duke essay prize

Essay Prize

Dukes Plus Essay Competition 2024

Showcase your academic talent and critical thinking in fields like education, law, healthcare, and more. Prizes include £300, a consultation with an education advisor, and publication in Insight magazine. Submit your essay by August 14th, 2024.

• Win a £300 prize or magazine publication
• Showcase your academic talent & critical thinking
• Write about field such as education, law, healthcare, and more
• Open to students aged 15-17
• Submit your essay by August 14th, 2024

Dukes Education has held an annual essay prize since 2015. Open to students 15-17 years old, the prestigious competition provides a platform for students to showcase their academic prowess, creativity, and critical thinking.

We anticipate that some students will use the experience of entering the essay competition as evidence of their super-curricular engagement and plan to profile it on their future university applications. With that in mind, this year we are running four essay competitions, aligned to our four university consultancy brands. Whilst all students are welcome to enter, we particularly encourage those who are considering university applications in the following fields to enter the competitions:  

Describe and justify what the ideal schools, existing in the year 2100, would be like

Useful for those students who are planning an application to a US university; this title encourages entrants to consider what makes an institution special and how that might change in the future. The competition is a great warm-up for the supplemental essays students will write when applying.

“Essays no longer demonstrate a student’s academic potential.” Discuss. 

Useful for those students who are considering a competitive UK university pathway, such as Oxford or Cambridge.

To what extent is there a legal justification for extreme climate change protest? 

Useful for students who are planning to apply for Law as their undergraduate degree. 

Identify the world’s best healthcare system and justify your choice. 

Useful for students who are applying to the medical field.

Details of the competition 

• Maximum word count: 1,500 words 
• Deadline: Midday on Wednesday 14th August 2024 
• Prizes: £300, a complimentary consultation with an education advisor worth £395, and publication in Dukes Education’s Insight magazine. 

Submission Guidelines 

• Format: Essays must be submitted as an attachment in Microsoft Word or PDF format. 
• Details: Include your name and school in the submission. 
• Email: Submit your essay using the form below by the deadline. 
• Eligibility: Open to students aged 15-17 years old on Wednesday 14 th August 2024. 
• Deadline: Midday on Wednesday 14th August 2024. 
• Winners Announced: By 1st October 2024. 

Marking Criteria 

• Writing Quality: Clarity, coherence, and correctness of language. 
• Structure: Logical flow and organisation of content. 
• Quality of Argument: Strength and relevance of arguments presented. 
• Creativity: Originality and innovative thinking. 
• Referencing: Appropriate and accurate referencing (excluded from the word count). 

This competition is a fantastic opportunity for students to engage in thought-provoking topics, enhance their writing skills, and gain recognition for their efforts. We look forward to receiving your insightful essays! 

Submit Your Essay

Please note: essays will be run through plagiarism and ai-detection software. ai-written essays will not be considered..

Major Library Systems Recently Upgraded

The Books & Media Catalog, eBooks search, Online Journal Titles search, Library Account/Duke Requests system, and Course Reserves were upgraded in July:

• Learn more about known issues and key changes

Ask questions or report problems

Lowell Aptman Prizes

• Deadline for submissions is June 15, 2023.
• A f aculty signature of support must be sent.
• E-mail your application material as a SINGLE FILE (PDF or Word document) to Carson Holloway .

The Lowell Aptman Prizes recognize undergraduates’ excellence in research, including:

• evaluation and synthesis of sources
• use of the general library collections and services at Duke University.

The Aptman Prizes will be awarded annually in three categories:

• one prize for first- and second-year students
• one prize for third- and fourth-year students
• one prize for fourth-year students who submit honors theses

Any student who uses library resources to complete a paper and project as part of his or her undergraduate coursework at Duke may be considered for an Aptman Prize. Each prize carries a $1,000 cash award .

Selection Criteria

Papers are judged based on students’ effective use of library resources and research procedures, as evidenced by the following:

• sophistication, originality, or unusual depth or breadth in the use of library collections, including (but not limited to) databases, materials in all media, primary sources and printed resources
• exceptional ability to evaluate, locate, select and synthesize library resources and then use and cite them in the creation of a project in any media that shows originality and/or has the potential to lead to original research in the future
• significant personal learning and the development of a habit of research and inquiry that shows that student has acquired information literacy skills that will serve him/her in the future

Application Guidelines

See the Application Guidelines for more information about how to submit your research for consideration.

Research Essay Guidelines

See the Research Essay Guidelines for more information about developing your essay for this prize.

2nd Place - Anna Morris, Alleyn's School

Movement - The Overlooked Relationship Between Cerebral Palsy and Difficulties in Childbirth

To What Extent Did Social Change Lead to Movement into a New Era of Preventative and Therapeutic Techniques for Neuromuscular Conditions?

The idea that in some cases there is a cause-effect relationship between complications in the labour process and the subsequent development of a neuromuscular condition such as cerebral palsy is far from unheard of, and widely undisputed. What is less commonly conceived is the idea that both the existence of the condition and the birth difficulties themselves can sometimes be attributed to early-occurring developmental defects of the foetal brain, an idea that I encountered whilst reading Dick Swaab’s “We Are Our Brains: From the Womb to Alzheimer’s” (Swaab, 2014). This observation later showed to be fundamental, as it proved that cerebral palsy could develop in utero, an understanding which has revolutionised the mitigation and treatment of neuromuscular conditions. From an untreated group of symptoms stemming from an undefined, unrecognised illness, to a widely documented, often successfully managed group of conditions, this discovery, prompted by changing social and political context, has enabled people with cerebral palsy to live richer and fuller lives than ever before.

Though the term itself, ‘cerebral palsy’, was not coined until 1887 by Canadian physician William Osler, the condition had been recognized long before by British surgeon William John Little in 1861, as he presented a paper titled “On the Nature and Treatment of the Deformities of the Human Frame” to the Obstetrical Society of London. The paper detailed “abnormal forms of labour”  (My Child, 2020), which lead to asphyxiation and what he believed to be the consequential development of spastic diplegia, a muscle-tightening form of the condition.  Little’s paper not only provided a foundation for the growing awareness of the risks of long-term disability from trauma at birth, but marked the beginning of the slow scientific progress in the study of neuromuscular conditions, whose symptoms had manifested for centuries before, and which had remained untreated and unmitigated due to lack of knowledge of a cause.

Whilst this was ground-breaking, Little’s ignorance of the idea that cerebral palsy could develop pre-birth due to a developmental defect proved harmful, as it was only with this understanding that many preventative, diagnostic, and therapeutic techniques could be engineered, and early intervention initiated. This knowledge was most likely masked by the idea, which loosely fits the ‘reverse causation bias’, that, counterintuitively, difficulties during birth can be caused by a cerebral palsy-causing brain defect, and therefore many children with cerebral palsy would have experienced birth trauma, regardless of whether or not it caused their condition. This was first suggested by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud following a study conducted in 1897, deduced largely from his observation that, whilst children with cerebral palsy often experienced oxygen deprivation at birth, many others born in similar conditions went on to live without motor function impairment. Additionally, neuromuscular conditions often appeared to manifest before birth, for instance through lack of movement in the womb.

Unfortunately, at the time of the publication of his ideas, Freud was largely ignored, and physicians continued to refer solely to Little’s research – it was only decades later that Freud’s work was verified. As a result, treatments remained limited, and the stony outlook for patients remained largely the same as prior to Little’s work, because of contempt faced by patients as a consequence of prejudices rooted within 19th century society – owing to the strong association between physical and mental impairment, and a lack of public understanding, it was not uncommon for people with cerebral palsy to spend large portions of their lives indoors in order to avoid mistreatment, often in government facilities which offered a low quality of care. Shortly after his rejection, Freud’s interest in cerebral palsy diminished, as did general scientific attention to the condition, until around halfway through the 20 th century, and public attitude to it remained largely the same. As writer Richard Barnett puts it, “lifelong segregation and care were [seen as] more humane than exposure to the working world outside” (Barnett, 2018), exemplifying the harsh social climate surrounding disabilities, and the large influence it had on the way that they were regarded both medically and universally. In themselves, social changes did not directly lead to advancements in clinical understanding which significantly improved the quality of life of those with developmental conditions, however they provided political pressure, and, by extension, technical expertise required to do so.

What I view to be the most pivotal socio-political factor contributing to the research which led to new clinical innovation regarding cerebral palsy was the deinstitutionalisation of those with neurological and intellectual disabilities. Beginning in 1955 and driven largely by the introduction of the first antipsychotic drugs, closures of government-run mental institutions enabled those with mental and developmental disorders (including cerebral palsy) to integrate into wider society, weakening the heavy pre-existing stigma surrounding their existences. With the closing of long-stay psychiatric hospitals and the opening of less-isolated community units came a shifted concentration onto the importance of individualised care, as medical professionals withdrew from the loose generalisation of disabled people, instead focusing on individual need and rehabilitation, greatly improving the overall quality of care received. Furthermore, the formation of disability councils and charities such as Scope (founded in 1952, originally “National Spastics Society”) (Scope, n.d.) upheld the changing of the negative societal perception of people with disabilities, and encouraged clinical awareness concerning the difficulties they faced.

Additionally responsible for generating medical curiosity and enforcing a better public attitude towards cerebral palsy was the increased media representation occurring from the 1950s onwards, which contextualised the lives of people with disabilities – an example of this is the permeation of the literary scene by Marie Killilia in the writing of her book “Karen”, which enforced the idea that children with cerebral palsy could lead prolific lives, much like her own daughter. Ranking in the top 30 Notable Books of 1953, Killilia’s work had a monumental cultural impact – in the words of Karen herself, “I can walk, I can talk. I can read. I can write. I can do anything.” (Killilia, 1952). Much of the political pressure which led to more thorough research stemmed from the thalidomide crisis in the early 1960s, during which public outrage, prompted by the severe physical deformity that the poorly regulated drug inflicted on developing foetuses, forced governments to prioritise the engineering of practical solutions to physical impairments.

From a social perspective, the quality of life of those with developmental disabilities, which for years before had been strikingly lacking, became increasingly emphasised, prompting fresh scientific interest, as was achieved by Little’s publication a century prior. Contrasting the events of the 19 th century, this newfound clinical awareness was long-lasting, as people with disabilities now had a new cultural presence through which their struggles were voiced. The greatest revelation occurred in the 1980s, with a study of 35 000 new-borns and their mothers, funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, which concluded that “complications during birth and labour accounted for only a fraction of the infants born with cerebral palsy — probably less than 10 percent” (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, 2008). In other words, Freud’s theory was proved to be correct, as cerebral palsy was discovered often to develop long before birth.

The clarification that cerebral palsy could in fact result from a pre-birth defect of the foetal brain proved invaluable – following this discovery came research which uncovered numerous risk factors for such brain damage, including in utero infections such as Rubella, and Rhesus disease, which is now generally preventable due to further research which yielded novel mitigation techniques for these risk factors, such as routine antenatal anti-D prophylaxis, a technique by which antigens which trigger an immune response which compromises foetal health in a pregnant woman can be neutralised (National Health Service, 2018).

Moreover, the development of early diagnostic techniques such as the use of magnetic resonance imaging proved vital, as they permitted for earlier physiotherapeutic intervention, discouraging the enforcement of incorrect movement patterns– failure to act within the “critical period” of optimum neural plasticity can lead to permanently reduced muscle strength and joint flexibility, and poor motor control (Physiopedia, 2020), significantly reducing one’s ability to live a self-reliant, fulfilling life with the capacity to fully engage with day-to-day tasks. In conjunction with newly-developed assistive technologies such as braces, these techniques have undoubtedly transformed countless lives, as physical independence is fundamental to personal wellbeing.

The extent to which social change and political pressure have impacted the quality of life for people with cerebral palsy is immense – not only did the increased acceptance and awareness of developmental disabilities generate an influx of biomedical interest which led to a technical revolution in the approach to their care, but has created a world more open and accessible to all, regardless of ability. Naturally, progress is still to be made, however the past attests that no prejudice, no matter how deep-rooted, is too large to overcome.

Swaab, D., 2014. We Are Our Brains: From the Womb to Alzheimer’s. 1st ed. s.l.:Allen Lane, an imprint of Penguin Books.

My Child, 2020. Cerebral Palsy Pioneers. [Online] Available at: https://www.cerebralpalsy.org/about-cerebral-palsy/history-and-origin/pioneers [Accessed 22 May 2020].

Barnett, R., 2018. Case Histories. The Lancet, Volume 392, p. 545.

Scope, n.d. Scope – About Us. [Online] Available at: https://www.scope.org.uk/about-us/history/ [Accessed 30 May 2020].

Killilia, M., 1952. Karen. Reprint ed. New York: Open Road Integrated Media

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, 2008. Ce4less. [Online] Available at: https://ce4less.com/Tests/Materials/E065Materials.pdf [Accessed 30 May 2020].

National Health Service, 2018. Rhesus Disease Prevention. [Online] Available at: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/rhesus-disease/prevention/ [Accessed 1 June 2020].

Physiopedia, 2020. Early Intervention in Cerebral Palsy. [Online] Available at: https://www.physio-pedia.com/Early_Intervention_in_Cerebral_Palsy [Accessed 1 June 2020].

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How to Write the Duke University Essays 2024-2025

Duke is consistently ranked within the top 10 colleges in the country, making it an incredibly selective school. With tens of thousands of applicants vying for a spot to be a Blue Devil, each and every aspect of your application will have to be unique and impressive—especially your essays.

For this application cycle, Duke is requiring all prospective students to answer one standard prompt and offering up to two additional submissions from a choice of five prompts for a possible total of three essays. Each of the options for the second prompt names a specific theme it is targeting, making it easier to select between them if you choose to. In this post, we will go over all of Duke’s prompts and break down how to write the essays so that you can maximize your chances of admission.

Read these Duke essay examples to inspire your writing.

Duke University Supplemental Essay Prompts

All applicants.

Prompt 1 (required): What is your sense of Duke as a university and a community, and why do you consider it a good match for you? If there’s something in particular about our offerings that attracts you, feel free to share that as well. (250 words)

Prompt 2 (optional): We want to emphasize that the following questions are optional. Feel free to answer one or two if you believe that doing so will add something meaningful that is not already shared elsewhere in your application. Five optional questions are available – a maximum of 2 can be selected . (250 words for all)

• Option 1: Perspective response: We believe a wide range of viewpoints, beliefs, and lived experiences are essential to making Duke a vibrant and meaningful living and learning community. Feel free to share with us anything in this context that might help us better understand you and what you might bring to our community.
• Option 2: Intellectual experience: Tell us about an experience in the past year or two that reflects your imagination, creativity, or intellect.
• Option 3: Beliefs & values: We believe there is benefit in sharing and sometimes questioning our beliefs or values; who do you agree with on the big important things, or who do you have your most interesting disagreements with? What are you agreeing or disagreeing about?
• Option 4: Orientation, identity, expression: Duke’s commitment to inclusion and belonging includes sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. Feel free to share with us more about how your identity in this context has meaning for you as an individual or as a member of a community.
• Option 5: Being different: We recognize that not fully “fitting in” a community or place can sometimes be difficult. Duke values the effort, resilience, and independence that may require. Feel free to share with us circumstances where something about you is different and how that’s influenced your experiences or identity.

Duke Kunshan Applicants

Why do you think duke kunshan university is a good match for you and what special qualities do you feel you could bring to duke kunshan university (200 words), gap year prompt, please describe your gap year plans as you currently are considering them. you are not making a commitment to these plans. (250 words), all applicants—prompt 1, what is your sense of duke as a university and a community, and why do you consider it a good match for you if there’s something in particular about our offerings that attracts you, feel free to share that as well. (250 words)..

Every student applying to Duke will be submitting this “ Why This College? ” essay, so you really need to make yours stand out. Before we talk about what you should do, let’s cover common mistakes to avoid so your essay isn’t generic.

Don’t talk about factors outside of the school’s control like the location, weather, or surrounding city. You might be attracted to Duke because you want to go to a school in the South, but there are hundreds of other schools nearby. This doesn’t tell us anything about Duke in particular.

Don’t make emotional appeals like “ It feels like home ” or “ The campus is so beautiful ”. Contrary to popular belief, statements like these don’t flatter admissions officers because they read them so frequently. Saying something like this is too vague and your limited space would be better served describing resources that make you feel connected to the school.

Don’t regurgitate fun facts and statistics from a campus tour, brochure, or website. Duke doesn’t need to be told how many Nobel prize winners or cabinet secretaries attended, nor do they need to be told about the infamous Duke vs UNC game. Admissions officers especially don’t care about the student-to-faculty ratio or class sizes. Listing these as reasons for attending signals to the admissions committee you didn’t research specific offerings at the school and you might not be as dedicated.

Don’t talk badly about the school. This one should be pretty self-explanatory, but when they ask about your sense of Duke, don’t call it stuffy and pretentious! You are trying to prove your love and devotion to the school, so if you have a negative impression, maybe reconsider why you are applying.

Don’t list out a dozen reasons why you want to go to Duke. We recommend including specific offerings and resources at Duke that excite you, but it’s all about quality over quantity. Spend time explaining why each reason resonates with you or what you hope to get out of the resource or experience. If that means you only have space to include three or four, then that’s okay!

Now that you know what not to do, we’ll share some tips on what you should do in your essay to make it stand out.

Make it personal . Like any other college essay, you need to share information about yourself and your interests to demonstrate to the admissions committee why you belong at Duke. Include anecdotes or details about your experiences to highlight your personal connection to the offerings at Duke.

Include specific resources and opportunities you want to take advantage of. The prompt makes it seem like it is more optional to include offerings that speak to you, but we strongly urge you to include them! Not only does including specific offerings demonstrate the research you’ve done, it also allows you to talk more about your interests and goals through the resources you are attracted to.

Balance academic and extracurricular reasons for wanting to attend. In order to show the admissions committee you are well-rounded, you’ll need to discuss both academic and extracurricular offerings that excite you. Your extracurriculars could be related to the academic topic you’re studying, but make sure to include clubs or communities you want to join so Duke knows you will be active both in class and out.

Draw parallels between yourself and Duke to emphasize why it’s a good fit for you. This might be a little harder to conceptualize and implement in your essay, but you could go about this by finding a club on campus that aligns with one of your extracurriculars, a professor who conducts research on a topic you want to learn more about, or values the school exemplifies that you prioritize.

Have a strong narrative that still reads like a story. Just because this essay might not be as creative or story-based as other college essays doesn’t mean it can’t have a narrative style. Make sure you have an exciting hook at the beginning and a conclusion that ties everything together.

Have some fun! Your essay should still have a voice that is uniquely yours, so if that means you like to use humor, go for it. Also, you can mention fun aspects of the college experience at Duke—basketball is a huge part of the Duke experience. Just be sure that you frame it as an additional bonus of attending Duke and not the primary reason for choosing the school.

Putting all of that together, take a look at what a sample student might write:

“You’d be surprised by the power 1080px by 1920px can wield. Within those 3×6 inches, violence has been incited, hate crimes have been encouraged, and a democracy was nearly toppled. Behold, the 21st century’s mega-weapon: Instagram stories.

Media and politics are intrinsically linked, especially in the USA. My generation is faced with the burden of freeing democracy from the tight grip of the Instagram story, Twitter thread, and Facebook group. Luckily, with Duke’s commitment to forging positive change, I won’t have to go at it alone. At the Sanford School of Public Policy, I’ll join a community of people dedicated to saving our democracy. 

Through the Dewitt Wallace Center for Media and Democracy, I’ll delve into the complicated relationship between media and politics to better equip myself to one day shape federal policy surrounding media practices. Courses like Can Journalism Save Democracy? and Intro to Digital Culture: Media Theory, Politics, and Aesthetics signal that I’ll find a community of students and faculty equally passionate about this field. By my junior year, I’ll take the knowledge I’ve gathered in class and apply it on the Hill with Duke in DC.

Duke is a place where I’ll learn how to fight most effectively for media that promotes healthy political discourse. In between my Instagram stories of the blue devils crushing UNC and the picturesque Chapel, expect many posts on the latest article from the Sanford Journal of Public Policy, announcements for upcoming guest speakers, and information on how to protect American democracy.”

All Applicants—Prompt 2 (Optional)

We want to emphasize that the following questions are optional. feel free to answer them if you believe that doing so will add something meaningful that is not already shared elsewhere in your application. five optional questions are available – a maximum of 2 can be selected..

Before getting started with the optional prompts, be sure to carefully read the instructions. You can respond to none of these, one prompt, or a maximum of two prompts.

While it may be tempting to only complete the one required essay, we always recommend completing all the prompts available to you, as it only gives you another chance to make a lasting impression on your application. It also shows admissions counselors that you are truly invested in Duke, and may even be the deciding factor of your application.

Since these prompts are optional though, you want to take special care to not repeat anything in your application, especially since Duke said so themselves. For example, if you already talked about Model UN in your Common App essay, there’s no need to write another essay about it. If only one of the optional prompts speaks to you, that’s fine as well. 

All Applicants—Prompt 2, Option 1

Perspective response: we believe a wide range of personal perspectives, beliefs, and lived experiences are essential to making duke a vibrant and meaningful living and learning community. feel free to share with us anything in this context that might help us better understand you and what you might bring to our community. (250 words).

This is one instance of the very common diversity prompt . When colleges have a diversity prompt, they want to know about your own personal background and how it has influenced your worldview and perspectives.

A quick note if you intend to write about your racial background: In June 2023, the United States Supreme Court  struck down the use of affirmative action in college admissions. The ruling, however, still allows colleges to consider race on an individual basis, which is one reason many schools are now including diversity prompts as one of their supplemental essay prompts. If you feel that your racial background has impacted you significantly, this is the place to discuss that.

In general, such a common prompt can be approached with a traditional answer. You might consider answering this prompt with what you think is the most important part of your identity, then a small discussion about how that aspect of diversity is relevant to you and your general life experiences.

Such a response might be written about one of the following scenarios:

• Using your fluency in another language to help members of a specific community.
• Interpreting a text in class differently from your classmates because of your ethnic culture.
• Having a friend of a different background who has changed your perspective on something important.
• Having an illness or disability that helps you view accessibility through a different lens than your peers.
• Being part of a niche interest group/fandom and trying to represent the group faithfully when talking to people who aren’t members of it.

Simply listing things that generate diversity should be avoided. Sure, diversity includes different ethnicities/races, gender identities, sexual orientations, countries of origin, and languages, but writing that laundry list out doesn’t contribute much to your application.

Also, bear in mind that the traditional markers of diversity aren’t the only ones you can discuss. There are other aspects of identity that contribute to a diverse campus, including socioeconomic classes, hometowns, illnesses/disabilities, and even interests or hobbies.

This being said, let’s look at a potential example response:

“Growing up as the daughter of Mexican immigrants, I often found myself translating for my parents at parent-teacher conferences, doctor’s appointments, and even grocery stores. These early experiences made me acutely aware of the barriers faced by non-English speaking communities. This awareness fueled my passion for educational equity, leading me to start a tutoring program for ESL students at my high school. Every Saturday, I helped students navigate their schoolwork while also bridging cultural gaps through shared stories and experiences.

At Duke, I hope to continue advocating for underrepresented communities by joining the Center for Multicultural Affairs and collaborating with organizations like Duke LIFE (Low-Income, First-Generation Engagement). I am excited to contribute my unique perspective and learn from a community that values diverse experiences as much as I do. By sharing my background and listening to others, I aim to foster a more inclusive environment where everyone feels heard and valued.”

Diversity encompasses all the aforementioned attributes, but you should strive for individuality and specificity in your response. This prompt, like all the others, is an opportunity to showcase your unique life perspective. You don’t want to waste this opportunity by writing down some bland dictionary definitions. Think of what diversity means to you and what you consider to be a particularly significant aspect of diversity. From there, think of personal anecdotes or stories about how that aspect of diversity has contributed to your growth or development as a person.

All Applicants—Prompt 2, Option 2

Intellectual experience: tell us about an intellectual experience in the past two years that you found absolutely fascinating. (250 words).

For this prompt, Duke is looking to hear about your intellectual interests and your approach to learning. You could choose anything; for example, a particular class you took that sparked your interest in a topic, an individual research project you conducted, a book you read that made a strong impression, or an experiment you performed in a science class.

The key for this essay is to really highlight your passion for learning, and the way to accomplish that is to tell the reader everything about the experience so they feel like they are living it besides you. The phrase “ show, don’t tell ” is thrown around a lot when it comes to college essays—this essay will be no exception.

But what does it mean to successfully show your intellectual experience? Let’s dissect an example.

“Debates were my favorite part of my AP US History class. At the end of every unit, each person in the class would be assigned a historical figure and we would debate a prevalent issue for the period. The best one, hands down, was the debate about the ratification of the Constitution. Representing James Madison, I advocated for a separation of powers. I also pushed for the inclusion of unalienable rights. The fast-paced environment of kids in my class engaging in productive debate was so exciting to see.”

While the excerpt above does technically check the box of describing an intellectual experience this student enjoyed, this is far from what you should submit if you want to be a competitive applicant. How can we make this better? Starting with the hook, never restate the prompt. The first line of your essay shouldn’t be used to tell us what the experience was, rather it should set the scene so the reader is prepared to immerse themselves in the experience, for example:

“Accusations flew across the circle of desks haphazardly gathered in the center of the room; she was an elitist forgetting about the yeomen while he was as backwards as King George.”

This hook immediately brings action and excitement, causing the reader to ask questions which makes them more interested to keep reading. Not only that, by including details relevant to the academic topic (yeomen farmers and King George) it further demonstrates the student’s knowledge and interest of this subject. 

The next two sentences can be improved by making them more concise to cut down on the amount of background needed. You want to keep the essay focused in the moment as much as possible, so rather than zooming out to provide the reader with context, stay in the present:

“With the strike of my US History teacher’s gavel, our debate on the ratification of the Constitution had begun.”

The student then goes on to talk about their contribution to the debate, which is important to include, but we can make it stronger. Again, the key is to stay in the story and tell it in present tense with an active voice. Focus on how you viewed and approached the situation rather than what actions you took. Not only will this make the writing more engaging, it will also make it naturally easier to express your fascination with the experience—which is the whole purpose of this essay at the end of the day.

“Donning the tricorn hat of James Madison, I turned to Federalist friends on my right—including Hamilton and Adams—and sized up my foes: the Democratic-Republicans. Coming out of the gate strong, Jefferson insisted a document that enumerates rights, limits rights. How wrong he was! Before another member of my group could speak, I was on my feet conjuring a picture of the society we just escaped that lacked documentation of unalienable rights. Quoting Locke and Voltaire from memory, I watched as my opponents scrambled for a rebuttal.”

Notice the difference between the imagery and flow of these sentences compared to the original example? Each line moves the story along, while continuing to provide details for imagery and to highlight the student’s passion for the topic. There’s no need for them to tell the reader they found the experience enjoyable or exciting, because details like the student embodying the historical figure (ie “Federalist friends…and foes”), their inner monologue (“How wrong he was!”), their excitement (“I was on my feet”), and their dedication (“Quoting Locke and Voltaire from memory”) show the reader why they loved this intellectual experience.

As you go about writing, follow these tips to beef up your writing and take it from basic and boring to engaging and informative.

All Applicants—Prompt 2, Option 3

Beliefs & values: we believe there is benefit in sharing and sometimes questioning our beliefs or values; who do you agree with on the big important things, or who do you have your most interesting disagreements with what are you agreeing or disagreeing about (250 words).

This prompt is all about internal beliefs and values. Whether you choose to write about an agreement or disagreement, at the heart of your essay, you need to share one of your important values with the admissions committee. Naturally then, an integral piece in choosing this essay is having a core belief or value that is central to your personality. If nothing jumps out at you, then maybe this isn’t the prompt for you.

If religion is important to you, this prompt would be a good opportunity to delve into your religious beliefs. Similarly, you could choose to go into philosophical or ethical debates that you have with people. As you pick a belief or value, keep your audience in mind. You never know who will read your essay, and the last thing you want to do is offend them. It’s generally a good idea to stay away from any beliefs that might be highly controversial or politicized.

Not only do you need a belief or value, you also need to pick a discussion partner that either shares your ideals or challenges them. Luckily for you, because the prompt already asks for you to pick a person, it opens the door for the natural inclusion of dialogue—a great way to spice up your essay and show,  not tell !

This essay also provides you with a chance to delve deeper into your personality. You can demonstrate character traits you possess in the way you describe your conversation. If you are a detail-oriented person, include the statistics you use to convince someone of your belief. Perhaps you are extremely energetic—in that case, describe how you jump with excitement and your voice gets higher when you agree with someone on an obscure belief.

Maybe you and your best friend get into arguments about whether life exists on other planets when you are going on night-time drives around town. Take the reader into your car—what music is playing in the background, are you cruising down the highway or leisurely rolling through residential neighborhoods? Do you and your friend raise your voices as the argument goes on? Showing what it is like to be there with you during these conversations will make your essay infinitely more engaging to read. Take a look at the example below:

“ Every week, my high school art class transforms into a battleground of ideas between my teacher and me. Mrs. Thompson, a staunch advocate of classical art, believes in the timeless value of techniques perfected by the Renaissance masters. I, on the other hand, am captivated by the boldness and innovation of modern art. Our most heated debate was over the value of Jackson Pollock’s work. While Mrs. Thompson saw it as chaotic and lacking technique, I argued that Pollock’s method captured the raw energy and emotion of the human experience. These discussions have pushed me to explore a wide range of artistic styles and techniques, blending the structured precision of classical art with the free-spirited experimentation of modern art. This fusion has become a signature of my own artwork, challenging viewers to find harmony in apparent chaos. Engaging with Mrs. Thompson has not only expanded my artistic repertoire but also taught me the importance of balancing respect for tradition with a passion for innovation.”

A common misconception is that admissions officers want to see astute, academic conversations, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. You could write about how you and your sibling get into disagreements about the most powerful superhero or you and your grandma agree your uncle’s cooking is better than your dad’s. Don’t be scared by the prompt asking about the “big important things,” because as long as you provide reasoning as to why your discussion is important to you and your discussion partner, it can make for a good essay.

All Applicants—Prompt 2, Option 4

Orientation, identity, expression: duke’s commitment to inclusion and belonging includes sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. feel free to share with us more about how your identity in this context has meaning for you as an individual or as a member of a community. (250 words).

If you want to write about an aspect of your identity or a way you are different and it relates to your gender, sexuality, or sexual orientation, you should choose this option over Options 1 and 5.

In the same vein as the other two options dealing with an aspect of your personality that you want to share with the admissions committee, you want to make sure that you go deeper than simply explaining your gender or sexual identity. The essay needs to go into the personal significance and the way it has shaped you as a person who will join the Duke community.

A good story always needs some conflict, whether it be internal or external, so you might want to start brainstorming by thinking about a moment of conflict that arose related to your gender or sexual identity. Maybe you choose the moment you came out to your family, or you could write about the internal battle to try and fit into societal gender expectations, or possibly you experienced discrimination or harassment as a result of your sexual orientation which emotionally affected you. There are many different ways to approach this prompt, so pick whatever stands out to you as the most consequential for you personally.

For an essay like this, it’s important to share a lot of detail with the admissions committee to ensure your unique perspective and life experiences are fully communicated, but when discussing highly personal and possibly uncomfortable topics, this might be a little difficult. There’s a delicate balance between including enough information to write a strong essay and protecting personal details. To try and address this, focus on actions you took and the emotions that motivated them, without getting too deep into the intricacies of your thoughts.

However, at the end of the day, your college essay has to reveal to the admissions officers what makes you special. If you feel that this aspect of your identity is critical to understanding you, this is the prompt for you. But if you are hesitant to share information on a delicate subject, there is no problem in choosing a different prompt option that would allow you to write more freely.

All Applicants—Prompt 2, Option 5

Being different: we recognize that not fully “fitting in” a community or place can sometimes be difficult. duke values the effort, resilience, and independence that may require. feel free to share with us circumstances where something about you is different and how that’s influenced your experiences or identity. (250 words).

Similar to the first option for Prompt 2, this option is purposefully open-ended to give students the freedom to identify any difference and discuss it. Again, in light of the Supreme Court striking down the use of affirmative action in college admissions, students of color might want to use this prompt to discuss their racial background in their application.

However, since this prompt is very similar to the first, we’d recommend choosing one or the other. There’s no right one to pick—go with whichever you want—but don’t spend both essays (if you choose to submit the maximum of two optional essays for Prompt 2) discussing an aspect of your identity that makes you different or unique. We’d recommend pairing either Option 1 or 4 with either Option 2 or 3.

While this prompt provides students with the opportunity to discuss racial differences they aren’t able to disclose elsewhere, it isn’t limited to discussions of race. Differences can be measured in a variety of dimensions, including:

• Race or ethnicity
• Socioeconomic status
• Family structure
• Gender or sexuality (look at Option 4 if you want to write about this)
• Physical abilities

Regardless of what you choose, your essay must express how you are different, the emotional, mental, and physical effect that has had on you, and the way your difference will make you a valuable member of the Duke community.

An essay where a student describes her family’s low income and the lack of luxuries she’s able to afford as a result doesn’t tell us much about the student. The essay would have more depth if it discussed the embarrassment and isolation she felt when she couldn’t afford the latest trends and wasn’t welcomed by her peers. But the essay shouldn’t stop there. Now that we know about her mental response to her difference, we want to hear about how she views her difference as a source of strength and personal value. So, maybe her classmates’ focus on fashion inspired her to start a thrifting collective at her school where students can donate old clothes and find new ones without spending a lot of money. This experience taught her the value in creating community and compassion.

This prompt is required for students who are applying to Duke Kunshan University through the Duke University application. Duke Kunshan is a partnership between Duke and Wuhan University in China that allows students to receive an education that marries two exceptional universities.

You are asked to submit a pretty straightforward “ Why This College? ” essay for Duke Kunshan, and we would refer you to Prompt 1 in this post to learn more about the tips and common pitfalls to avoid when writing this type of essay.

A key factor to keep in mind when submitting this essay is although Duke will be reading it, it will also be sent to Duke Kunshan who will review it. For that reason, you want to make sure the college you are discussing is specifically Duke Kunshan and not regular Duke. Along those lines, you need to speak highly of Kunshan as its own entity—don’t say you want to attend because you think it will be an easier way to achieve a Duke degree.

While we normally advise against listing a school’s location as a reason for wanting to attend, in the case of an international university, it is okay to discuss your interest in Duke Kunshan because it’s in another country. However, frame it within the context of an interest in experiencing new cultures or an appreciation for Chinese history, culture, or society. Make sure your motivation for attending an international institution is clear in your essay.

The second part of the prompt asks you to consider what you can bring to the school. Just as you would for any other “Why This College?” essay, highlight ways your interests and experiences align with resources and offerings at the university. Your contribution to the campus community can also lie outside of academics. Perhaps you will bring your favorite comfort food recipe with you to support your fellow homesick American students or maybe you will share your adventurous spirit with your more reserved classmates to encourage them to explore a new environment with you.

If you indicate on the Common App that you are considering taking a gap year before enrolling at Duke, you will be required to answer this question. It’s important to note that this isn’t an official declaration of your plans; Duke is using this question to gauge what type of individual you are and how you will use your time productively.

But at the same time, don’t make up fanciful gap year plans like traveling to all seven continents if realistically you know you will spend the majority of your time working at home. You aren’t being judged on how exciting your gap year plans may sound, so be genuine about the plans you are considering.

There are many reasons you might be considering a gap year—from wanting to gain more real-world experience, to financial reasons, to unique opportunities you don’t want to miss, to family commitments—and there are an infinite number of ways to spend your year, whether it’s traveling, getting an internship, working on a campaign, supporting your family, etc.

When it comes to this essay though, there are two primary things you want to convey:

• What you consider to be valuable.
• How you will grow and be enriched from the gap year.

Starting with the first point, the way you choose to spend your gap year is a reflection of the values you find important. Students who want to travel value broadening their perspectives and embracing new experiences, while students who are staying home to help out their parents value family, loyalty, and devotion. Unless you are spending your time in the basement playing video games all day long, you will be doing something that, in your mind, is considered a productive use of time.

When you are discussing your plans, your values should come through. For example, if you are planning to spend the first semester backpacking South America, you wouldn’t just say, “ I will spend the first four months backpacking in China. ” You would instead show the admissions committee why you are driven to take that action: “ During my four months exploring the mountains, valleys, cities, and ancient civilizations of China, I will immerse myself in the culture I’ve felt so distant from as a Chinese adoptee. ”

The second thing your essay needs to discuss is how this experience will enrich you. Or, from Duke’s perspective, how will taking a gap year make you a more valuable member of the campus community? To answer this question, you’ll need to place yourself in a year-from-now you’s shoes and ask how you’ve changed and grown.

Are you more independent? Are you confident? Did you learn a new skill? Have you become a stronger leader? Do you have a new appreciation for learning? 

However you think you will grow from this experience, make sure to convey that in your essay. You might also want to explicitly mention what you will bring back to the Duke community, just to reiterate your commitment to attending Duke after your gap year.

Some Final Thoughts

If you choose to respond to the optional Duke supplements, you’ll need to keep a few key strategies in mind. As you draft and revise your responses, remember the following tips, which will help you to optimize your application efforts to Duke as well as any other schools to which you might apply. 

Give yourself time. Writing a short essay can often seem like a straightforward and deceptively quick process. Remember, however, that even though the Duke only wants 250 words, you’ll need to achieve the same level of impact in this response as you would with a 650 word essay. Clumsily jumbling together broad and lofty ideas won’t get you far with a 250 word prompt, so leave yourself enough time to plan, draft and redraft your response until it’s ready for submission.

Be specific. Specificity is the not-so-secret ingredient when it comes to writing a successful response. Include anecdotes and examples that tie directly to what you know and value about the Duke campus community. Don’t simply say that you love research or that you want to change the world. Think about the specific experiences you have which exemplify your interests and your academic and professional aspirations. 

Be true to yourself. It’s counterproductive to spend hours and hours writing about things that don’t truly matter to you. Be honest! Highlight the things that you care about most and reflect on why they matter to you. 

Ultimately, the purpose of any supplemental essay is to give you the opportunity to present yourself, your experiences and achievements from your own perspective using your own words. So have fun with this process. After all, no one could ever be better equipped to showcase you than you.

Where to Get Your Duke Essays Edited

Do you want feedback on your Duke essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

Need feedback faster? Get a  free, nearly-instantaneous essay review  from Sage, our AI tutor and advisor. Sage will rate your essay, give you suggestions for improvement, and summarize what admissions officers would take away from your writing. Use these tools to improve your chances of acceptance to your dream school!

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Koonz Human Rights Prize

The Koonz Human Rights Prize award honors Oliver W. Koonz, Prof. Claudia Koonz’s late father. The prize honors the best essay/paper or alternative project prepared by an undergraduate for the academic year. The Duke Human Rights Center@FHI awards one $500 prize to the winners in each category.

This year's deadline is april 1, 2024., submission guidelines.

An  essay  must be no longer than 25 double-spaced pages. Whether it is a critical essay, research paper, or personal essay, a submission must:

• identify the particular human rights principle(s) involved
• formulate your topic question
• explain your approach
• critically discuss relevant research
• arrive at a conclusion

A  project  can be a photographic essay, a play script or short story, a documentary video, a web page, a phone app, a visualization of data or other original approach to confronting a human rights question.

All submissions must include a paragraph introducing the paper or project, listing any co-authors and noting whether it was created in a course. A submission does not have to be developed in the context of a course, but if it was, please note the course title. Whether or not it is connected to a course, an essay or project must be completed during the time the student is enrolled at Duke. Please send submissions to  [email protected]  by  April 1, 2024 . Awards will be announced in May 2024.

2024 Oliver W. Koonz Human Rights Prize Winners

2024 Best Essay: Alexandra Bernstein-Naples

Alexandra Bernstein-Naples’s essay, “Reserving the Right to Deflection: A Quantitative Analysis of States Logging Reservations to the Genocide Convention,” is a rigorous, sophisticated, and quantitative analysis about a supremely important issue: the ways that states have expressed reservations to the Genocide Convention, sparing them the possibility of prosecution in the International Court of Justice. In an era of continued state repression, and headline-grabbing genocide investigations by the ICJ, this topic could not be more timely. 

2024 Best Essay: Madeleine McLean

Madeleine McLean provided a local study of race, journalism, and human rights in North Carolina in her essay, “Beyond the Headlines: How the North Carolina Black Press Advocated for Racial Equality in the Asylum Setting.” She studied the divergent interpretations that white and Black newspapers gave to a local mental health institution, showing that Black newspapers adopted a more critical perspective on the matter, tying their journalism to broader issues of human and civil rights. This focus on the press is crucial, too, given the many attacks on press freedom that we see around the world today. 

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For Documentarians

Over the last quarter century, the Center for Documentary Studies has given awards to more than 350 emerging and established documentarians to recognize excellence and extend monetary support.

Featured Awards

• CDS Filmmaker Award for artists in competition at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
• Dorothea Lange–Paul Taylor Prize for projects that rely on the interplay of words and images
• Curators’ Award for Insight and Innovation for curators who contribute to the development and appreciation of the documentary arts across media

Additional Awards

From 2013 to 2020, the CDS Documentary Essay Prize honored the best in short-form documentary photography and writing in alternating years: one year, photos; one year, writing. The focus was on current or recently completed work (within the last two years) from a long-term project — 15 images; 15 to 20 pages of writing. The winner of the competition received $3,000 and was featured in CDS’s digital publications and placed in the Archive of Documentary Arts at the Rubenstein Library, Duke University.

• 2020: Amanda Russhell Wallace
• 2019: Beaudelaine Pierre
• 2018: Nastassia Kantorowicz Torres
• 2017: Carrie Laben
• 2016: Jessica Eve Rattner
• 2015: Abbie Gascho Landis
• 2014: Iveta Vaivode
• 2013: Rachel Andrews

The Tifft Initiative at CDS explores the meaningful ways in which documentary approaches and methods can inform, and be informed by, journalism’s evolution in the digital era. Part of CDS’s DocX Lab, it brings together documentary artists, journalists, media professionals, independent publishers and others working in text, photography, radio and film. The DeWitt Wallace Center for Media & Democracy at Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy is a partner on the project.

The project was initiated by a lead gift from CDS board member Diane Britz Lotti, and is named after a friend whose devotion to the power and importance of journalism guided her life’s work. Susan Tifft was a member of the CDS board for five years until her passing in 2010, and was the Eugene C. Patterson Professor of the Practice of Journalism at the Sanford School from 1998 to 2009. A graduate of Duke, Tifft worked as a press secretary, a political speechwriter, and a prizewinning reporter and editor at Time magazine; she was coauthor of two biographies of newspaper dynasty families, the Binghams (Louisville Courier-Journal) and the Ochs-Sulzbergers (New York Times).

The Susan Tifft Fellows, the inaugural program of the initiative, are selected from an international pool of women media artists, journalists, and documentarians for a one-week creative residency at CDS.

• 2019: Daphne McWilliams
• 2018: Ruxandra Guidi
• 2017: Nina Berman

CDS and the Honickman Foundation, based in Philadelphia, concluded their mutually enriching and successful collaboration on the CDS/Honickman First Book Prize in Photography in 2017. The biennial prize, first conceived in 2000 by Lynne Honickman and CDS’s founding director, Iris Tillman Hill, was awarded to a total of eight photographers.

The only prize of its kind, the CDS/Honickman First Book Prize in Photography competition was open to North American photographers of any age who had yet to publish a book-length work of their photographs. The eight winners received a grant of $3,000, publication of a book of photography, and inclusion in a website devoted to presenting the work of the prizewinners. The winner was also given a solo exhibition at the photography gallery at Duke University’s Rubenstein Library; the photographs are now housed in the library’s Archive of Documentary Arts.

The Honickman Foundation’s belief that the arts are powerful tools for enlightenment, equity, and empowerment, in concert with CDS’ commitment to the presentation of experiences that heighten our historical and cultural awareness, made the collaboration on this important prize celebrating contemporary photography and the lasting power of the book a singular and significant one.

The CDS/Honickman First Book Prize in Photography had a profound impact on its winners, the photographic community, and the culture at large, and it was a great pleasure and honor for both institutions to be involved in creating and administering this prestigious award. We are proud of all of the winners of the prize and their books, published by Duke University Press.

• 2016: Lauren Pond, "Test of Faith"
• 2014: Nadia Sablin, "Aunties"
• 2012: Gerard H. Gaskin, "Legendary"
• 2010: Benjamin Lowy, "Iraq | Perspectives"
• 2008: Jennette Williams, "The Bathers"
• 2006: Danny Wilcox Frazier, "Driftless"
• 2004: Steven B. Smith, "The Weather and a Place to Live"
• 2002: Larry Schwarm, "On Fire"

For Undergraduates

CDS encourages student involvement beyond the classroom and offers resources and learning opportunities that include awards, fellowships and related experiences.

• Julia Harper Day Award for Documentary Studies for graduating Duke seniors who have demonstrated excellence in documentary studies
• Jo hn Hope Franklin Student Documentary Awards for undergraduates at Duke, NC Central, NC State or UNC–Chapel Hill
• Full Frame Fellowships are available to undergraduates at Duke and other schools to participate in the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival , a program of CDS. See the 2024 Duke Full Frame Fellows .
• Instructors
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• Certificate in Documentary Studies
• Graduate Education
• Continuing Education
• Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
• Literacy Through Photography
• Lehman Brady Professorship
• Opportunities
• Filmmaker Award
• Dorothea Lange–Paul Taylor Prize
• Curators’ Award for Insight and Innovation
• Julia Harper Day Award for Documentary Studies
• John Hope Franklin Student Documentary Awards

George Watt Prize

This annual essay competition was established in 1998 to honor Lincoln vet George Watt, a writer and lifelong activist central to the creation of ALBA.

Students from anywhere in the world are invited to submit an essay or thesis chapter about any aspect of the Spanish Civil War, the global political or cultural struggles against fascism in 1920s and 1930s, or the lifetime histories and contributions of the international volunteers who fought in support of the Spanish Republic from 1936 to 1938.

Work will be judged on the basis of originality, quality of research, and effectiveness of argument or presentation.

The George Watt Prize is awarded in three categories:

Graduate Award

• Undergraduate Award
• Pre-Collegiate Award

Deadline: July 5, 2024

• Submissions must be between 3,500 and 12,500 words.
• Submissions may be in Spanish or English.
• The Applicant must currently be registered as a graduate student and work must be related to graduate studies.
• Winners are expected to make a statement/presentation to the selection committee prior to award disbursement.
• Any work produced since August 1, 2023, is eligible for the competition.
• One essay will be awarded up to $1000

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• Artist in Residence Search

2023 Duke English Creative Writing Contest and Scholarship Winners

April 21, 2023.

Duke English is excited to announce our 2023 Creative Writing Contest and Scholarship awardees. Congratulations to the following students:   

Camden Chin ’26 for “Value of a Dollar” and “Harold” Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Fiction. Family members and friends of former English student Anne Flexner (1945) established the Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Creative Writing to recognize undergraduates for their work in fiction and poetry. 

Emma Huang ’25 for “Equivalence”  Reynolds Price Award for Fiction. The Reynolds Price Fiction Award was established in memory of the distinguished novelist, essayist, poet, and public intellectual Reynolds Price, a graduate of Duke and professor in the English Department for over 50 years. 

Maggie Wolfe ’24 first prize for “The Rise and Fall” Nima Babajani-Feremi ’24 second prize co-winner for “After Rebirth”  Haoning Jiang ’23 second prize co-winner for “That Time I Pirated a Pixar Movie and Cried Like a Baby” George P. Lucaci Award for Creative NonFiction . This award was created to encourage creative nonfiction writing and honor George P. Lucaci, a former Duke student who has actively supported undergraduate creative writing in the English Department for many years.

Tyler King ’25 first prize for “Texan Gospel” Laura Boyle ’24  (Honorable Mention)  for “Zoo of Self”  Academy of American Poets Prize. Founded in 1934 in New York City, the Academy of American Poets is the largest membership-based nonprofit organization advocating for American poets and poetry.  Its mission is to support American poets at all stages of their careers and foster contemporary poetry appreciation. 

Dylan Haston ’23  co-winner for “The Will She Had: Grail Quest” Lauren Garbett ’23 co-winner for “bright futures, brighter pasts” Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Poetry. Family members and friends of former English student Anne Flexner (1945) established the Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Creative Writing to recognize undergraduates for their work in fiction and poetry. 

Tina Xia ’23 co-winner for “Love for Sale Marina Chen ’24 co-winner for “/&&*” (“stick and poke”)  Terry Welby Tyler, Jr. Award for Poetry. This award was established by the family of Terry Welby Tyler, Jr., who would have graduated with the class of 1997 to recognize and honor outstanding undergraduate poetry.  

Edgar Salas ’23  William M. Blackburn Scholarship . Created in 1962 by students and friends of Professor William Blackburn (1899-1969), who established the creative writing initiative at Duke, this scholarship recognizes outstanding achievement in the field of creative writing. 

Mina Jang ’23  Francis Pemberton Scholarship. This scholarship is awarded to a junior or senior pursuing creative writing studies. It was created by the Trustees of The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation in memory and honor of Francis Pemberton's service to the Biddle Foundation. 

Miranda Gershoni ’23   Margaret Rose Knight Sanford Scholarship. Given annually to a female student who demonstrates a particular promise in creative writing, this scholarship was established to recognize the untiring efforts of Margaret Rose Knight Sanford on behalf of Duke University.

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Duke's Education Essay Prize

We were delighted to hear this week that Jasneet D, Year 12, has been shortlisted for the Duke's Education Essay Prize. The prize is inspired by the famous past entrance exam for fellows at All Souls College, Oxford — students write an essay in response to a one word title—and encourages academic exploration, creativity, and lateral thinking in students in Yrs 11-12.  Jasneet's is one of only seven shortlisted entries, with her essay entitled ‘Infinity in Physics’. The essay looked at the mind bending notion of infinity from spherical shapes to the Universe.

12 June 2019

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Duke Law Journal

Call for submissions for student essay competition.

by [email protected] | Nov 29, 2021 | Announcements | 0 comments

The Duke Law Journal (DLJ) is excited to announce its first-ever online essay competition! The competition is open to all current Duke Law students (including LLMs) and recent graduates (Classes of 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021). Up to two winning submissions will be selected for publication in the Duke Law Journal Online in Spring 2022. Authors of the winning submissions will be awarded a $500 cash prize, * funded by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, and eligible ** winners will also be awarded DLJ membership.

Essay Topic:

Over the past few years, the United States has confronted a new chapter in an ongoing racial reckoning. For example, the public conversation around race has shifted with an increased awareness of police brutality against Black Americans and an onslaught of COVID-related hate crimes against Asian Americans. Please write an essay about the role the law plays in this conversation. This topic is intentionally broad, but submissions should focus on the intersection between race and the U.S. legal system. For instance, essays may comment on a specific case or law, consider presidential administration priorities, posit potential law reforms, or share personal anecdotes relating to law. By no means are essays limited to this illustrative list.

Instructions:

• The essay should be no longer than 5,000 words (including footnotes). Please note, this is an essay, not a student note.
• Essays must be emailed to [email protected] in both PDF and Word formats. a. The subject of the email must start with “2022 Essay Competition Submission.” b. The body of the email must include a word count (both with and without footnotes) and the title of the essay.
• The author’s name should not be included in the document.
• Each individual may submit no more than one piece, and submissions must be previously unpublished. Jointly written pieces will be accepted.

Any submissions that fail to follow the above instructions will be automatically disqualified.

Deadline: All pieces must be submitted by Friday, January 21, 2022, at 11:59 pm EST.

For any questions regarding the competition, please email Senior Online Editor, Chorong Song ([email protected]).

*The $500 cash prize, provided by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, will be administered through the law school and is subject to tax. If a prize is awarded to a jointly authored submission, the amount will be divided among the credited authors.

** DLJ membership offers are limited to second-year students who do not already hold membership in an exclusive-membership journal ( Alaska Law Review , Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy , Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law , Law and Contemporary Problems ).

For information about submitting to DLJ Online , please visit our submission page.

Spring 2023 Issue

“Corpus Linguistics and the Original Public Meaning of the Sixteenth Amendment”

Fall 2023 Issue

“Creditors Strike Back: The Return of the Cooperation Agreement”

Samir D. Parikh |   PDF

“Inside the Internet”

Nick Merrill & Tejas N. Narechania |   PDF

“101 Lawyers: Attorney Appearances in Twitter v. Musk “

Andrew K. Jennings |   PDF

“All Grown Up: Qualified Immunity, Student Rights, and the Way Forward”

Matthew McKnight & Angela Guo | PDF

“Looking Backward to Move Forward: Ending the “History and Tradition” of Gun Violence Against the LGBTQ+ Community”

Brett V. Ries | PDF

To see previous scholarship published by Duke Law Journal Online, please visit our archive page.

Duke Law Journal Online Team Volume 74

Senior Online Editor

Daniel R. Hizgilov

Online Editor

Christian Seremetis

Chelsea Werner

Kiran Sury Wins Montague Boyd Prize Essay Contest

Congratulations to Dr. Kiran Sury , the current Duke Reconstructive Urology and Genitourinary Cancer Survivorship fellow, for placing first in this year’s Montague Boyd Prize Essay Contest!

With Dr. Andrew Peterson as the senior mentor and Dr. Kevin Krughoff as collaborator, Dr. Sury won for their entry titled “Material Fatigue in the Artificial Urinary Sphincter Pressure Regulating Balloon.”

Dr. Montague Boyd was the founder of the Southeastern Section of the American Urological Association. He served as president in 1933 and 1934. The prize was established in 1967 and is given to a resident, fellow, or urologist in private practice for less than 10 years.

Dr. Sury joins a long list of former Duke trainees who have won the award. 

Center for Documentary Studies Documentary Essay Prize collection, 2017-2018

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Collection consists of winning submissions to the CDS Documentary Essay Prize, arranged chronologically by prize. Artists' statements and biographical notes are included at the series level.

Projects include: "Point d'eau," by Nastassia Kantorowicz Torres, 2018 winner.

From 2013 to 2020, the CDS Documentary Essay Prize honored the best in short-form documentary photography and writing in alternating years: one year, photos; one year, writing. The focus was on current or recently completed work (within the last two years) from a long-term project — 15 images; 15 to 20 pages of writing. The winner of the competition received $3,000 and was featured in CDS's digital publications and placed in the Archive of Documentary Arts at the Rubenstein Library, Duke University.

Source: https://documentarystudies.duke.edu/awards

Processed by Meghan Lyon, July 2024

Accessions described in this collection guide: 2024-0077

Collection is arranged by project.

Click on terms below to find related finding aids on this site. For other related materials in the Duke University Libraries, search for these terms in the Catalog .

Collection is open for research.

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the Rubenstein Library's Citations, Permissions, and Copyright guide.

[Identification of item], Center for Documentary Studies Documentary Essay Prize collection, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

Center for Documentary Studies Documentary Essay Prize collection

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