Student Essay Contest
Academic Year 2006-2007

Recognizing that to research and write an academic paper is one of the most effective and fulfilling ways in which students enhance their knowledge and pursue their interest in Latin American and Caribbean Studies, the LACS program has recently established a student essay contest.

Essays written during the academic year 2006-2007 must be submitted by September 30th, 2007 (with results to be announced in November). They may be submitted in either English or Spanish, and must be a minimum of 5 pages in length. The essays must have been written as part of an assignment for an undergraduate class taken at Hofstra University (the professor should confirm this by a brief email), and may not be substantially revised since submission for that class. They must engage substantially with a theme related to Latin America and/or the Caribbean; however, neither the class nor the professor teaching it need be affiliated with LACS, and students submitting their work need not be LACS majors or minors. No individual student may submit more than one essay per semester. 

Separate awards, to be announced in Hofstra Pride, will be granted in two categories: humanities and social sciences. For the academic year 2006-2007, it is anticipated that the first prize in each category will be $300, the second prize $150, and the third prize $50. A committee of three expert faculty members will meet to determine the awarding of prizes in each of the two categories. (Note: Papers submitted for the courses offered in School of Education, School of Communication, and School of Business will be judged under social sciences. For LACS courses, such as LACS 1, LACS 150, and LACS 199, the instructor of the course will decide the category). Award-winning papers may be published each year, and/or downloaded, on the Hofstra LACS website, at the discretion of the LACS co-directors.

Standard academic regulations will apply to this contest. Any type of academic dishonesty, including but not limited to plagiarism, will be reported to the Dean of Students and students may face academic penalty according to University rules. Students are required to submit the electronic version of the paper to the co-directors of LACS to be examined in TurnItIn.com.

Please announce to all your students now and encourage them to participate.

Procedures for Submission

• Please read the instructions above carefully before submitting your paper.
• Obtain the signature from your professor in the application form (or please ask your professor to send brief email to LACS co-directors to confirm that the paper you are submitting was written for the class you have taken with him/her.
• Please submit three (3) hard copies of your paper with the application form attached to one of them.
• If your paper is to be submitted to the category of humanities, please send or deliver the hard copies and the application form to Professor Sampedro at the department of Romance Languages and Literatures (Calkins 321).
• If your paper is to be submitted to the category of social sciences, please send or deliver the hard copies and the application form to Takashi Kanatsu at the department of Political Sciences (Barnard 107B).
• Please send an electronic copy of your paper to either professor (Kanatsu or Sampedro) via email so that your paper can be checked through TurnItIn.com to prevent plagiarism.
• The due date of Sunday, September 30 will be strictly enforced. No papers submitted after September 30 will be considered.

LACS co-directors:
Professor Benita Sampedro (humanities): Email
Professor Takashi Kanatsu (social sciences): Email

*Please contact Prof. Kanatsu if you have any questions regarding the LACS Student Essay Contest.