The Mark Welter K-12 World Historian Award & The Mark Welter Community College Award for 2011
The prize for each award is $500.00. Each competitor will submit an essay that addresses the issue: "In what way has the study of world history affected my understanding of the world in which I live?" Winners may not compete in the same category again.
The committee will judge papers according to the following criteria:
1) Clear thesis
2) Elaboration on the thesis with specific, concrete, personal example(s)
3) Evidence of critical-thinking, such as synthesis and evaluation, when reflecting on the essay question
4) Overall effectiveness of the student's ability to communicate what he/she thought about world history both before and after taking a course in it. In other words, how well has the student described the experience of being changed by a better understanding of world history?
Areas for consideration in the essays may include, but are by no means limited by, the following:
1) The relationship between humanity and the environment.
2) The exchange of ideas across cultures throughout history.
3) The impact of technology (agricultural, military, &communications) throughout history.
4) The implications of the increasing political, social, economic, and cultural interdependence of humanity.
Submission guidelines:
Entries must be time-stamped or postmarked by 11:59 PM, October 1, 2011
Length: Submissions for the K-12 World Historian Award should be approximately 1,000 words. Submissions for the Community College World Historian Award should be approximately 1500 words.
Formatting: Number all pages except for the title page, and all pages are to be double-spaced. Use 12pt. Times New Roman font. All margins - left and right and top and bottom -- are to one inch. Submissions must be composed in Microsoft Word.
The author's identity is to appear nowhere on the paper.
A separate, unattached page should accompany the paper, identifying the author, title of paper, home address, telephone number, e-mail address, and name of school.
Papers that do not adhere to these guidelines will be disqualified.
To submit your material by e-mail:
Send the following as separate attachments on the same e-mail:
1) The paper
2) A page with identifying information (author, title of paper, home address, telephone number, e-mail address, and name of school.) All attachments must be formatted in MS Word.
paul.jentz@nhcc.edu
In the subject line of the e-mail write either:
"Mark Welter K-12 submission" or "Mark Welter CC submission."
To submit your material by mail:
Send five copies of the paper and five copies of the page with identifying information. In the lower left hand corner on the front of the envelope write either "Mark Welter K-12 submission" or "Mark Welter CC submission."
Send the envelope to:
Paul Jentz, Chair of Mark Welter Committee Department of History North
Hennepin Community College
7411 85th Avenue North
Brooklyn Park, MN 55445-2299
The WHA reserves the right to publish in the World History Bulletin any essay (or portion thereof) submitted to the competition. It will do so
solely at its discretion, but full acknowledgment of authorship will be given. If someone's essay is published in whole or in part, the author will
receive five (5) free copies of the Bulletin.
About Dr. Mark Welter:
Dr. Mark Welter began teaching world history in 1963. He has been a member of the World History Association since 1984. After instructing at the secondary level for seven years, he earned a doctorate at the University of Minnesota. He then began teaching his self-authored world history course at St. Cloud State University. Today he instructs world history and world religions course for the University of Minnesota Senior Citizens Program. Dr. Welter's teaching is predicated upon the philosophy articulated by William H. McNeill that "Teaching world history is a high and noble undertaking because only world history offers the sufficient dimensions of space and time to elicit needed awareness of the world we all share."
The World History Association is a community of scholars, teachers, and students who are passionately committed to the study of the history of the human community across regional, cultural, and political boundaries.
Please direct all questions and inquiries about these awards to Paul Jentz at paul.jentz@nhcc.edu.
Phi Alpha Theta / World History Association Paper Prizes in World History, 2011
Entries must be e-mailed or postmarked by June 30, 2011
Phi Alpha Theta and the World History Association, with a generous subvention from Oxford University Press, a publisher of history textbooks, co-sponsor two student paper prizes in world history, each of $500, for the best undergraduate world history paper and the best graduate-level world history paper composed in the 2010-11 academic year.
A world history paper is one that examines any historical issue with global implications. Such studies can include, but are not limited to, the exchange and interchange of cultures, the comparison of two or more civilizations or cultures, or the study in a macro-historical manner of a phenomenon that had a global impact. For example, world history topics might include a study of the trans-cultural impact of Eurasia's Silk Road; a comparative study of the Ottoman and British empires; or the worldwide impact of the Influenza Pandemic of 1919.
To be eligible, students must be members of either The World History Association (www.thewha.org) or Phi Alpha Theta (www.phialphatheta.org) and must have composed the paper while enrolled at an accredited college or university during 2010-2011.
The Committee will judge papers according to the following criteria: world historical scope; originality of research; depth of analysis; and prose style.
Submission guidelines:
Submissions must be no longer than 30 typewritten, double-spaced pages of text, exclusive of the title page, endnotes, and bibliography.
Number all pages except for the title page.
Endnotes must conform to standard historical formats. Do not use parenthetical notes.
The author's identity is to appear nowhere on the paper.
A separate, unattached page should accompany the paper, identifying the author, title of paper, home address, telephone number, e-mail address, college affiliation, graduating year and status (undergraduate or graduate student), and the association (WHA or PAT) to which the person belongs. Phi Alpha Theta members must indicate the institution at which they were inducted and the year.
A one-page (250-word) abstract must accompany each submission. Abstracts of winning papers will be published in all announcements of competition results.
Additionally, a letter or e-mail from a relevant history faculty member (the supervising professor, the Chair of the department, or the Phi Alpha Theta chapter advisor) must attest to the fact that the paper was composed during the 2010-2011 academic year.
Papers that do not adhere to these guidelines will be disqualified.
Submit the paper either:
Via MS Word e-mail attachments of
1) the paper;
2) the page with identifying information; and
3) the abstract.
The faculty member’s letter must be e-mailed or posted separately.
Email to the Committee Chair, Merry Wiesner-Hanks, merrywh@uwm.edu
OR
Via hardcopy to the Committee Chair, below. Hardcopy submissions must include four (4) printed copies each of the paper, the page with identifying information, the abstract, and the faculty member’s letter.
Mail to:
Merry Wiesner-Hanks
Department of History
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Milwaukee, WI 53201
Winning papers are eligible for consideration for publication in the various journals of the World History Association and Phi Alpha Theta, but no promise of publication accompanies any award.