Awards

Dr. Jordan McClain is a longtime MAPACA contributor and consultant based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

He earned his Ph.D. in Mass Media and Communication and M.A. in Broadcasting, Telecommunications, and Mass Media, both from Temple University.

His research has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as Journal of Popular Culture, Popular Music and Society, Applied Journalism and Media Studies, and Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy, as well as several edited books.

Dr. Mary Beth Ray is an Associate Professor and Chair of Communication & Media Studies, and Co-Chair of Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies at Plymouth State University. Her research focuses on internet culture, gender, popular music, and media. She holds a Ph.D. from Temple University’s Mass Media and Communication Program and an M.A. in Media Studies from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communication. Dr.

Dr. Raj Singh is a music researcher in the Don Wright Faculty of Music at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. Her interests include critical Indigenous theory, Indigenous methodologies, and Indigenous modernity. Her current work examines how Inuit musicians combine traditional and contemporary forms of music to include new realms of lived experiences. Moreover, her work with Inuit hip hoppers interrogates the intersections between gender, identity, and race as they relate to individual and communal notions of belonging.

Mary Behrman (PhD Emory University) is a senior lecturer of English at Kennesaw State University, where she teaches courses in early British literature and composition/rhetoric. Her research focuses on Ricardian literature, the Arthurian legend, and the use of the medieval in modern works, particularly novels. She has published articles in several journals, including The Chaucer Review, Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Teaching, and Studies in the Novel. She attended her first MAPACA conference in Philadelphia in an era long past: 2007.

The Walden Prize for Graduate and Undergraduate Papers is awarded annually to outstanding emerging scholars in popular culture studies. Walden Prize awardees receive recognition and complimentary registration for the upcoming conference and will have their papers published in MAPACA’s journal, Response. The Walden Prize is named in honor of Daniel Walden, Professor Emeritus of American Studies, English, and Comparative Literature at Penn State University.

The Loretta Lorance Volunteer Recognition Award is granted to a conference participant who has contributed to the growth and success of the Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association through service and leadership. The board of directors announces the winner of the Lorance Award prior to the annual conference and presents the award at conference dinner and reception.

The Ralph Donald Award recognizes an outstanding paper and presentation delivered at MAPACA’s annual conference. This award is named in honor of Ralph Donald. Award recipients receive recognition and complimentary registration to the following year’s conference.

Anyone presenting a paper or presentation at the current year’s conference is eligible for award nomination. Nominations must progress through an Area Chair and be submitted, by an Area Chair, to the Vice President of Awards at awards@mapaca.net.

The Divine Impact Award (DIA) recognizes outstanding creative or scholarly achievement in the production, performance, or scholarly consideration of popular and/or American culture that exhibits exceptional contribution, longevity, originality, and impact. The DIA is named in honor of Harris Glenn Milstead, the actor, singer, and drag queen also known as Divine, a performer made well known through John Waters’s body of work.