism. The prize is sponsored by the Hillman Foundation and honors those who report stories that illuminate human suffering, injustice and inhumanity while showing how people are able to overcome such horrors. Winners receive $500, a certificate designed by New Yorker cartoonist Edward Sorel and a bottle of union made wine.
Every day, the world gets smaller. Everything becomes a shorter version of itself: essays become op-eds, op-eds become blogs and blog posts become tweets. But as the amount of information we consume increases, our attention spans get smaller and we lose the ability to think deeply about important issues. That’s why the Sidney Awards — named after the philosopher Sidney Hook – exist. They stand athwart the technological juggernaut, yelling stop, and celebrate the art of long form writing and thought.
Ron Rash, the John Parris Distinguished Professor of Appalachian Cultural Studies at Western Carolina University, has won the 2020 Sidney Lanier Prize for Southern Literature. The prize, which was established in 2012 and is named after the 19th-century Southern poet who was born in Macon, Georgia, recognizes Middle Georgia’s literary heritage and its long tradition of writing about the region.
Sidney grad wins national award for work on Aboriginal rights
A Sydney alumnus has won a major international award for her pioneering research into the legal and cultural history of indigenous women in Australia. Dr Jacqueline Milner was awarded the prestigious Sidney Button Prize for her book “The Indigenous Women’s Court in Australia: A History”. The prize is sponsored by the Australian Law Reform Commission and the NSW government, and is one of the most significant prizes in the field of law and society.
Sidney student’s work earns best undergraduate art history paper
Sophia Jactel, a senior art history major, has won the 2019 Sidney Thomas Prize for her research paper entitled “Domesticity and Diversions: Josef Israels’ The Smoker as a Symbol of Peasant Culture and the Home in Nineteenth-Century Holland.” The prize, which is sponsored by Syracuse University’s Department of Art History, is named after the late Professor Thomas who taught at the University from 1961-1985. The prize is open to all undergraduate students and is awarded on the basis of a research essay written during the student’s undergraduate career.
The 2024 Sidney Filmmaker of the Year award was presented by Event Cinemas to Debbie Lee, a Sydney based director and screenwriter who has earned accolades for her work on short films. The prize recognises a trailblazing NSW-based film creative who demonstrates a capacity for innovation, imagination and high impact.
York University historian wins prestigious Sidney Edelstein prize
York University history professor Edward Jones-Imhotep has won the coveted 2022 Sidney Edelstein Prize from the Society for the History of Technology for his book Heathen: Religion and the History of Technology in North America (Princeton University Press, 2022). The book is an important contribution to the study of early modern religion and technology.