Best Essay Prize

CSWGS honors exceptional student work through the Best Essay Prizes for Undergraduates and Graduate Students. Submissions produced in a calendar year are reviewed by the prize committee the following spring (for example, works from spring 2024 and fall 2024 are considered in spring 2025). Faculty may recommend students' work, and students may also submit work on their own. Relevant papers from any class at Rice are welcome. Please make a submission using this form. CSWGS circulates reminder calls each semester.

Undergraduate Best Essay Prizes

Awarded annually for the best essays on a topic addressing women's, gender, and/or sexuality issues written by an undergraduate student in any course. Non-essay submissions like Wikipedia entries and videos are also accepted.
Prizes are awarded in three categories:
Best essay 10 pages or fewer – $200 prize
Best essay over 10 pages – $300 prize
Best non-essay submission – $200 or $300, depending on the scale of the project

Include the paper, the student's name, the course number, semester, and instructor name. Letters of nomination are not required.

Graduate Best Essay Prize

Awarded annually for the best essay or dissertation chapter on a topic addressing women's, gender, and/or sexuality issues – $300 prize.
For all submissions, please send the paper and the student's name. If a course paper, please also include the course number, semester, and instructor name. If a dissertation chapter, please also include the dissertation title and the names of the committee members. Letters of nomination are not required.