Deadline: February 1, 2021
The Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at American University Washington College of Law is proud to request the submission of papers for the Human Rights Essay Award 2021.
The Human Rights Essay Award is an annual competition sponsored by the Academy that seeks to stimulate the production of scholarly work in international human rights law. Participants have the flexibility to choose any subject related to the assigned topic. The essay must be a legal article. The Academy will grant two Awards, one for the best article in English and one for the best article in Spanish.
The Essay Award Topic for 2021 is Human Rights and States of Emergency: Unexpected Crisis and New Challenges.
Award
The Award in each case will consist of:
- A full scholarship to the Program of Advanced Studies on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law for either the Diploma or Certificate of Attendance options.
- Travel expenses to and from Washington D.C.
- Housing at the university dorms.
- Per diem for living expenses.
- The best articles may also be published in the American University International Law Review.
Eligibility
- Applicant must hold a law degree and have a demonstrated experience or interest in international human rights law.
- Candidates must choose a subject pertaining to the topic chosen by the Academy for the year. Participants will have the flexibility to choose any subject related to the substantive law relevant to the field. International human rights law can be understood to include international humanitarian law and international criminal law. The paper must be within the scope of the topic or it will be disqualified.
- Candidate for the Award must submit an unpublished legal article/paper in English or Spanish written solely by that candidate.
- Only one submission will be accepted per applicant in either language. If more than one article is received, it will be left up to the applicant to decide which article to officially submit. Should the applicant not indicate a preference, the first article received by the Academy will be the one considered for the competition.
Entry Requirements
- The papers must not exceed 35 pages in length, including footnotes.
- Essays must use Times New Roman font, 12-point double-spaced for the body of the essay and 10-point single-spaced for footnotes.
- Character spacing must be set to normal.
- All essays must be on letter size paper (8.5 x 11 inches/21.59 x 27.94 cm) with 1 inch (2.54 cm) margins all around. Any essay that does not follow the guidelines will be reformatted and 5 points will be taken off.
- If the essay is longer than 35 pages, it will be automatically disqualified.
- The essay has to be a legal article; therefore, it will include foot pages and citations. The absence of those will cause that the essay will be disqualified.
- The acceptable format to cite sources is in single-spaced footnotes. If you have questions on the proper usage of footnotes, please consult the “The Uniform System of Citation: The Bluebook.”
- Authors should not put their name or any identifying information in their essays.
- Essays will only be accepted in Word Format.
Application
Each participant must also include a curriculum vitae of no more than three pages in length explaining the experience or interest of the author in human rights issues. Please submit the CV as a separate file from your paper.
Essays must be submitted using the online submission form. No emailed entries will be accepted.
For more information, visit American University Washington.
