Penn State Penn State: College of the Liberal Arts

Department ofClassics and Ancient
Mediterranean Studies

CAMS Essay Contest

CAMS Essay Contest

The Department of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies announces three prizes for the best undergraduate student essays of the 2024/25 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 2024, Fall 2024, or Spring 2025 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 7, 2025, at 12pm ET.

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