Howe Writing Center sponsors human rights essay contest
Brianna Mulligan
Issue date: 8/31/07 Section: Campus
Students of Miami University have the opportunity to participate and win monetary prizes in a campus-wide writing competition, as the new Roger and Joyce Howe Writing Center for Writing Excellence approaches its official opening.
For the first time, the Center for American and World Culture (CAWC), the Howe Center, and Miami's Office of International Education have collaborated to host a writing competition this October, which is also Miami's Writing Month.
Miami students can submit work relating to the chosen topic-human rights and social justice. Work from seven different media will be accepted, including research papers and essays, op-ed commentaries, journalism, creative writing selections, posters, photos accompanied by explanatory statements, and various other electronic mediums.
The competition was initiated by the CAWC in hopes of bringing attention to human rights and social justice, a topic the center has organized events surrounding for the past few years.
Jacqueline Del Carmen Rioja Velarde, assistant director for the CAWC, believes that the contest will help students develop a better understanding of human rights both globally and locally.
"What we really want is to create a place for students to explore the meaning of social justice through creative thinking and creative writing," Velarde said. "We want them to examine their own experiences, whether it is a work or study abroad or even part of their lives locally."
Paul Anderson, director of the Center for Writing Excellence, hopes that both the university and the students will have a lot to gain through the competition.
"We have two goals," Anderson said. "We certainly hope to bring attention to the center and its new space (in King Library), but also to bring attention to the good writing that Miami students can do."
Even though it is new and word about the competition being spread through classes and faculty members, some students have expressed interested about entering.
For the first time, the Center for American and World Culture (CAWC), the Howe Center, and Miami's Office of International Education have collaborated to host a writing competition this October, which is also Miami's Writing Month.
Miami students can submit work relating to the chosen topic-human rights and social justice. Work from seven different media will be accepted, including research papers and essays, op-ed commentaries, journalism, creative writing selections, posters, photos accompanied by explanatory statements, and various other electronic mediums.
The competition was initiated by the CAWC in hopes of bringing attention to human rights and social justice, a topic the center has organized events surrounding for the past few years.
Jacqueline Del Carmen Rioja Velarde, assistant director for the CAWC, believes that the contest will help students develop a better understanding of human rights both globally and locally.
"What we really want is to create a place for students to explore the meaning of social justice through creative thinking and creative writing," Velarde said. "We want them to examine their own experiences, whether it is a work or study abroad or even part of their lives locally."
Paul Anderson, director of the Center for Writing Excellence, hopes that both the university and the students will have a lot to gain through the competition.
"We have two goals," Anderson said. "We certainly hope to bring attention to the center and its new space (in King Library), but also to bring attention to the good writing that Miami students can do."
Even though it is new and word about the competition being spread through classes and faculty members, some students have expressed interested about entering.
2008 Woodie Awards

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