Trica Keaton Nominated for Tyler Stovall Mission Prize

Professor Trica Keaton has been nominated for the 2021-22 Tyler Stovall Mission Prize awarded by the Western Society of French History (WSFH)

Being nominated as a candidate for the Tyler Stovall Mission Prize signifies that a colleague has acknowledged the individual's contributions to the field of French history and their efforts to make the study of France and francophone spaces more inclusive, diverse, and equitable.

A crucial part of the WSFH's mission is to help foster an educational community that is actively committed to achieving equity and inclusion in the production and transmission of knowledge about the francophone world. To that end, the Tyler Stovall Mission Prize recognizes teachers and scholars who are doing outstanding work to combat structural inequalities in the field of French History, the profession, and their home institutions, broadly construed. By celebrating individuals who are developing tools and practices that challenge inequity, oppression, and discrimination, not only through research but also through teaching, mentoring, and professional leadership, the Tyler Stovall WSFH Mission Prize proudly signals the Western's belief that such work is an essential part of what it means to be an exemplary citizen and educator. Up to three winners will be selected in its 2021-2022 inaugural year.

The inaugural cohort winners of the Tyler Stovall Mission Prize will be honored at the WSFH Conference in Victoria, BC, in Fall 2022.

The WSFH lauded Professor Keaton for her nomination, stating "Thank you for your contributions to our scholarly profession and your work in the fields of francophone studies and French history. We are grateful for your efforts in diversity, equity, and inclusion, and we look forward to your candidature for the Tyler Stovall Mission Prize."

"I am honored to be nominated for this distinguished award, more so because Tyler Stovall was a long-term mentor, intellectual interlocuter, collaborator, and a big brother figure whom I have known since my doctoral studies at the University of California, Berkeley and l'École des hautes études en sciences sociales in Paris. On November 20, 2021, Tyler and I shared what would be our last conversation…His sudden loss on December 10, 2021 remains nothing short of shocking and heartbreaking for many of us on both sides of the pond. Friends and colleagues of Dean and Professor Stovall in Paris are currently organizing an event in homage to him in June 2022. Please contact me for more information."

Trica Keaton

About Trica Keaton

For more information about Professor Keaton please visit her faculty page.

About the Western Society for French History

The Western Society for French History was founded in 1974 to promote greater regional, professional, and methodological diversity in the study of French and Francophone history. Its international membership includes research and teaching faculty, graduate students, independent scholars, and historians in the general public from the United States, Canada, and around the world. The Society welcomes specialists of French and Francophone culture from a variety of disciplines and interdisciplinary perspectives. The Society takes pride in its longstanding support of graduate student research and conference participation, particularly through its scholarship program.

The Western Society for French History embraces a dynamic, diverse, and engaged scholarly community that is actively committed to achieving equity and inclusion in the production and transmission of knowledge about the Francophone world. To that end, the Society encourages its members to think critically about injustice in the academy and to develop tools and practices to combat structural inequalities in the profession and academic institutions. Convinced that academic excellence demands this kind of individual and collective engagement, the Society seeks to empower its members to work to eliminate oppression and discrimination in the field, as well as in their classrooms, home departments, and university administrations.