Phi Theta Kappa
Honors Satellite Seminar Series
Essay Contest

First Prize: $100 Gift Certificate to the Merced College Bookstore

Second Prize: $50 Gift Certificate to the Merced College Bookstore

Essays due Tues., Nov. 20, 2007

The purpose of this essay contest is to encourage participation in the Honors Satellite Seminar Series and stimulate intellectual engagement with the current Honors Study Topic, “Gold, Gods, and Glory: The Global Dynamics of Power.”

Seminar Dates & Times:

Tuesday, October 9, VOC-140, 4:00 pm:  “How to Win a Cosmic War”

Tuesday, November 13, VOC-140, 4:00 pm:  “Afghanistan after the Taliban”

After attending one or both of the Honors Satellite Seminars, essayists may choose to write on any ONE of the following prompts or topics:

• Is the Iraq conflict Islam vs. Western Civilization or is it truly an internal struggle between two aspects of ISLAM, SHIA vs. SUNNI?

·        Are Osama bin Laden's/al Qaeda's grievances with the United States purely theological, or also social and political?

• What sets Afghanistan apart from other Muslim countries - from the Arab nations and Iraq in particular?

• What policies should the United States pursue in Afghanistan and the Muslim world in general?

Contest Specifications

• Write on only ONE of the above prompts.

• Microsoft Word, double spaced, 12-point font, with a total of no more than 2,000 words.

• Any paraphrases or quotations must be properly cited, with a Works Cited page.

• To reduce paper waste, no hard-copy entries will be accepted. You MUST email your essay to Phi Theta Kappa’s Vice President of Scholarship, Patrick Mudget.  His email address is patrickmudget@yahoo.com.
   
• Do not include any self-identifying information in the document itself.  Be sure to include the following information in the body of the email to which your anonymous essay is attached: Title of your essay and your name.