The World History Association bestows a number of awards, prizes, and scholarships to world history students, teachers, and researchers.

PIONEERS IN WORLD HISTORY AWARD

The annual Pioneers in World History Award , presented at the annual  WHA  conference, recognizes scholars’ exceptional contributions toward advancing the field of world history. The deadline for nominations is 15 March of each year.

PRIZE COMPETITIONS

World history association jerry h. bentley book prize.

The WHA Jerry H. Bentley Book Prize recognizes outstanding contributions to the field of world history. The deadline for submissions is 1 February of each year.

World History Association Dissertation Prize

The WHA Dissertation Prize is presented for the year’s best doctoral dissertation in world, global, or transnational history. The deadline for submissions is 1 October of each year.

World History Association / Phi Alpha Theta Undergraduate & Graduate Student Paper Prize

The WHA/ΦΑΘ Student Paper Prizes are awarded for the best undergraduate and best graduate-level world history papers composed in the academic year. The deadline for submissions has been extended through May 15, 2023.

World Historian Student Essay Competition

The World Historian Student Essay Competition open to K–12  students. The deadline for submissions is 1 May of each year.

Bloomsbury-WHA Monograph Prize

The Diversity in History Monograph Prize improves publishing opportunities for early career scholars in World History.  The deadline is September 1 of each year. Follow this link for more information: WHA-Bloomsbury Monograph Prize.

World History Connected (WHC) Book Prize

The World History Connected (WHC) Book Prize recognizes publications of outstanding value to both research and teaching in the field of world history. This prize is funded through the generosity of Professor Emeritus and former WHA President Marc Jason Gilbert. The submission deadline is April 1 of each year. Follow this link for more information on the WHC Book Prize: WHC Book Prize .

SCHOLARSHIPS

The  WHA  offers  a number of scholarships  to attend the annual conference each year, including the  WHA  World Scholar Travel Fund (for scholars outside of North America) and the William H. McNeill Teacher Scholarship (for  K–12  and community college teachers) and conference fee waivers (for students).

world historian essay competition

WHA Bentley Book Prize

The World History Association Book Prize was created in 1999 to recognize outstanding contributions to the field of world history.

world historian essay competition

Congratulations to the inaugural WHA/Bloomsbury Book Prize award winner Dr. Corina Gonzalez-Stout of Northwest Vista College (San Antonio, TX) for her monograph Prostitution & Carnal Vigilance in Cape Town.

world historian essay competition

WHA Dissertation Prize

The World History Association awards the annual WHA Dissertation Prize for the best doctoral dissertation in world, global, or transnational history.

world historian essay competition

WHA Undergraduate & Graduate Student Paper Prizes

The World History Association and Phi Alpha Theta jointly sponsor two student paper prizes in world history

world historian essay competition

Congratulations to Joshua Hangartner of La Jolla Country Day School, the winner of the 2023 World Historian Student Essay Competition for his essay, "World History: A Vehicle for Understanding Ourselves."

world historian essay competition

Pioneers in World History Award

The Pioneers in World History Award recognizes the extraordinary contributions of individuals to world history studies that have advanced the field in a significant way.

world historian essay competition

World History Connected Book Prize

The World History Connected (WHC) Book Prize recognizes publications of outstanding value to both research and teaching in the field of world history.

Awards Sample banner

Awards Sample banner EXCERPT

Building U

WORLD HISTORIAN STUDENT ESSAY CONTEST

WORLD HISTORY ASSOCIATION

Sponsoring Institution:  World History Association

Type: World History Essay contest

Eligibility: This world history essay contest is open to students enrolled in grades K–12 from anywhere in the world

Application Deadline:  May 1st

Highlight: Does the study of World History intrigue you? Are you amazed by various cultures and traditions? Are you interested in different peoples’ stories and struggles? If you could answer yes to these questions, here’s an opportunity for you! The World History Association (WHA) is offering a prize of $500 and a one-year membership in the WHA to young scholars who have the best world history essay response to their prompt: “In what way has the study of world history affected my understanding of the world in which I live?”. This world history essay contest is global and is open to students enrolled in grades K-12, in public, private, and parochial schools, and even home-study programs! Now, let’s talk about the requirements. The submission deadline is early May, and the recommended length for submissions is 1000 words. The judges grade your world history essay based on a clear thesis, elaboration of the thesis with specific, personal, example(s), critical thinking, organization and fluency, and more! There are plenty of examples of previous winning essays from past years to review, and there are clear instructions on formatting as well. So, please read them thoroughly, because any papers that don’t adhere to the guidelines will be disqualified! So, bring your fascination with the past into the present and check it out ; show the WHA what you’ve got!

world historian essay competition

It is our anual free funding event for high schoolers from all over the world

La Jolla student wins international essay competition with belief that world history aids self-awareness

Joshua Hangartner, who will be a senior next school year at La Jolla Country Day, won an essay competition on world history.

Joshua Hangartner of La Jolla Country Day School captures the 2023 World Historian Essay Award.

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Weaving one’s own history into that of the world might seem daunting for some, but it’s proved to be a winning strategy for La Jolla resident Joshua Hangartner.

Joshua, who will be a senior next school year at La Jolla Country Day School, recently won the 2023 World Historian Essay Award presented by the World History Association for his 1,000-word essay titled “World History: A Vehicle for Understanding Ourselves.”

The World Historian Student Essay Competition is an international contest open to all students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Entrants were asked to address their view of a family story related to a historical event or personal family cultural background, or an issue of personal relevance or specific regional history or knowledge.

Joshua wrote his essay about “human convergence and globalization,” applying it to his own family’s history.

“World History’s immense scope allows students to draw connections between ... seemingly unrelated historical events,” Joshua wrote. “Through contextualization, students grasp broad and pervasive historical themes which help explain the present state of our world and often our own lives.

“In addition to learning about Asian history outside of a Eurocentric framework, World History taught me to observe broader patterns in human migration and societal development.”

The essay “really covers a lot about who I am,” Joshua told the La Jolla Light.

“I’m mixed Korean American and European,” he said. “I always thought it was so bizarre how these different sides of my family were so different and how in just one generation, everything changed and I’m living a completely different life from them.”

In the essay, Joshua wrote, “I cannot help but feel that my multiracial, multiethnic and multicultural background is the ‘result’ of a thousand years of … increasing worldwide interconnectedness.”

“World history, as opposed to more specific history, has really provided that lens from that largest theme of convergence,” he told the Light .

“I’m mixed Korean American and European. I always thought it was so bizarre how these different sides of my family were so different and how in just one generation, everything changed and I’m living a completely different life from them.”

— Joshua Hangartner

As a former resident of Amsterdam who attended an international school there, global convergence is an idea Joshua has always paid attention to, he said.

“That really opened my eyes to the international community and people from all kinds of different backgrounds and cultures,” Joshua said. “I really gained a greater perception of my own culture and … all these different facets of my identity.

“I found it super interesting that at this international school, all these different cultures and people converged.”

Living now with his Korean grandfather is inspiring as well, Joshua said. “Being able to see that history in him” also influenced the essay.

Joshua entered the competition after searching online for writing opportunities.

“I really like history as a subject,” he said.

Samuel Kullens, his Advanced Placement world history teacher the past school year, “taught me a lot of things that I thought I could apply to the essay,” Joshua added. And Fiona Halloran, who taught him American Civil War history this past year and AP U.S. history in his sophomore year, “influenced my writing and historical thinking a lot,” he said.

Joining the list of winners from around the world is surprising, Joshua said, but he “felt amazing because I had just written the paper on a whim … the last day it was due.”

Joshua said he plans to keep cultivating his love of history through high school and into college. ◆

world historian essay competition

Elisabeth Frausto is a reporter for the La Jolla Light.

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AHA Directory of History Departments and Organizations

Institution details.

AHA Affiliated Society

Areas of Specialization: world

A. Collections and Libraries

The collection of papers and documents since the founding of the World History Association (WHA) in 1982 is maintained at the World History Association headquarters at Northeastern University.

B. Programs

The WHA holds an annual conference, usually in the last week of June or occasionally in July. Every three years the annual conference is held outside of the United States. Conference information is included in mailings to members, in the World History Bulletin , and on the WHA website. The WHA also holds an intermittent, year-round online lecture series, Under the Baobab. Regional affiliates have their own meeting schedules and conferences; see the WHA website for links and complete details. The WHA sponsors or co-sponsors annual institutes and workshops for teachers of world history across the nation, including sessions concerning the AP world history program. In the recent year, there is a significant focus on news and information for members and friends through social media outlets.

C. Publications

The WHA's official journal is the quarterly Journal of World History and WHA also publishes the semi-annual (Spring and Fall) World History Bulletin . As the premier source for the dissemination of recent scholarship in world history, the Journal of World History serves as a forum for historical scholarship undertaken from a trans-national, trans-cultural, and trans-regional point of view. Its articles and reviews feature comparative and cross-cultural themes. The Journal of World History (E-ISSN: 1527-8050) is now available (from Vol. 7) in the Project MUSE electronic database of journals in the humanities and social sciences. Access is restricted to subscribing institutions. For more details, e-mail [email protected] or visit http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/jwh .

Full-text articles are available through JSTOR. In addition, abstracts dating to Volume I (1990) can be accessed through the University of Hawai`i Press web site at www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/journals/jwh . All early volumes of Journal of World History (from three years before the current volume) are now available in the JSTOR electronic journal archive. For details, visit www.jstor.org/journals/10456007.html . Journal of World History vols. 14–19 (2003–08) are also available at the History Cooperative collection of online history scholarship at www.historycooperative.org .

The World History Bulletin functions as a WHA newsletter and as a source of articles, textbook reviews, and practical ideas for teaching world history at the secondary and college levels. Both are included with membership.

The WHA Teaching Committee supports publications concerning the teaching of world history, including the online journal World History Connected , at worldhistoryconnected.press.uiuc.edu, which particularly addresses the needs of class-room teachers.

The WHA also encourages the discussion of scholarly and pedagogical issues through H-World and through the AP World History listserv.

D. Fellowships and Awards

The WHA is committed to fostering excellence in teaching and scholarship at all levels of education. In cooperation with the Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society, the WHA awards an annual World History Student Paper Prize ($500 each) for the best undergraduate and graduate papers in world history. The World Historian Student Essay Competition Prize ($500) is awarded to a student at the K–12 level. The WHA Bentley Book Prize awards $500 to the best new book on world history published in the prior year. Two awards for the WHA conferences area also available, as well as conference registration fee waivers. The World Scholar Travel Fund is to fund scholars to attend the annual conference and is primarily for those residing outside of North America. The William H. McNeill Teacher Scholarship is also awarded to fund travel and expenses for K–12 and community college instructors (two awards). The WHA Dissertation Prize awards the best dissertation submitted within the prior year. Complete details on all prizes and scholarships can be found at www.thewha.org .

Doctoral Program Information

Not applicable

Directory of History Dissertations

World History Association student essay contest

Posted on January 30, 2020 by Ms. Christine Hitchcock, Lead Social Studies Teacher

In what way has the study of world history affected my understanding of the world in which I live?

Can you express a clear thesis and support it with concrete, specific examples?

If so, you should consider entering the World History Association student essay competition!

Students who are currently enrolled in or who have completed World History 1 and/or 2 should consider entering this contest.

The winner will receive $500.00 and a one-year membership in the World History Association.

You can find more information about the contest on the  World History Association website.

I am happy to answer any questions or support anyone interested in participating in the contest. Email [email protected]

world historian essay competition

Essay  COMPETITION

2024 global essay prize.

The John Locke Institute encourages young people to cultivate the characteristics that turn good students into great writers: independent thought, depth of knowledge, clear reasoning, critical analysis and persuasive style. Our Essay Competition invites students to explore a wide range of challenging and interesting questions beyond the confines of the school curriculum.

Entering an essay in our competition can build knowledge, and refine skills of argumentation. It also gives students the chance to have their work assessed by experts. All of our essay prizes are judged by a panel of senior academics drawn from leading universities including Oxford and Princeton, under the leadership of the Chairman of Examiners, former Cambridge philosopher, Dr Jamie Whyte.

The judges will choose their favourite essay from each of seven subject categories - Philosophy, Politics, Economics, History, Psychology, Theology and Law - and then select the winner of the Grand Prize for the best entry in any subject. There is also a separate prize awarded for the best essay in the junior category, for under 15s.

Q1. Do we have any good reasons to trust our moral intuition?

Q2. Do girls have a (moral) right to compete in sporting contests that exclude boys?

Q3. Should I be held responsible for what I believe?

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Q1. Is there such a thing as too much democracy?

Q2. Is peace in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip possible?

Q3. When is compliance complicity?

Q1. What is the optimal global population?  

Q2. Accurate news reporting is a public good. Does it follow that news agencies should be funded from taxation?

Q3. Do successful business people benefit others when making their money, when spending it, both, or neither?

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Q1. Why was sustained economic growth so rare before the later 18th century and why did this change?

Q2. Has music ever significantly changed the course of history?

Q3. Why do civilisations collapse? Is our civilisation in danger?

Q1. When, if ever, should a company be permitted to refuse to do business with a person because of that person’s public statements?

Q2. In the last five years British police have arrested several thousand people for things they posted on social media. Is the UK becoming a police state?

Q3. Your parents say that 11pm is your bedtime. But they don’t punish you if you don’t go to bed by 11pm. Is 11pm really your bedtime?

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Q1. According to a study by four British universities, for each 16-point increase in IQ, the likelihood of getting married increases by 35% for a man but decreases by 40% for a woman. Why? 

Q2. There is an unprecedented epidemic of depression and anxiety among young people. Can we fix this? How?

Q3. What is the difference between a psychiatric illness and a character flaw?

Q1. “I am not religious, but I am spiritual.” What could the speaker mean by “spiritual”?

Q2. Is it reasonable to thank God for protection from some natural harm if He is responsible for causing the harm?

Q3. Does God reward those who believe in him? If so, why?

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JUNIOR prize

Q1. Does winning a free and fair election automatically confer a mandate for governing?

Q2. Has the anti-racism movement reduced racism?

Q3. Is there life after death?

Q4. How did it happen that governments came to own and run most high schools, while leaving food production to private enterprise? 

Q5. When will advancing technology make most of us unemployable? What should we do about this?

Q6. Should we trust fourteen-year-olds to make decisions about their own bodies? 

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS & FURTHER DETAILS

Please read the following carefully.

Entry to the John Locke Institute Essay Competition 2024 is open to students from any country.

Registration  

Only candidates who registered before the registration deadline of Friday, 31 May 2024 may enter this year's competition.

All entries must be submitted by 11.59 pm BST on  the submission deadline: Sunday, 30 June 2024 .  Candidates must be eighteen years old, or younger, on that date. (Candidates for the Junior Prize must be fourteen years old, or younger, on that date.)

Entry is free.

Each essay must address only one of the questions in your chosen subject category, and must not exceed 2000 words (not counting diagrams, tables of data, endnotes, bibliography or authorship declaration). 

The filename of your pdf must be in this format: FirstName-LastName-Category-QuestionNumber.pdf; so, for instance, Alexander Popham would submit his answer to question 2 in the Psychology category with the following file name:

Alexander-Popham-Psychology-2.pdf

Essays with filenames which are not in this format will be rejected.

The candidate's name should NOT appear within the document itself. 

Candidates should NOT add footnotes. They may, however, add endnotes and/or a Bibliography that is clearly titled as such.

Each candidate will be required to provide the email address of an academic referee who is familiar with the candidate's written academic work. This should be a school teacher, if possible, or another responsible adult who is not a relation of the candidate. The John Locke Institute will email referees to verify that the essays submitted are indeed the original work of the candidates.

Submissions may be made as soon as registration opens in April. We recommend that you submit your essay well in advance of th e deadline to avoid any last-minute complications.

Acceptance of your essay depends on your granting us permission to use your data for the purposes of receiving and processing your entry as well as communicating with you about the Awards Ceremony Dinner, the academic conference for essay competition finalists, and other events and programmes of the John Locke Institute and its associated entities.  

Late entries

If for any reason you miss the 30 June deadline you will have an opportunity to make a late entry, under two conditions:

a) A late entry fee of 20.00 USD must be paid by credit card within twenty-four hours of the original deadline; and

b) Your essay must be submitted  before 11.59 pm BST on Wednesday, 10 July 2024.

To pay for late entry, a registrant need only log into his or her account, select the relevant option and provide the requested payment information.

Our grading system is proprietary. Essayists may be asked to discuss their entry with a member of the John Locke Institute’s faculty. We use various means to identify plagiarism, contract cheating, the use of AI and other forms of fraud . Our determinations in all such matters are final.

Essays will be judged on knowledge and understanding of the relevant material, the competent use of evidence, quality of argumentation, originality, structure, writing style and persuasive force. The very best essays are likely to be those which would be capable of changing somebody's mind. Essays which ignore or fail to address the strongest objections and counter-arguments are unlikely to be successful .

Candidates are advised to answer the question as precisely and directly as possible.

The writers of the best essays will receive a commendation and be shortlisted for a prize. Writers of shortlisted essays will be notified by 11.59 pm BST on Wednesday, 31 July. They will also be invited to London for an invitation-only academic conference and awards dinner in September, where the prize-winners will be announced. Unlike the competition itself, the academic conference and awards dinner are not free. Please be aware that n obody is required to attend either the academic conference or the prize ceremony. You can win a prize without travelling to London.

All short-listed candidates, including prize-winners, will be able to download eCertificates that acknowledge their achievement. If you win First, Second or Third Prize, and you travel to London for the ceremony, you will receive a signed certificate. 

There is a prize for the best essay in each category. The prize for each winner of a subject category, and the winner of the Junior category, is a scholarship worth US$2000 towards the cost of attending any John Locke Institute programme, and the essays will be published on the Institute's website. Prize-giving ceremonies will take place in London, at which winners and runners-up will be able to meet some of the judges and other faculty members of the John Locke Institute. Family, friends, and teachers are also welcome.

The candidate who submits the best essay overall will be awarded an honorary John Locke Institute Junior Fellowship, which comes with a US$10,000 scholarship to attend one or more of our summer schools and/or visiting scholars programmes. 

The judges' decisions are final, and no correspondence will be entered into.

R egistration opens: 1 April, 2024.

Registration deadline: 31 May, 2024. (Registration is required by this date for subsequent submission.)

Submission deadline: 30 June, 2024.

Late entry deadline: 10 July, 2024. (Late entries are subject to a 20.00 USD charge, payable by 1 July.)

Notification of short-listed essayists: 31 July, 2024.

Academic conference: 20 - 22 September, 2024.

Awards dinner: 21 September, 2024.

Any queries regarding the essay competition should be sent to [email protected] . Please be aware that, due to the large volume of correspondence we receive, we cannot guarantee to answer every query. In particular, regrettably, we are unable to respond to questions whose answers can be found on our website.

If you would like to receive helpful tips  from our examiners about what makes for a winning essay or reminders of upcoming key dates for the 2024  essay competition, please provide your email here to be added to our contact list. .

Thanks for subscribing!

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The John Locke Institute's Global Essay Prize is acknowledged as the world's most prestigious essay competition. 

We welcome tens of thousands of submissions from ambitious students in more than 150 countries, and our examiners - including distinguished philosophers, political scientists, economists, historians, psychologists, theologians, and legal scholars - read and carefully assess every entry. 

I encourage you to register for this competition, not only for the hope of winning a prize or commendation, and not only for the chance to join the very best contestants at our academic conference and gala ceremony in London, but equally for the opportunity to engage in the serious scholarly enterprise of researching, reflecting on, writing about, and editing an answer to one of the important and provocative questions in this year's Global Essay Prize. 

We believe that the skills you will acquire in the process will make you a better thinker and a more effective advocate for the ideas that matter most to you.

I hope to see you in September!

Best wishes,

Jamie Whyte, Ph.D. (C ANTAB ) 

Chairman of Examiners

World History Association

The World History Association bestows a number of awards, prizes, and scholarships to world history students, teachers, and researchers.

Pioneers in World History Award

The annual Pioneers in World History Award , presented at the annual WHA conference, recognizes scholars’ exceptional contributions toward advancing the field of world history. The deadline for nominations is 15 March of each year.

Prize Competitions

World history association jerry h. bentley book prize.

The WHA Jerry H. Bentley Book Prize recognizes outstanding contributions to the field of world history. The deadline for submissions is 1 February of each year.

World History Association Dissertation Prize

The WHA Dissertation Prize is presented for the year’s best doctoral dissertation in world, global, or transnational history. The deadline for submissions is 1 October of each year.

World History Association / Phi Alpha Theta Undergraduate & Graduate Student Paper Prize

The WHA / ΦΑΘ Student Paper Prizes are awarded for the best undergraduate and best graduate-level world history papers composed in the academic year. The deadline for submissions is 1 June of each year.

World Historian Student Essay Competition

The World Historian Student Essay Competition is open to K–12 students. The deadline for submissions is 1 May of each year.

Scholarships

The WHA offers a number of scholarships to attend the annual conference each year, including the WHA World Scholar Travel Fund (for scholars outside of North America) and the William H. McNeill Teacher Scholarship (for K–12 and community college teachers) and conference fee waivers (for students).

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The Best Student Writing Contests for 2023-2024

Help your students take their writing to the next level.

We Are Teachers logo and text that says Guide to Student Writing Contests on dark background

When students write for teachers, it can feel like an assignment. When they write for a real purpose, they are empowered! Student writing contests are a challenging and inspiring way to try writing for an authentic audience— a real panel of judges —and the possibility of prize money or other incentives. We’ve gathered a list of the best student writing contests, and there’s something for everyone. Prepare highly motivated kids in need of an authentic writing mentor, and watch the words flow.

1.  The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards

With a wide range of categories—from critical essays to science fiction and fantasy—The Scholastic Awards are a mainstay of student contests. Each category has its own rules and word counts, so be sure to check out the options  before you decide which one is best for your students.

How To Enter

Students in grades 7-12, ages 13 and up, may begin submitting work in September by uploading to an online account at Scholastic and connecting to their local region. There are entry fees, but those can be waived for students in need.

2.  YoungArts National Arts Competition

This ends soon, but if you have students who are ready to submit, it’s worth it. YoungArts offers a national competition in the categories of creative nonfiction, novel, play or script, poetry, short story, and spoken word. Student winners may receive awards of up to $10,000 as well as the chance to participate in artistic development with leaders in their fields.

YoungArts accepts submissions in each category through October 13. Students submit their work online and pay a $35 fee (there is a fee waiver option).

3. National Youth Foundation Programs

Each year, awards are given for Student Book Scholars, Amazing Women, and the “I Matter” Poetry & Art competition. This is a great chance for kids to express themselves with joy and strength.

The rules, prizes, and deadlines vary, so check out the website for more info.

4.  American Foreign Service National High School Essay Contest

If you’re looking to help students take a deep dive into international relations, history, and writing, look no further than this essay contest. Winners receive a voyage with the Semester at Sea program and a trip to Washington, DC.

Students fill out a registration form online, and a teacher or sponsor is required. The deadline to enter is the first week of April.

5.  John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Essay Contest

This annual contest invites students to write about a political official’s act of political courage that occurred after Kennedy’s birth in 1917. The winner receives $10,000, and 16 runners-up also receive a variety of cash prizes.

Students may submit a 700- to 1,000-word essay through January 12. The essay must feature more than five sources and a full bibliography.

6. Bennington Young Writers Awards

Bennington College offers competitions in three categories: poetry (a group of three poems), fiction (a short story or one-act play), and nonfiction (a personal or academic essay). First-place winners receive $500. Grab a poster for your classroom here .

The contest runs from September 1 to November 1. The website links to a student registration form.

7. The Princeton Ten-Minute Play Contest

Looking for student writing contests for budding playwrights? This exclusive competition, which is open only to high school juniors, is judged by the theater faculty of Princeton University. Students submit short plays in an effort to win recognition and cash prizes of up to $500. ( Note: Only open to 11th graders. )

Students submit one 10-page play script online or by mail. The deadline is the end of March. Contest details will be published in early 2024.

8. Princeton University Poetry Contest for High School Students

The Leonard L. Milberg ’53 High School Poetry Prize recognizes outstanding work by student writers in 11th grade. Prizes range from $100 to $500.

Students in 11th grade can submit their poetry. Contest details will be published this fall.

9. The New York Times Tiny Memoir Contest

This contest is also a wonderful writing challenge, and the New York Times includes lots of resources and models for students to be able to do their best work. They’ve even made a classroom poster !

Submissions need to be made electronically by November 1.

10.  Nancy Thorp Poetry Contest

The deadline for this contest is the end of October. Sponsored by Hollins University, the Nancy Thorp Poetry Contest awards prizes for the best poems submitted by young women who are sophomores or juniors in high school or preparatory school. Prizes include cash and scholarships. Winners are chosen by students and faculty members in the creative writing program at Hollins.

Students may submit either one or two poems using the online form.

11.  The Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers

The Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers is open to high school sophomores and juniors, and the winner receives a full scholarship to a  Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshop .

Submissions for the prize are accepted electronically from November 1 through November 30.

12. Jane Austen Society Essay Contest

High school students can win up to $1,000 and publication by entering an essay on a topic specified by the Jane Austen Society related to a Jane Austen novel.

Details for the 2024 contest will be announced in November. Essay length is from six to eight pages, not including works cited.

13. Rattle Young Poets Anthology

Open to students from 15 to 18 years old who are interested in publication and exposure over monetary awards.

Teachers may choose five students for whom to submit up to four poems each on their behalf. The deadline is November 15.

14. The Black River Chapbook Competition

This is a chance for new and emerging writers to gain publication in their own professionally published chapbook, as well as $500 and free copies of the book.

There is an $18 entry fee, and submissions are made online.

15. YouthPlays New Voices

For students under 18, the YouthPlays one-act competition is designed for young writers to create new works for the stage. Winners receive cash awards and publication.

Scroll all the way down their web page for information on the contest, which accepts non-musical plays between 10 and 40 minutes long, submitted electronically. Entries open each year in January.

16. The Ocean Awareness Contest

The 2024 Ocean Awareness Contest, Tell Your Climate Story , encourages students to write their own unique climate story. They are asking for creative expressions of students’ personal experiences, insights, or perceptions about climate change. Students are eligible for a wide range of monetary prizes up to $1,000.

Students from 11 to 18 years old may submit work in the categories of art, creative writing, poetry and spoken word, film, interactive media and multimedia, or music and dance, accompanied by a reflection. The deadline is June 13.

17. EngineerGirl Annual Essay Contest

Each year, EngineerGirl sponsors an essay contest with topics centered on the impact of engineering on the world, and students can win up to $500 in prize money. This contest is a nice bridge between ELA and STEM and great for teachers interested in incorporating an interdisciplinary project into their curriculum. The new contest asks for pieces describing the life cycle of an everyday object. Check out these tips for integrating the content into your classroom .

Students submit their work electronically by February 1. Check out the full list of rules and requirements here .

18. NCTE Student Writing Awards

The National Council of Teachers of English offers several student writing awards, including Achievement Awards in Writing (for 10th- and 11th-grade students), Promising Young Writers (for 8th-grade students), and an award to recognize Excellence in Art and Literary Magazines.

Deadlines range from October 28 to February 15. Check out NCTE.org for more details.

19. See Us, Support Us Art Contest

Children of incarcerated parents can submit artwork, poetry, photos, videos, and more. Submissions are free and the website has a great collection of past winners.

Students can submit their entries via social media or email by October 25.

20. The Adroit Prizes for Poetry & Prose

The Adroit Journal, an education-minded nonprofit publication, awards annual prizes for poetry and prose to exceptional high school and college students. Adroit charges an entry fee but also provides a form for financial assistance.

Sign up at the website for updates for the next round of submissions.

21. National PTA Reflections Awards

The National PTA offers a variety of awards, including one for literature, in their annual Reflections Contest. Students of all ages can submit entries on the specified topic to their local PTA Reflections program. From there, winners move to the local area, state, and national levels. National-level awards include an $800 prize and a trip to the National PTA Convention.

This program requires submitting to PTAs who participate in the program. Check your school’s PTA for their deadlines.

22. World Historian Student Essay Competition

The World Historian Student Essay Competition is an international contest open to students enrolled in grades K–12 in public, private, and parochial schools, as well as those in home-study programs. The $500 prize is based on an essay that addresses one of this year’s two prompts.

Students can submit entries via email or regular mail before May 1.

23. NSHSS Creative Writing Scholarship

The National Society of High School Scholars awards three $2,000 scholarships for both poetry and fiction. They accept poetry, short stories, and graphic novel writing.

Apply online by October 31.

Whether you let your students blog, start a podcast or video channel, or enter student writing contests, giving them an authentic audience for their work is always a powerful classroom choice.

If you like this list of student writing contests and want more articles like it, subscribe to our newsletters to find out when they’re posted!

Plus, check out our favorite anchor charts for teaching writing..

Are you looking for student writing contests to share in your classroom? This list will give students plenty of opportunities.

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Student opportunities, david mccullough essay prizes.

David McCullough in front of a student-painted American flag at Trinity School..

David McCullough at Trinity School in Manhattan, October 15, 2019

The Gilder Lehrman Institute is now accepting submissions for the 2024 David McCullough Essay Prizes. The contest has been recently overhauled, and will recognize fourteen outstanding high school student research and interpretive essays with cash prizes of up to $5,000. This contest is named in memory of David McCullough (1933–2022)—a Pulitzer Prize–winning historian and Gilder Lehrman Life Trustee—and honors his career telling America’s stories and examining its histories. Learn more about his life and legacy here .

High school students attending schools in our Affiliate School Program are eligible and encouraged to participate. (Email [email protected] if you are not sure whether your school is an Affiliate School.) They are invited to submit an original essay, written independently or for a 2023–2024 class, that has been revised, expanded, and adapted to conform with the new McCullough Prize specifications. The two essay categories are as follows:

Research Essay: Students are invited to submit a research essay incorporating primary and secondary sources on a topic in American history from 1491 to 2001.

Interpretive Essay: Students are invited to submit an interpretive essay focusing on close reading and analysis of one primary source from American history, 1491 to 2001, in the Gilder Lehrman Collection of more than 85,000 historical documents.

More requirements for both essay categories can be found in these updated David McCullough Essay Prizes 2024 Rubrics .

All participants will receive a certificate of participation suitable for framing. Prize winners in each of our two categories—research essays and a new interpretive essay category—will receive cash awards as follows:

  • 1st Prize: $5,000 (plus a $500 prize awarded to the school)
  • 2nd Prize: $1,500 (plus a $500 prize awarded to the school)
  • Five 3rd Prizes: $500 each

To be considered for the David McCullough Essay Prizes, students, or their teachers or parents, can submit the student entry by 8:00 p.m. ET on Friday, June 28, 2024 . A panel of Gilder Lehrman master teachers will choose the pool of finalists, from which a jury of eminent historians will choose the winners. Essays will be evaluated for their historical rigor, the clarity and correctness of their style, their use of evidence, and their qualities of empathy and imagination. Winners will be notified and announced no later than Friday, September 13, 2024.

General Requirements

Font and Page Style: Papers should be submitted in 12-point, Times New Roman font with one-inch margins at the top, bottom, and sides. Essays should be free of teacher commentary or other notes.

Organization: Top essays have an introduction, body, and conclusion and a clearly stated, well-developed thesis statement with supportive historical evidence.

Essay Topics: Essays can be on any topic related to American history from 1491 to 2001. Essays in the interpretative category must feature a primary source (letter, broadside, art, political cartoon, speech, etc.) from the Gilder Lehrman Collection .

Virtual Research Night

To help students, teachers, and parents prepare for the David McCullough Essay Prizes, the Institute is hosting a Virtual Research Night led by Professor Kenya Davis-Hayes (Professor of History, California Baptist University and a Scholar Judge for the prizes) to support student research at the high school level. The program will also feature members of the Gilder Lehrman Institute staff to highlight primary and secondary sources and strategies for high-quality research and writing. Register here for the Virtual Research Night on Thursday, February 29, 7 p.m. ET.

Dawe, Philip (ca. 1750-1785) The Bostonian's Paying the Excise-man, or Tarring & Feathering

Philip Dawe, The Bostonian's Paying the Excise-man, or Tarring & Feathering , London, 1774. (The Gilder Lehrman Institute, GLC04961.01)

Past Winners

SL

2023 Contest Winners

Read the eleven prize winners, selected from more than one hundred and fifty students’ entries.

2022 Contest Winners

Read the eleven prize winners, selected from more than seventy rising 11th and 12th grade students' entries.

2021 Winners

Read the twelve prize winners, selected from more than seventy rising 11th and 12th grade students' entries.

2020 Contest Winners

Read the twelve prize winners, selected from more than 200 rising 11th and 12th grade students' entries.

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10 History Competitions for High School Students

Are you in high school and looking to participate in a history competition? Check out this curated list below of opportunities from across the country!

Competing and performing well in a history competition can offer valuable exposure by indicating your interest in the subject of history to potential colleges. Competitions also grant the opportunity to improve one’s skills in writing, public speaking, or debate , for example. Additionally, you can also choose to conduct independent research on various topics that come under the umbrella of history, and publish them in prestigious journals like the Concord Review !

Below are 10 history competitions to consider, some of which are offered in the summer and others during the school year. The programs range from live quiz competitions to essay competitions to oratory contests , so there is something for everyone!

We’ve also covered some great history programs in this blog, and research ideas in history here !

1. International History Olympiad

One of the most popular competitions at the high school level, the International History Olympiad is a competition attended by hundreds of students from all over the world. The multi-day series of events features numerous competitions (as well as non-competitive events) that offer many opportunities for students to win awards and connect with other individuals. The Olympiad takes place in a new location around the world each year (with past editions being held at Honolulu, Berlin, Rome), deeming it also a great opportunity to take advantage of in terms of international travel. Qualification is conducted through participation in regional, national, and international qualifying events.

Application Deadline: July 2024

Location: TBD, 2023’s competition took place in Rome

Prizes: Prizes vary by rank and competition

Eligibility: All high school students are eligible through participation in regional, national, and international qualifying events

2. The National History Bee

This popular competition takes place on an annual basis in the capital of the United States. In order to qualify for participation at the national level of the competition, students must advance beyond rounds at the local and state levels in their respective districts. The History Bee is a buzzer-based history quiz that occurs at the individual level, without the help of teammates. Students compete 1-1 over many rounds where they answer paragraph-long questions about various historical topics . Visit the National History Bee’s website to learn more about specific competition rules and formatting. This is a very esteemed competition where you can network with other students, learn more about historical facts, and impress colleges.

Application Deadline: TBA

Location: Washington, DC and Arlington, VA

Eligibility: All high school students younger than 19 years old: Varsity (11th and 12th grade), Junior Varsity (9th or 10th grade)

3. Joseph S. Rumbaugh Historical Oration Contest

This contest is offered by The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) and is an oration competition. Each participant must draft and present an original oration between five to six minutes in length . Then, students must deliver the oration from memory without notes or props. The topic must be an event, personality, or document related to the Revolutionary War. The oration must also show a relation between the chosen topic and America today. This is a great way to simultaneously develop public speaking and writing skills!

Students must get through preliminary local rounds, state levels, and then advance to the national level at which place scholarships and prizes are awarded. The orations are evaluated on composition, delivery, significance, historical accuracy, and other secondary criteria. Winners on the national level in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place receive cash prizes, as well as an Olympic-sized medal.

Application Deadline: TBA, varying by state and SAR chapter

Location: Virtual

Prizes: Varying cash prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners

Eligibility: Students in grades 9-12th

4. George S. & Stella M. Knight Essay Contest

Offered by The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), this essay competition invites students to submit an 800-1,200 word essay. The essay needs to be based on an event, person, philosophy or ideal associated with the American Revolution , Declaration of Independence, or the framing of the U.S Constitution. Essays will be judged on historical accuracy, clarity, organization, grammar, spelling, and documentation.

Like other competitions offered by the SAR, the contest is conducted in stages on the local, state, and national level. Contact your local chapter to enter into the competition. All essays must additionally include a title page, bibliography page, and a biography page. The prizes vary for the top 5 essay writers. However, the first place winning essay will be submitted in the SAR magazine and will have an opportunity to visit Washington, D,C. This is a great opportunity to strengthen one’s ability to conduct research and synthesize historical information .

Location: Virtual, through each SAR chapter

Prizes: Varying cash prizes for winners at each tier

5. The National History Day National Contest

The National Contest of National History Day is a massive gathering of nearly 3,000 individuals offered annually by the organization to student scholars and their families. National History Day invites successful winners of local and affiliate contests to share their research and other history-related work widely. Beyond competing in a variety of competitions, partnerships with local museums and cultural institutions offer students dynamic programming and professional development opportunities .

The gathering takes place in Maryland for a week-long series of events inviting students from all across the U.S., and the world. Students can also take the competition as a chance to explore Washington, D.C and benefit from the plethora of historical sites at the nation’s capital. This is a fantastic opportunity! To compete on such a national level is an amazing opportunity and very impressive feat that is sure to demonstrate your passion for history and historical reasoning to colleges.

Application Deadline: June 9-13, 2024

Location: University of Maryland, College Park

Prizes: Varying prizes per category of the competition

Eligibility: All high school students, teachers and parents are also invited

6. The National History Bowl

In a similar fashion to The National History Bee, The National History Bowl is offered once a year in the nation’s capitol to students who have advanced past local, regional, and state History Bowl competitions. The format is a buzzer-based history quiz with teams of up to 6 students . Students seek to answer questions faster than their opponents about topics covering: the history of the arts, sciences, religion, philosophy, language, historical geography, recent history, and even a bit of the history of sports and entertainment. Questions can reference all eras of history in all geographic regions of the world . Check out their website for specific information about the tournament format and how to advance in each round.

Note : We’ve covered the competition in depth here !

Application Deadline: TBD

7. World Historian Student Essay Competition

Offered by the World History Association, this international contest asks students to address a historical topic and its relation to student’s personal lives and world history at large. An example of a past paper topic is: “My ancestor walked with Abraham Lincoln from Illinois to fight in the Black Hawk War of 1832." The essays are judged based on the thesis, evidence of critical-thinking, organization, and other criteria. Overall, this written competition is a pretty good opportunity to assess your writing ability from a renowned organization in the discipline of history.

Application Deadline: May 1, 2024

Prizes: $500 Prize and a one year membership to the World History Association

Eligibility: An international competition for students in grades K-12

8. The American History Essay Contest

Presented by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), this essay competition seeks to introduce younger students to employ creativity in thinking about the history of the United States . The DAR set out a unique topic for each competition cycle and the submissions are judged for historical accuracy, topic adherence, organization of materials, originality, and writing quality. The essays are evaluated on a local, state, divisional, and national level. The contest is carried out through participating chapters of the DAR organization.

Application Deadline: Varies, contact your local DAR chapter

Prizes: Certificate of participation for each student and varying medals and awards for winners at each division (local, state. national)

Eligibility: Students in 9th-12th grade

9. Write Your Own Historical Fiction Competition

The Write Your Own Historical Fiction Competition is offered by The Historical Association each year to students across the world. Although varying by year, the organization typically does not assign a firm theme for the entries to the competition. The essays, ranging from 400 to 3500 words, are evaluated for their historical accuracy, convincing storytelling, effective use of historical vocabulary, and creativity. Do note that entries must be submitted by a teacher on behalf of a school.

Although the competition’s premise is a bit unconventional for a history competition, this contest offers students a unique opportunity to channel their creativity through the lens of an important academic subject . This will prove very beneficial when writing applications to colleges, or other writing endeavors at large.

Application Deadline: TBA, likely June 2024

Prizes: Cash awards for winners as well as a specially-designed notebook

Eligibility: Students in Years 5-13. Internationally

10. The David McCullough Essay Prize

Named after the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, this essay competition offered by The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History , recognizes outstanding high school student research essays each year. Essays for the competition (between 1,500-2,000 words) are required to center primary source analysis of a document in American history from 1493 to 2000. This is a solid opportunity to conduct historical research very similar to collegiate writing , with citations, a bibliography and secondary sources attached.

Prizes: Cash awards for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place and a certificate of participation for all students

Eligibility: Students in 10th-12th grade part of the National Academy of American History and Civics

If you are interested in doing university-level research in history and politics, then you could also consider applying to the Lumiere Research Scholar Program , a selective online high school program for high school students. Last year, we had over 4000 students apply for 500 spots in the program! You can find the application form here.

Aisha is a student at Princeton University, studying Anthropology and Global Health. On campus, she is involved with student groups centered around health equity and cultural affinity. In her free time, she enjoys podcasting, learning languages, and trying new recipes.

Image Source: National History Bowl logo

Home Blog WORLD HISTORIAN STUDENT ESSAY COMPETITION

WORLD HISTORIAN STUDENT ESSAY COMPETITION

The World Historian Student Essay Competition is an international competition open to students enrolled in grades K–12 in public, private, and parochial schools, and those in home-study programs. Membership in the World History Association is not a requirement for submission. Past winners may not compete in the same category again.

The World History Association established this $500 prize to recognize young scholars. A one-year membership in the WHA will also be included with each prize.

Each competitor will submit an essay that addresses the issue:  In what way has the study of world history affected my understanding of the world in which I live?

The committee will judge papers according to the following criteria:

  • clear thesis;
  • elaboration on the thesis with specific, concrete, personal example(s);
  • evidence of critical-thinking, such as synthesis and evaluation, when reflecting on the essay question;
  • organization and fluency; and
  • overall effectiveness of the student’s ability to communicate his or her personal connection with the study of world history—in other words, how well has the student described the experience of being changed by a better understanding of world history?

To view some of our past winning essays, please click on the links below.

2019 Paper Prize Winner

2018 Paper Prize Winner

2017 Paper Prize Winner

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Length & format.

Length:  Submissions for the  K–12  World Historian Award should be approximately 1,000 words.

Formatting:  Number all pages except for the title page. All pages are to be double-spaced. Use 12-point Times New Roman Font. Margins are to be 1 inch left and right, and top and bottom.

Submissions must be composed in Microsoft Word.

The author’s identity is to appear nowhere on the paper.

A separate, unattached page should accompany the paper, identifying the author, title of paper, home address, telephone number, e-mail address, and name of school.

Papers that do not adhere to these guidelines will be disqualified.

Entries must be emailed or postmarked by the annual deadline of 1 May.

Winning papers will be announced during the summer.

The  WHA  reserves the right to publish in the  World History Bulletin  any essay (or portion thereof) submitted to the competition. It will do so solely at its discretion, but full acknowledgment of authorship will be given. If someone’s essay is published in whole or in part, the author will receive three (3) copies of the  Bulletin.

E-mail submission

Send the following materials as separate attachments (formatted in  MS  Word) in the same e-mail, with the subject line  World Historian Student Essay :

  • the paper, and
  • a page with identifying information (author, title of paper, home address, telephone number, e-mail address, and name of school).

E-mail to: Susan Smith < [email protected] >.

Postal submission

Send five copies of the paper and five copies of the page with identifying information. In the lower left hand corner on the front of the envelope write:  World Historian Student Essay.

Susan Smith Maple Grove Senior High 9800 Fernbrook Lane  N. Maple Grove,  MN  55369-9747

WORLD HISTORIAN STUDENT ESSAY COMPETITION COMMITTEE:

  • Susan Smith, chair
  • Paul Richgruber

PAST WINNERS

  • Amanda Zhao, Pacific Ridge School (Carlsbad, CA) “History: An Ode to the Bricks of Progress”
  • Akram Elkouraichi, Yonkers Middle High School (Yonkers, NY) “The Realization of Impermanence: Ephemerality in World History as a Conceptual Framework”
  • Steven Chen, Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School (Vancouver, BC, Canada) “A Human Story: World History as an Optimist”
  • Juliana Boerema, Cary Christian School (Cary, North Carolina) “Brilliant Painting: How the Study of World History Changes Perspective”
  • Ahmad Aamir, Lahore Grammar School (Lahore, Pakistan) “Learning from History: Cooperation, Belief, Scholarship, & Words”
  • Vivian Liu, International School of Beijing (Beijing, China) “History: Bread of the World”
  • Vanessa Yan, Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School (Bradenton, Florida) “World History: The Great Macroscope”
  • Rachel Hughes, Webber Academy (Calgary, Canada), “Fostering a Universal Understanding of World History is the Key to a Brighter Tomorrow”
  • Campbell Munson, The Episcopal School of Dallas, “How History Has Affected My Worldview: Economies, Migration, Causality and Disease”
  • Jacob Cooper, North Oconee High School (Bogart, Georgia), “World History: The Basis for Self-Determination, Democracy, and Religion“
  • Luke J. Hamilton, Sword Academy (Bridgeport, Nebraska), “The Present: Living History”
  • David Kim, Wydown Middle School ( St.  Louis), “History: The Shadow of the World”
  • Elizabeth Mello, Dartmouth High School (Dartmouth, Massachusetts), “Out of Many Threads, One Cloth”

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An illustration of anthropomorphized movie concessions sitting on a curb and looking dejected outside a theater, which is in disrepair.

Opinion Guest Essay

How Bad Can It Get for Hollywood?

Credit... Tomi Um

Supported by

By Mark Harris

Mr. Harris is a cultural historian and the author of “Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood.”

  • March 1, 2024

The Academy Awards ceremony, which this year will take place on March 10, traditionally provides a reliable moment of optimism for a perennially anxious industry. The Oscars are the climax of an awards season that’s a prolonged exercise in collective congratulation, and in early March the rest of the year still looks bright. The Sundance Film Festival and its attendant bidding wars have wrapped up, offering nothing but promise and excitement. At the box office, the biggest bets of the year have typically not yet opened and thus have not yet bombed. Every unreleased movie on the schedule might yet be a great one. Every year feels as if it just might be the biggest year ever.

But not this year.

For Hollywood, 2023 was not so much a disaster as a preview of disasters to come. Sure, one of the big stories last year was the Barbenheimer phenomenon — two celebrated hits that marched arm in arm toward a combined 21 Oscar nominations — but everywhere else you look, the prognosis is grim.

The industry, still staggering back from the pandemic shutdowns, was hit with twin strikes that brought production to a halt for six months. Writers, actors and virtually the rest of Hollywood’s work force were united in animus against the studio bosses, who, in their refusal to cut necessary deals, blithely cast themselves in the role of supervillain. That fury persists: Each new headline about the huge compensation package for Robert Iger, Disney’s chief executive, or decisions by David Zaslav, the chief executive of Warner Bros. Discovery, to shelve entire projects for tax write-offs undergirds a prevailing narrative that the people who finance the movies are becoming the enemies of the people who make them.

All of this is happening as the industry seems to be realizing in unison that streaming services — those wondrous platforms that were going to carry the town into the future like magic carpets — maybe aren’t a panacea after all. And hanging over all this anger and anxiety is the menace of artificial intelligence, which threatens every human part of the creative food chain, from the writers who pen scripts to the actors whose faces fill the screens to, theoretically, the studio executives whose jobs are piloting hits.

The year 2023 was a time of downsizing, diminishment, shelving, sidelining, retrenching, retreating and bet-hedging. And 2024 is the year of consequences. The plain fact is that, thanks to the strikes, there simply aren’t enough movies and new shows in the pipeline to give the business the boom year it badly needs. (This weekend’s big opening, “Dune: Part Two,” was delayed from its original 2023 premiere date because of the strikes’ disruption.) For Hollywood, it will take at least a full year for the supply lines to start flowing at capacity again — and there are fewer supply lines than there used to be. Only five of the legacy movie companies still operate as traditional studios, and one of those, Paramount, is up for sale.

As for new projects, the industry’s current whispered motto seems to be: Just survive till ’25. Writers and producers pitching projects are being warned to keep expectations at basement level: Nobody’s buying, everybody’s cutting costs, caution rules, and the boom times are over. To quote Tony Soprano — the main character in a hit show back when a golden age seemed to be dawning, not dimming — things are trending downward. He had no idea how prescient he was.

If “Hollywood” were a big summer movie, we’d be right at the end of Act II, at the always-darkest-before-the-dawn moment in the story, when all seems lost. Or, as one agent put it to me, “A lot of us are feeling like we’re working in the aftermath of an industry, not in an industry.” But as any fan of Hollywood screenplays knows, this is also when the beaten-down heroes look at the redrawn battlefield, assess the new, heightened stakes, regroup and eventually triumph. The movie business, since at least the 1940s, has always defined itself by perceived threats to its survival — charges of Communist influence, the advent of television and the rise of the VCR, cable or streaming — and it has always found a way to rebound.

In the mid-1960s, when studio culture was besieged and foundering and nobody who ran Hollywood could understand why the old ways were no longer working, “it wasn’t just that we were sick of the system,” the director Arthur Penn once told me. “The system was sick of itself.” But that malaise, dejection and uncertainty led to a major upheaval — and a decade of churning creative excitement. The New Hollywood movement of the late 1960s and 1970s happened because a bunch of great young filmmakers made a bunch of great new movies (“Bonnie and Clyde” and “The Graduate” and “Easy Rider” and “The Godfather” and “Jaws”) that turned out to be huge hits. But it’s worth noting that the people in charge at the time considered most of those movies exceptions, oddities and anomalies. The industry didn’t realize that the world beneath its feet was changing.

That’s where the movie business is right now: The system, it seems, is once again sick of itself. The industry has, for the past four years, been wondering when it can get back to normal, and it’s becoming increasingly clear that there may be no such thing. There is only forward to something new. The industry is about to find out what that might look like.

In the ashes of last year, an outline of this new normal started to emerge. It’s a landscape that consists not of just big studios (this isn’t the 1950s) or big studios competing with upstart indies that steal their awards (this isn’t the 1990s) but of a mix of new and old models: studios; indies; streamers like Apple, Amazon and Netflix; and the kind of out-of-nowhere hits, faith-based movies and red-state phenomena like “Sound of Freedom” that keep taking people on the coasts by surprise.

It’s also a landscape that, like so many these days, involves Taylor Swift. In 2023 “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” bypassed traditional distributors, went straight to theaters and outgrossed all but 10 of last year’s biggest movies domestically. If theaters are going to survive, this kind of communal event — the “you have to be there with 20 friends” movie/dance party — is probably going to be integral to their future. One acknowledgment of the Swift effect came when the streaming rights to “The Eras Tour” went to Disney for reportedly more than $75 million. Hollywood finally stepped up with a tried-and-true old-school principle: If you can’t beat ’em, eat ’em (even if it’s a very expensive meal).

If the defining piece of good news for the studios in 2023 was Barbenheimer, the industry seems unwilling to learn from its success. Barbenheimer suggested that audiences might get excited when two huge, very different films open on the same day — but studios, which used to compete head-to-head almost every weekend, now try desperately to avoid those scheduling clashes. Astonishingly, several weekends in 2024, as of now, have not even one big new movie , let alone two, set to open. That’s a mistake. Studios need to chase this kind of collision, and Barbenheimer was a useful reminder that old-world studios (Universal released “Oppenheimer,” and Warner Bros. released “Barbie”) are among the few entities with the sheer marketing muscle to stoke a bona fide worldwide event.

The year 2023 provided two blockbusters that are going head-to-head for best picture, a Hollywood studio dream come true. But that can’t erase the fact that superhero movies, the industry’s cash cow for the past dozen years, showed ominous signs of collapse. All four of Warner’s DC movies underperformed, including “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” “The Flash” and “Blue Beetle.” Disney’s “The Marvels” — a sequel to “Captain Marvel,” which grossed $427 million — earned a woeful $85 million. It seems unkind even to mention Sony’s disastrous attempt at building out a “Spider-Man” extended universe with “Madame Web.”

Superhero movies aren’t finished — Disney and Warner Bros. have locked in multiyear, multimovie plans, and “Deadpool & Wolverine” is likely to be a hit this summer — but what had been a bulletproof business plan is in tatters. The days when audiences would faithfully trot out for every interconnected chapter of a cinematic-universe saga are over. That’s no longer entertainment. That’s homework.

If there’s a silver lining, perhaps it can be found in an earlier superhero film, one that premiered amid great doubts about the industry 35 years ago. In the summer of 1989, prestige Hollywood moviemaking was in a rut, and anxious executives fretted that maybe young people just wanted to stay home and watch MTV, much in the way they now worry that youth are addicted to bite-size TikToks. But in 1989, the success of the director Tim Burton’s “Batman” and the unexpected breakout hits “The Little Mermaid,” “Sex, Lies and Videotape” and “Do the Right Thing” opened up new vistas of possibility. Three genres that had been written off as marginal — comic book movies, animation and indies — became gold mines. Hollywood may not yet know what’s going to replace superhero films as the next reliable blockbuster category, but this current crisis at least provides an incentive to start chasing a reset.

A reset, however, requires creative energy and imagination, and that’s a part of the movie industry that legacy studios have spent much of the modern era trying to eliminate. Studios have moved into an age of brand stewardship and out of the business of generating ideas and developing scripts. They’ve redefined their business as curation rather than discovery. That has to change, too. This isn’t a high-minded plea for the industry to become something it’s never been; instead, it’s a pitch for the studios (and now streamers) to reconnect with the enterprising, flexible, relatively quick-to-pivot business model under which they operated successfully for a vast majority of their existence.

Hollywood has a long history of toggling between spurts of irrational exuberance and deep valleys of clinical depression. Before the perils of streaming and A.I., the existential threat in the aughts came from peak TV, that siren luring away A-list talent and audience eyeballs. But not everything that looks like an industry killer turns out to be one. The e-book did not end books or bookstores. And streaming, a business that, for all its flaws, gives more people more access to more films, will not kill movies or moviegoing. It’s possible that the bungled decisions that led to two prolonged strikes — the most vigorous recent attempt by studio heads to shoot themselves in the foot — created one unanticipated benefit, a green shoot of improbable hope: a serious delay in the completion of giant franchise movies. Given their recent disappointing box office numbers, a few of those decades-old franchises, like “The Fast and the Furious” and “Mission: Impossible,” may have finally reached retirement age.

In light of this blockbuster shortage — and out of sheer panicked supply chain necessity — Hollywood is looking at and buying and even making plans to produce a bunch of scripts that can get off the ground fast and be cast, shot and edited reasonably quickly. They’re the kinds of films that don’t require a $250 million budget and a year of complicated postproduction work. They’re films like “ Hamnet ,” directed by the Oscar winner Chloé Zhao (whose last film was an underperforming Marvel movie, “Eternals”), and “Novocaine,” a thriller acquired by Paramount starring Jack Quaid. Even Tom Cruise, who hasn’t starred in a nonfranchise movie since 2017, is teaming with the Oscar-winning director Alejandro Iñárritu. These are self-contained films that don’t demand moviegoers have a Ph.D. in previous installments or extended universes.

They’re the kinds of films you might sometimes wish Hollywood made more of. Maybe you remember them. They’re what used to be called movies.

Mark Harris is a cultural historian and the author of “Pictures at a Revolution” and, most recently, “Mike Nichols: A Life.” He is working on a history of pop culture’s intersection with the gay rights movement.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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WPA Launches 2024 Medical Student Essay Competition focused on Mental Health and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

World Psychiatric Association announces a Travel Award for the winner of its 2024 Medical Student Essay Competition to attend the 24th WPA World Congress of Psychiatry in Mexico City, Mexico

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The World Psychiatric Association (WPA) has once again launched its much-anticipated Medical Student Essay Competition , a WPA Presidential initiative with the support of the United Nations Secretariat – Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division for Sustainable Development Goals.

This year's competition revolves around the critical theme of "Improving Mental Health in the Global World Using the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)." It challenges medical students worldwide to explore innovative approaches and solutions that align with the UN's comprehensive set of goals for sustainable development.

Eligibility and Participation: A Global Call to Medical Students

The WPA extends a warm invitation to medical students across the globe to contribute to this vital discourse. Participants are encouraged to submit essays of up to 3000 words, offering their perspectives and insights on the intersection of mental health and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Recognition on a Global Stage

world historian essay competition

Beyond recognition, the competition promises a platform to make a significant impact. All Finalists and the full text of their essays will be showcased on the WPA website, spotlighting both the authors and their ideas. The winning essay will be translated into all six official languages of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Moreover, the winner will be acknowledged at the 24th World Congress of Psychiatry (WCP 2024) in Mexico City. To facilitate their participation in the congress, a Travel Award of up to $1500 USD will be granted to cover travel and accommodation expenses. Additionally, the winner's Congress registration fee will also be waived.

More information on the 2024 Medical Student Essay Competition can be found here , including all submission requirements and deadlines .

Deadline and Schedule:

All submissions must be made online before the clock strikes midnight on 15 May, 2024, and the winner will be announced by 30 July, 2024.

This competition not only serves as a platform for aspiring medical professionals to showcase their talents but also highlights the WPA's commitment to addressing global mental health challenges through collaboration with the United Nations.

The WPA President, Prof. Danuta Wasserman, the WPA Special Interest Group on Medical Students, and the United Nations Secretariat – Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division for Sustainable Development Goals are pleased to support this competition and are looking forward to reading the submissions, as well as welcoming the winner in Mexico.

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Competence or Experience The Missing Voice in Pediatric Decision-Making

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INTRODUCTION

One night in 2016, I fell sound asleep, then awoke to painkiller-induced, nightmarish hallucinations in the ICU. Despite being unable to identify myself or surroundings, I can clearly remember the discordant beeping of hospital monitors, acrid smell of saline wash, and taste of sickly sweet orange amoxicillin syrup. I was unaware that, the morning after I’d fallen asleep, I’d skied off an unmarked 30-foot cliff, breaking my legs, jaw, eye socket and nose, rupturing my right ear canal, and shattering nearly all of my teeth. Over the years that followed, I was fortunate enough to receive care from skilled, compassionate physicians. This not only allowed me to return to ski racing, but to dream of becoming a surgeon. Having grown older and thus more aware throughout my years as a pediatric patient, I’ve developed a nuanced understanding of what treatment made me feel heard.

In fact, I found the most radically varying aspect of my care to be the degree to which I was addressed as a conscious, capable individual versus an extension of my parents. This is unsurprising as the proper amount of authority lended to pediatric patients persists as highly disputed in bioethics. Over the course of this paper, several perspectives will be considered in order to evaluate the current position of the pediatric patient in medical decision-making. First, the ambiguity of maturity and reactions to pediatric autonomy will be considered through the Mature Minor Doctrine, especially important in the refusal of life-saving therapies. Next, the need for improved pain management, rooted in the misalignment of experienced and perceived pain in pediatric patients. Finally, this paper will prove, through the lenses of communitarianism and mosaic decision-making, the need for a more nuanced approach to pediatric care that structurally accounts for the patient’s voice without neglecting their place within a greater network. Therefore, there exists a great need for a more direct, balanced integration of pediatric patients’ as well as revisiting prevailing notions of where pediatric patients stand in relation to reason and experience.

To begin, Fleischman’s Pediatric Ethics opens with an exploration of what makes pediatric bioethics distinct. [1] Fleischman quickly runs into the most problematic of principles in the treatment of pediatric patients– autonomy. The ethical ambiguity of the degree of autonomy to offer pediatric patients and at what point in their lives is a central point of conflict. Many in favor of expanded authority point to the neurobiological similarity between young adults and late teenagers. [2] Furthermore, while parents are treated as natural decision-makers for their children, there are several cases of minors facing pressure to undergo medical treatment against their wishes. [3] , [4]  In response to these concerns, the Mature Minor Doctrine was created, a common law exception to the parental consent requirement. The doctrine allows a minor “to refuse or consent to medical treatment if [they possess] sufficient maturity to understand and appreciate the benefits and risks of the proposed medical treatment.” [5] The doctrine has spurred extensive and impassioned bioethical discourse, especially in relation to the refusal of life-saving therapies.

In “Health Care Decisionmaking by Children'', Ross draws a clear distinction between the notion of competence, often cited in psychological justifications of the Mature Minor Doctrine, and sound judgment. [6]  Her points against child liberationists can be simplified as follows: (a) children need time to develop virtues that preserve their life-time autonomy versus their present-day autonomy, (b) pediatric patients possess “limited world experience and so [their] decisions are not part of a well-conceived life plan,” [7] and (c) it serves parents and children alike for parents to make decisions in line with their view of a good life. I find all three points convincing, but each of them to be uniquely rooted in this same, critical lack of experience possessed by pediatric patients. I can attest to this. There were times where I suffered so desperately that I longed for relief by any means. I even told my mother that I was content only hearing out of one ear, willing to do anything to prevent another surgery. Now, I am fearful to imagine a world where, at my lowest, I had full autonomy.

Hence, the broad aversion to expanded pediatric autonomy is largely rooted in potential misuse, especially in the possibility of a unilateral, misinformed decision in favor of death via refusal of life-sustaining therapy. [8] , [9] Yet, one might argue, the desire for death has concrete rationale beyond lack of life experience— pain and suffering. As Foley describes, “The public's fear of pain and the media's portrayal that physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia are the only reliable options for pain relief… demand that health care delivery systems commit their efforts to improve pain relief at an institutional level.” [10]  Indeed, the issue of insufficient pain management is all too common in pediatrics. One study comparing postoperative pain assessments surveyed 307 patients, 207 of whom were verbal. Across the board, nurses’ pain estimations produced significantly lower pain scores than parents and children, and were consistently closer to estimated pain scores of independent observers. [11] In another study, a total of 356 nurses across 22 Japanese PICUs were surveyed, and despite possessing a median of 4 years of experience, a mere 32.6% expressed confidence in their ability to accurately assess pain. [12]   It is alarming and telling that even in verbal pediatric patients, pain is significantly underestimated by medical personnel, reflecting a real gap in pediatric patient-professional communication. I can, again, personally attest to this. In the children’s ward, I was offered only Tylenol for severe nerve pain in my legs that kept me awake most nights.

Relatedly, the spirited debate in response to the Mature Minor Doctrine is somewhat disproportionate. Despite the suggestion of various commentators that the law broadly recognizes the doctrine or that states are trending in its direction, only eight states have adopted a mature minor exception, and even these states condition this authority greatly. [13] With this in mind, a crucial issue is illuminated– an aversion to the pediatric patient voice altogether. As Flesichman writes, “Children should be informed about the nature of their condition, the proposed treatment plan, and the expected outcome… appropriate to their developmental levels.” [14] Hence, it is vital to curtail pediatric autonomy in complex and life-threatening choices, but it is worth seriously considering that the current landscape might excessively minimize or avoid pediatric patients’ expression, merely serving to inform them rather than account for their voice.

The experience that pediatric patients do possess, in the form of knowing their body, past medical experiences, and thus present pain-related needs, is systemically underrepresented. This is a pressing issue. Before considering expansion of the pediatric voice, though, it is first important to consider the manner in which the patient’s capacity is further complicated by their role within a larger community. It is worthwhile explicitly mentioning communitarianism, a prevailing school of thought in modern bioethics, defined by Callahan as “a way of… assum[ing] that human beings are social animals… and whose lives are lived out within deeply penetrating social, political, and cultural institutions and practices.” [15] Pediatric patients present a uniquely communitarian case as the perspectives of parents and the needs of patients’ families are vital considerations in offering care. The pediatric patient’s role in a larger family unit and community should be kept in focus so long as the well-being of the patient isn’t compromised, such as in potentially life-threatening religious preferences, as the obligation of the physician is, first and foremost, to the patient.

Nonetheless, the status quo demands a more thoughtful and structural accounting of the pediatric voice to ensure that they feel heard and empowered in complex decision-making and regular care alike. Hence, it is necessary to develop and evaluate clinical models and frameworks that directly account for the pediatric voice, that integrate pediatric patients’ input as continuous, regular, and required elements of treatment. For instance, there may be promise in a model similar to that of mosaic decision-making, a means of restoring the capacity of reemergent patients following brain injury. Rather than enabling complete surrogate authority, the model would enable a pediatric patient’s emergent voice to be accommodated but to not “speak beyond its range and capabilities” via group deliberation between surrogate and patient, a medical professional, and a patient advocate. [16] Opting for such a model would enable the active involvement of pediatric input without excessively empowering the patient in a manner that neglects their communitarian role and lack of experience.

In the heated response to the largely unenforced mature minor doctrine, one finds the invaluable and lacking factor of experience in pediatric patients, especially in decisions to withdraw or refuse life-sustaining medical treatments. In this same response, however, one finds a sharp aversion to the pediatric voice, reflected in pervasive under-medication. Deficits in pain management must be addressed to more effectively treat discomfort, an effort bolstered by a more structural accounting of the pediatric voice and thus pain-related needs. Finally, frameworks that regularly involve the pediatric patient perspective while valuing their communitarian importance and lacking experience, such as the mosaic model, hold real promise moving forward.

[1] Fleischman, Alan. Pediatric Ethics: Protecting the Interests of Children. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, September, 2016), p. 1-16.

[2] Coleman, Doriane & Rosoff, Philip. “The Legal Authority of Mature Minors to Consent to General Medical Treatment.” (Itasca: American Journal of Pediatrics, March  2013), p. 1.

[3] Hawkins, Susan. “Protecting the Rights and Interests of Competent Minors in Litigated Medical Treatment Disputes.” (New York: Fordham Law Review, March 1996), p. 1.

[4] Derish, Melinda & Heuvel, Kathleen. “Mature Minors Should Have the Right to Refuse Life-Sustaining Medical Treatment.” (Boston: The

Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, January 2021), p. 1-14.

[5] Derish, Melinda & Heuvel, Kathleen. “Mature Minors Should Have the Right to Refuse Life-Sustaining Medical Treatment.” p. 7.

[6] Ross, Lainie. “Health Care Decisionmaking by Children. Is It in Their Best Interest?” (Garrison: The Hastings Center Report, November-December 1997), p. 1-5.

[7] Ross. “Health Care Decisionmaking by Children''. p. 5.

[8] Penkower, Jessica. “The Potential Right of Chronically Ill Adolescents to Refuse Life-Saving Medical Treatment - Fatal Misuse of the Mature Minor Doctrine.” (Chicago: DePaul Law Review, 1996), p. 1-8.

[9] Burk, Josh. “Mature Minors, Medical Choice, and the Constitutional Right to Martyrdom.” (Charlottesville: Virginia Law Review, September 2016), p. 1-15.

[10] Foley, Kathleen. “Pain Relief Into Practice: Rhetoric Without Reform.” (Alexandria: Journal of Clinical Oncology, 1995), p. 1-3

[11] Hla et. al. “Perception of Pediatric Pain: A Comparison of Postoperative Pain Assessments Between Child, Parent, Nurse, and Independent Observer.” (Melbourne: Pediatric Anesthesia. 2014) p. 1-5.

[12] Tsuboi et. al. “Nurses' perception of pediatric pain and pain assessment in the Japanese PICU.” (Tokyo: Pediatrics International, February 2023), p. 1-3, 10-12.

[13] Coleman, Doriane & Rosoff, Philip. “The Legal Authority of Mature Minors”. p. 1-3.

[14] Fleischman, Alan. Pediatric Ethics . p. 115.

[15] Callahan, Daniel. “Principlism and communitarianism.” (Garrison: The Hastings Center  Report, October 2003), p. 2.

[16] Fins, Joseph. “Mosaic Decisionmaking and Reemergent Agency after Severe Brain  Injury”. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, September 2017), p. 6.

Jonathan Tenenbaum

Third place winner of Voices in Bioethics' 2023 persuasive essay contest. 

Disclaimer: These essays are submissions for the 2023 essay contest and have not undergone peer review or editing.

Article Details

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License .

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says the Netanyahu government 'no longer fits the needs of Israel' and calls for new elections

Sailor Cole Brauer makes history as the first American woman to race solo around the world

Aboard her 40-foot racing boat First Light ,  29-year-old Cole Brauer just became the first American woman to race nonstop around the world by herself.

The New York native pulled into A Coruña, Spain, on Thursday after a treacherous 30,000-mile journey that took 130 days.

She thanked a cheering crowd of family and fans who had been waiting for her on shore.

“This is really cool and so overwhelming in every sense of the word,” she exclaimed, before drinking Champagne from her trophy.

The 5-foot-2 powerhouse placed second out of 16 avid sailors who competed in the Global Solo Challenge, a circumnavigation race that started in A Coruña with participants from 10 countries. The first-of-its-kind event   allowed a wide range of boats to set off in successive departures based on performance characteristics. Brauer started on Oct. 29, sailing down the west coast of Africa, over to Australia, and around the tip of South America before returning to Spain.

Brauer is the only woman and the youngest competitor in the event — something she hopes young girls in and out of the sport can draw inspiration from.

“It would be amazing if there was just one girl that saw me and said, ‘Oh, I can do that too,’” Brauer said of her history-making sail.

It’s a grueling race, and more than half of the competitors have dropped out so far. One struck something that caused his boat to flood, and another sailor had to abandon his ship after a mast broke as a severe storm was moving in.

The four-month journey is fraught with danger, including navigating the three “Great Capes” of Africa, Australia and South America. Rounding South America’s Cape Horn, where the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans meet, is often likened to climbing Mount Everest because of its perfect storm of hazards — a sharp rise in the ocean floor and whipping westerly winds push up massive waves. Combined with the frigid waters and stray icebergs, the area is known as a graveyard for ships, according to NASA. Brauer  said  she was “so unbelievably stoked” when she sailed past Cape Horn in January.

Marco Nannini, organizer of the Global Solo Challenge, said the comparison to scaling Mount Everest doesn’t capture the difficulty of the race. Sailing solo means not just being a skipper but a project manager — steering the boat, fixing equipment, understanding the weather and maintaining one’s physical health.

Nannini cited the relatively minuscule number of people who have sailed around the world solo — 186, according to the International Association of Cape Horners — as evidence of the challenges that competitors face. More than 6,000 people have climbed Mount Everest, according to  High Adventure Expeditions .

Brauer stared down 30-foot waves that had enough force to throw her across the boat. In a scare caught on camera, she badly injured her rib   near the halfway point of the event. At another point, her team in the U.S. directed Brauer to insert an IV into her own arm due to dehydration from vomiting and diarrhea.

She was able to stay in constant communication with members of her team, most of whom are based in New England,   and keep herself entertained with Netflix and video calls with family through Starlink satellites.   That’s also how Brauer was able to use Zoom to connect with NBC News for an interview, while she was sailing about 1,000 miles west of the Canary Islands.

While Brauer was technically alone on First Light, she had the company of 450,000 followers on Instagram, where she frequently got candid about life on an unforgiving sea while reflecting on her journey.

“It all makes it worth it when you come out here, you sit on the bow, and you see how beautiful it is,” she said in an Instagram video, before panning the camera to reveal the radiant sunrise.

Brauer grew up on Long Island but didn’t learn to sail until she went to college in Hawaii. She traded in her goal of becoming a doctor for life on the water. But she quickly learned making a career as a sailor is extremely difficult, with professional racers often hesitant to welcome a 100-pound young woman on their team.

Even when she was trying to find sponsors for the Global Solo Challenge, she said a lot of people “wouldn’t touch her with a 10-foot pole” because they saw her as a “liability.”

Brauer’s message to the skeptics and naysayers? “Watch me.”

“I push so much harder when someone’s like, ‘No, you can’t do that,’ or ‘You’re too small,’” Brauer explained.

“The biggest asset is your mental strength, not the physical one,” Nannini said. “Cole is showing everyone that.”

Brauer hopes to continue competing professionally and is already eyeing another around-the-world competition, but not before she gets her hands on a croissant and cappuccino.

“My mouth is watering just thinking about that.”

Emilie Ikeda is an NBC News correspondent.

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