Call for Submissions: Peter Awn Undergraduate Prize 2026

The Departments of Religion at Columbia and Barnard are now welcoming submissions for the ninth annual Peter Awn Undergraduate Prize. This prize of $500 will be given to the best paper written by an undergraduate for any course or seminar in Religion in 2025.

This prize honors our colleague Peter Awn’s inspired teaching and his dedication to promoting and celebrating creative inquiry.

Submissions will be accepted until Friday, March 6 at 5 p.m. The Prize will be announced in mid-April.

Eligible papers will be:

• written for a Spring 2025 or Fall 2025 course or seminar in the Department of Religion (Columbia or Barnard)
• authored by an undergraduate currently enrolled, in any college (GS, Columbia, Barnard, SEAS)
• either a paper between 10-25 pages in length (excluding cover page and bibliography/references)
• OR a creative project of similar effort (e.g. end of term projects including creative or using alternate media, e.g. podcasts, videos)
• note: students may submit one stand-alone chapter of their senior thesis for consideration. The committee will not consider essays written for mid-term or final examinations

Submissions must:

• be submitted electronically (papers should be submitted as a .pdf document) to [email protected]
• include a cover sheet with the author's name, title, and a notation of the course and instructor for which it was written.

Full information can be found here.