Eligibility & Nominations

The competition is open to all UCLA undergraduates who have written a humanities-focused or social science-focused essay in Spring 2023, Summer 2023, Fall 2023, or Winter 2024. The submitted paper must have been written as a course assignment during one of these quarters. While foreign language essays are welcome, they must be accompanied by the writer’s own English translation.

The prizes will honor the best humanistic or social scientific writing in lower- and upper-division undergraduate classes. Please note that the Tom Davey Award is specifically for science-based writing in the humanities (e.g., student work dealing with medicine, environmental issues or sustainability, psychology, sociology, etc.)

The essay must be nominated by the instructor. All instructors/TAs are limited to three nominations; any submissions beyond that will not be considered. Instructors must complete an online submission form for each essay which explains the assignment and highlights the paper’s strengths. Incomplete online forms will not be considered.

Students interested in being nominated should contact their instructor and provide them with: their full name, current mailing address, telephone number, e-mail address, and student identification number. It is the responsibility of the student to confirm receipt by the Writing Programs Office via email only prior to the deadline.

Nominated essays can be submitted online from now until Tuesday, April 09, 2024 at 5:00pm. Winners will be announced in May. For more information, please email us at wpinfo@humnet.ucla.edu.

Click here to submit your nominations!