EDUCATION: WESTON ESSAY PRIZE
The UICHR sponsors the annual Burns H. Weston International Human Rights Essay Prize. Each year, two awards are made: one to an undergraduate and another to a graduate or professional school student. The prizes honor the fine work of University of Iowa students and the lifetime work of Professor Burns H. Weston of the College of Law.
2008 Competition
The writing competition is open to all registered students at the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, and the University of Northern Iowa. Essays can discuss current events or history, law, public policy, or the arts & humanities. The only requirement is that the essays address issues of international human rights. Two prizes are awarded: $750 to an undergraduate (for a 15-page essay) and $1,000 to a graduate or professional school student (for a 25-page essay). Entries for the 2008 Weston Essay Prize contest will be due during the Spring 2008 semester (the exact deadline will be announced in the fall).
Questions should be directed to UICHR Deputy Director, Amy Weismann at amy-weismann@uiowa.edu.
Previous year's winners
Julia LaBua (senior in History and Geography), “Outside the Public Eye: How the Carter Administration Used 'Quiet Diplomacy' to Impact Human Rights in Argentina.”
Stacey Meyer (second-year College of Law), "Conflict of National Identity with Minority Religious Rights in Russia and France: A Conundrum for the European Court of Human Rights."
Kevin Kenjar (senior in Religious Studies and International Studies), “The Rise of Orthodoxy and Heresy in Pakistan: The Institutionalized Persecution of the Ahmadiya Religious Minority.”
Matthew Stromquist (second-year College of Law), “Towards an Optional Protocol to the ICESCR: Local Contexts, Global Norms, and a Trickle-Up Theory of Justiciability.”
Neil Peterson (senior in Women's Studies and Anthropology), "Speaking from Behind Closed Doors: The World Health Organization, Maternal Health and Hegemony"
Mary Sevandal (College of Law), "Bringing Back the 'Real Iraq': Eliminating Honor Crimes in Post-War Iraq"
