To honor the work of Professor Orm Øverland, one of the most significant Nordic scholars of American Studies, the Nordic Association for American Studies has created the Orm Øverland Prize (EUR 200) to be awarded to the best graduate student paper presented at the 2025 NAAS conference in Turku. In addition to the monetary award, the winning paper will be considered for publication in the NAAS journal, American Studies in Scandinavia.

The winner will be announced at the NAAS Conference. NAAS hopes that this award will encourage Nordic graduate students to attend and participate in the organization’s conference. This will be the eighth time the prize is awarded. All graduate students at Nordic Universities or equivalent institutions who are members of one of the national associations and who wish to have their contributions considered for the prize must submit a copy of their paper electronically (please check rules of submission) to NAAS President, Jørn Brøndal, by April 30, 2025. The NAAS Board (or a panel it selects) will choose the recipient of the prize.

Rules of submission:

1. Author must be a current graduate student (MA or PhD) or graduating graduate student in the 2023-24 or 2024-25 academic years from a Nordic University or equivalent institution. 

2. The paper must be presented at the NAAS Conference in Turku. The deadline for submitting a paper is April 30, 2025. 

3. The paper must have been produced between the beginning of the autumn semester 2023 and April 30, 2025.

4. The paper must not exceed 7,500 words (excluding bibliography).

5. The paper must not have been already submitted for publication in any language.

6. The paper (double spaced, standard font) must be submitted electronically as an attachment in MS Word to the President of NAAS. Only digital manuscripts in the named format will be accepted.

7. The paper is expected to follow the format of either the student's own academic discipline or the style sheet of American Studies in Scandinavia.

Contact Jørn Brøndal if you need further information about the 2025 Øverland Prize.

Winners of the Orm Øverland Prize

2023: Henriette Rørdal and Tijana Przulj, University of Bergen

2019: Niko Heikkilä

2015: Adam Hjorthén, Stockholm University

2013: Gül Bilge Han, Stockholm University

2011: Anne Mørk, University of Southern Denmark

2009: Rune Reimer Christensen, University of Southern Denmark