About the Carl Bode-Norman Holmes Pearson Prize

The Bode-Pearson Prize is only awarded in odd-numbered years. Nominations for this prize will reopen in 2027.

The Carl Bode-Norman Holmes Pearson Prize recognizes the outstanding achievement of an individual who has dedicated a lifetime of work to the mission and values of American studies. Recipients of the award receive lifetime membership in the association, with the winner announced at the annual meeting of the American Studies Association.

The award honors two early pioneers in American studies, both of whom were integral in the early movement to institutionalize American studies. Carl Bode was the founder and first president of the American Studies Association. He was a literary critic and cultural historian known for The American Lyceum and he spent his academic career in the American Civilization program at the University of Maryland, College Park. Norman Holmes Pearson was an editor, literary critic, and archivist and he co-founded the American Civilization program at Yale University in the 1940s.

Eligibility Requirements

ASA members who have dedicated a lifetime of work to the mission and values of American studies are eligible to receive the award.

Anyone can submit a nomination on an ASA member's behalf. Individuals can also apply, or self-nominate. While those submitting the nomination need not be active members, they must create an account online in order to submit a nomination.

Nomination Instructions

Please Note: Nominations are closed until the 2027 awards cycle.

Please submit the following materials as a single PDF. The nominator should coordinate compilation of all application materials so as not to burden the nominee

  1. Nomination letter/statement (2 pages max) 
  2. Letters of recommendation (2 letters max): Multiple signatories on letters are encouraged
  3. Nominee's CV

Past Winners

  • 2025: Matthew Frye Jacobson, Yale University
  • 2023: Professor Shelley Fisher Fishkin, Stanford University
  • 2022: Nadine Naber, University of Illinois, Chicago
  • 2021: No selection
  • 2020: Avery F. Gordon, University of California, Santa Barbara
  • 2019: No selection
  • 2018: Lisa Lowe, Yale University
  • 2017: No selection
  • 2016: George Lipsitz, University of California, Santa Barbara
  • 2015: Mary Helen Washington, University of Maryland, College Park
  • 2014: Michael Denning, Yale University
  • 2013: Alfred Hornung, University of Mainz, Germany
  • 2012: Donald E. Pease, Dartmouth College
  • 2011: Janice Radway, Northwestern University
  • 2010: No selection
  • 2009: Miles Orvell, Temple University
  • 2008: H. Bruce Franklin, Rutgers University, Newark
  • 2007: Sacvan Bercovitch, Harvard University
  • 2006: Paul Lauter, Trinity College
  • 2005: Lois W. Banner, University of Southern California
  • 2004: Murray G. Murphey, University of Pennsylvania
  • 2003: Doris Friedensohn, New Jersey City University
  • 2002: Martha Banta, University of California, Los Angeles
  • 2001: Gloria E. Anzaldúa and Cherríe Moraga
  • 2000: John Hope Franklin, Duke University
  • 1999: Günter H. Lenz, Humboldt-Universität, Berlin, Germany
  • 1998: Gary Y. Okihiro, Columbia University
  • 1997: Bernice Johnson Reagon, American University
  • 1996: Allen F. Davis, Temple University
  • 1995: Leo Marx, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • 1994: No selection
  • 1993: Daniel Aaron, Harvard University
  • 1992: No selection
  • 1991: Arthur Dudden, Bryn Mawr College
  • 1990: Betty Ch'maj, California State University, Sacramento
  • 1989: John A. Hague, Stetson University
  • 1988: Albert E. Stone, University of Iowa
  • 1987: Michael Cowan, University of California, Santa Cruz
  • 1986: No selection
  • 1985: Warren Susman, Rutgers University and Gene Wise, University of Maryland
  • 1984: No selection
  • 1983: Ralph Henry Gabriel, Yale University
  • 1982: No selection
  • 1981: Robert E. Spiller, University of Pennsylvania
  • 1980: No selection
  • 1979: Henry Nash Smith, University of California, Berkeley
  • 1978: No selection
  • 1977: Merle Curti, University of Wisconsin
  • 1976: Mary Turpie, University of Minnesota
  • 1975: Norman Holmes Pearson, Yale University