CAMS announces 2025/26 student essay contest

The Department of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies announces three prizes for the best undergraduate student essays of the 2025/26 academic year. If you've written a strong paper recently, we want to read it!

To be eligible, papers should:

• Be your own original work;
• Have a thorough, properly sourced bibliography (any citation style is acceptable, so long as the paper is internally consistent); the essay must be academic but can use creative style;
• Have been written during the Spring 2025, Fall 2025, or Spring 2026 semesters;
• Be at least 1,500 words long;
• Pertain to any topic in the field of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies;
• Not be a thesis for the Schreyer Honors College or other college program, though thesis chapters are acceptable;
• Not have won any prior essay contests at Penn State.

Simultaneous submissions to essay contests in Religious Studies and Jewish Studies are allowed, but students are asked to make a note of this in their submission email.

To apply, send your paper to Prof. Mathias Hanses (mhanses@psu.edu), CAMS Awards Committee Chair, by Monday, April 6, 2026, at 11:59pm ET.

Three prizes will be awarded at the following levels:
First prize: $500
Second prize: $300
Third prize: $200