new college of the humanities essay competition

new college of the humanities essay competition

The Importance of Participating in the New College of the Humanities Essay Competition

1. Enhancing Academic Skills through Essay Writing

At NCH, we put a lot of emphasis on developing people’s critical faculties, and the skills of critical thinking that are both developed and demonstrated through essay writing are central to the College’s mission. In a time when information is so readily available, there is a danger of uncritically accepting what you read or hear or just believing whatever everyone else believes. At NCH, we aim to encourage our students to become independent-minded, to think for themselves, and to be willing to disagree with others, but to do so in an intelligent way with reasons and arguments, not merely from dogma or emotion. This is a skill for living as well as academic success, and essay writing is a great way to learn and demonstrate it.

Indeed, essay writing is a fundamental aspect of academic study. It enhances critical thinking and hones skills of analysis that are essential for success at university. It is also a good way for students to begin to understand issues of style and content and to develop a clear, confident, and precise use of language. These are skills that will be useful in any career. Good essays, and in particular good critical essays, can be difficult to write but very rewarding, and the NCH essay competition presents students with a great opportunity to develop these further.

2. Gaining Recognition and Prestige in the Academic Community

Engaging in external academic activities such as essay competitions is an excellent way to gain recognition and prestige within our university’s International Relations department. It is no secret that dedicating time to writing high-quality essays outside of your university curriculum will be beneficial to your academic development. Gaining recognition and prestige within the academic community at the university level is an important aspect for hopeful academics, and there are clear benefits to producing high-quality written work at UK and international universities. The primary benefit of gaining recognition for essay work is that it is a stepping-stone to securing employment in authoritative institutions in one’s field of study. This is something which many students aspire to and is a great individual motivator for participating in essay work. The better the job, the more these students will be able to effect positive change in the world in the most efficacious manner possible given their career.

3. Expanding Knowledge and Understanding of Diverse Topics

Essays offer students the chance to prove their knowledge of the material learned in the course in a much deeper and more thorough manner. Students often believe that they understand course material much better than they actually do. It is not until they begin to write an essay that they are forced to look up those concepts they barely understand or only grasped in a partial manner. This usually involves going beyond the material taught in class, which is often a great way to expand knowledge of a particular topic. The wealth of information contained in scholarly sources is at times overwhelming, but the ability to sift through it and understand what is relevant is a skill which is invaluable in further academic pursuits. The process of essay writing can be an end in itself, for by writing down one’s thoughts, it can serve as a gauge to one’s own understanding of the topic. At other times, writing an essay is the best means of demonstrating a particular understanding of a complex topic.”

“The opportunity to undertake rigorous research and write an essay has a valuable place in the competitive world of academia. In the process of researching and writing, students are confronted with diverse topics and a range of often conflicting ideas. To truly engage with the material is to test one’s own understanding of the issue at hand. This intellectual engagement will greatly deepen students’ understanding of the topic, whilst familiarizing themselves with the use of a wide array of academic resources.

4. Building a Competitive Edge for Future Opportunities

It’s not just offering an extension of your current subject interests, the NCH essay competition gives you insight into the skills you will need as an undergraduate student. University study is different from school. The Higher Education Academy identifies, in their successful graduates report, that research and inquiry skills are a particular sore point for many employers of graduates. At uni, you must be able to operate more autonomously and independently with your learning. This will involve learning to ask the right questions, identify what you need to know, locate and access appropriate resources, and consider the information and its source critically. Completing the research and inquiry category of the essay competition will ensure that this stepping stone to university-level thinking is not too tremendous. Whether you are an upper sixth student needing to develop these skills or a year 12 student looking to get ahead and develop these vital skills earlier, this competition is perfectly suited to you. From research conducted between 2006-13 on undergraduate student engagement in the US, the Council of Independent Colleges provides evidence to suggest that students with similar funding who participated in research with a faculty member were notably better prepared in a series of skills that employers valued than their comparison group. It also allows you to master a subject on your own terms and of your own choice where at school and college you may have been bound by a curriculum and tight specification. Recommended entry level for the first category would be AS and Advanced Higher students.

5. Contributing to the Advancement of Intellectual Discourse

In preparing your essay, you might consider taking a look at some of the other essays or parts of essays on this site, and even discussing an exchange of critical comments with other participants as part of your preparation. Weigh in with your own comments on what makes for a winning essay. By doing this or anything else that helps increase your understanding of the craft of essay writing or deepens your understanding of issues of public significance, you are indirectly contributing to the nature and quality of discourse on those issues.

Simply by participating in the essay competition, you will be contributing to the intellectual discourse of the humanities. Submissions will be made available on the college’s website, thereby adding to the increasing array of resources intended to inspire and guide individuals toward reaching their own informed conclusions on topics of public interest. The winning essays will be published on the institute’s website as well as distributed to the college’s contacts in the public policy arena, thereby increasing the possibility that the thoughtful analyses offered by essay competition participants will make a difference in society.