Columbia Undergraduate Human Rights Program Essay Contest
The Undergraduate Human Rights Program sponsors an annual human rights essay contest. There are two separate categories, The Human Rights Concentration Prize, and The Human Rights Short Essay Prize. Only first years and sophomores at Columbia College and the School of General Studies are eligible for the Short Essay Prize. All students at Columbia College and the School of General Studies are eligible for the Concentration Prize. (Students submitting papers need not be Human Rights concentrators.) First years and sophomores may submit work to both categories at the same time.
The aim of the contest is to encourage and reward students who have done substantial research or taken a thoughtful approach to an issue related to human rights in their academic work. Papers submitted should address a human rights issue directly, or have evident significance for a problem of concern to human rights. They should be formal academic papers, not field notes, journalistic treatments, or fictional treatments. They may, however, be in any field. They may deal with historical or contemporary issues. They may be research papers, theoretical inquiries, or any other kinds of critical expositions or investigations.
The Columbia Human Rights Concentration Prize
Granted for an academic paper on any topic that has substantial importance for human rights. The paper may be written from the perspective of any discipline or from a multi-disciplinary perspective. It may be a critical analysis, theoretical examination, research paper or any in other mode, as long as it treats issues and ideas that relate importantly to human rights concerns. The paper may not exceed 30 pages and can be substantially shorter. The prize is $250. Please follow the submission guidelines above. (Students need not be Human Rights Concentrators to be eligible.)
The Columbia Human Rights Short Essay Prize
The short essay prize is intended for first years and sophomores, who may not have yet had the opportunity to work on a long research project but have written shorter essays on topics that have substantial bearing on human rights questions. As with the Concentration Prize, there is no restriction as to the discipline or format of the essay, as long as the topic has an important relationship to human rights. The paper may not exceed 15 pages and may be substantially shorter. Short papers in the 5 -10 page range are welcome. The prize is $100. Please follow the submission guidelines above.
Other Prizes
The Elie Wiesel Prize in Ethics Essay Contest
This contest is designed to challenge college students to analyze urgent ethical issues confronting them in today’s complex world. Full-time juniors and seniors are eligible. Essays are 3,000 to 4,000 words. Awards up to $5000. A student interested in entering the contest is required to have a professor review her or his essay and complete a Faculty Sponsor Form (faculty members may sponsor a maximum of two essays per year). The deadline for the 2006 contest is Friday, December 9, 2005. For more information, Student Guidelines, Student Entry Form, Faculty Guidelines, Faculty Sponsor Form, and to see the 2003 winners, call (212) 490-7777 or go to:
http://www.eliewieselfoundation.org/EthicsPrize/Information.html
Student Peace Prize (International Student Festival in Trondheim)
The Student Peace Prize is awarded every second year to a student or a student organization that has made a particular impact on peace, democracy, and human rights. The Prize winner receives NOK 50,000 and is invited to Norway to receive the Prize. For more information e-mail:
or go to:
http://www.isfit.ntnu.no/peaceprize/.