Masters Prizes
The Masters Dissertation Prize is an annual prize of £100 awarded for an outstanding dissertation on maritime history. Subjects eligible for consideration reflect the Commission’s view of maritime history as a wide-ranging discipline.
The prize winner for 2024 (2022-23 session) goes to Taylan Campbell for 'British Newspapers and Transatlantic Ocean Liners, 1906-1916: Representations of Launches, Maiden Voyages, and Disasters' - University of Aberdeen
How to make a nomination
The dissertation must have been assessed as part of a Masters degree and awarded during the previous *academic year (2023-24).
Dissertations awarded distinction marks of 70+ are eligible for consideration. Institutions may only submit one dissertation to the competition.
Nominations must be made by Heads of Department or equivalent. Judging is by a Prize Committee, whose decision is final.
The closing date for nominations for the 2023/4 session is 1st December 2024
To make a nomination please complete the Masters Prize Form and upload supporting documents here.
MA Dissertation Prize winner, 2023
Congratulations to Taylan Campbell (University of Aberdeen) for their dissertation:
'British Newspapers and Transatlantic Ocean Liners, 1906-1916: Representations of Launches, Maiden Voyages, and Disasters'.
This year we had only two nominations, but they demonstrated the breadth and quality of post-graduate maritime studies – as well as the difficulties this poses for the judging panel. Every year students seeking answers to the questions that can be asked of the maritime past draw on a wide range of skills and academic disciplines. This year was no different and the final choice for the award was agreed by the narrowest of margins.
This year, the award goes to an M.Litt. study of how newspapers reported significant events in the competitive world of the ocean liner between 1906 and 1916. Using local and national newspapers, the author is able to identify why different responses to launches, maiden voyages, and international diplomacy occurred. Although the Titanic and its fate, is by far the most famous story of the time, reporting on the great ocean liners was common place. Not only were the liners great technological achievements, imbued by the press with national and local pride, but the newspaper industry itself was still in the throes of industrial change which was altering its relationship with the readership. As such this dissertation provides interesting insights into both the maritime world and the media industry.
Find out about previous prize winners here.
For further information, please contact the Hon Secretary
