Core Humanities Essay Contest
Win $500 toward tuition for Spring 2026!
Email your submission
The Core Humanities Essay Prize
The Core Humanities Program is pleased to offer the CH Essay Prize. This prize recognizes exemplary essays produced over the calendar for the collective CH201, CH202 and CH203 classes. The three prizes (1st $500, 2nd $250 and 3rd $100) will be awarded to the best essay of the year during the winter break after each fall semester. Awarded funds will be applied to the spring semester’s tuition. Therefore, students in their junior year or below are invited to apply.
Eligibility
Students who receive an A grade on an essay submitted to CH201, CH202, or CH203 are eligible and are invited to submit their essays to: corehumanities@unr.edu. Submissions should include the instructor’s essay prompt.
Selection Process
Essays will be judged based on the ability of the essay to respond to the instructor's prompt as well as the core objectives of the class. Strong candidates will have a thesis statement that clearly presents the point to be proven in the essay. Other factors include artistic use of rhetorical style, effective use of textual evidence, and mastery of technical conventions. The selection committee is composed of the Core Humanities Executive Committee and the Distinguished Teaching Assistants.
Please contact Sean O’Neil at oneil.sean@unr.edu for further information.
FAQs
No, students submit their essays directly to the department. Although your instructor knows about the prize and may recommend that you submit your excellent essay.
Students are advised to revise based on their instructor's feedback before submitting their essays for consideration. The Core Humanities Program might have other resources available to help polish the submissions.