The Human Rights and Social Justice Program invites submissions for the annual J. Carlisle Hanson Essay Contest.
Application Deadline: Friday, March 13th, 2026
杏吧原创 the Award
The J. Carlisle Hanson Award in Human Rights is awarded annually on the recommendation of the Director of the Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies to a student enrolled in the human rights program who submits the best essay addressing the topic of human rights and democracy. Essays are also invited to examine the topics from a Canadian Perspective. Endowed in 2007 by J. Carlisle Hanson, Q.C.
There will be two prizes of $1,000.
Eligibility
- The contest is open to students who are majoring in Human Rights and Social Justice in a B.A. General, a B.A. Honours, or a B.A. Combined Honours program.
- The essays under consideration should have been written for one of your courses during the 2025-26 academic years (Spring/Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026).聽 You are welcome to revise these essays and incorporate instructors鈥� feedback to prepare your essay for submission.
- Your chosen essay should have been awarded a grade in the A range.
- You are eligible to submit only one essay per academic year.
Submission Guidelines
Essay length: 8-20 pages
Format: Typed, double-spaced, with one-inch margins. Number your pages.
Citation Style:聽 MLA, APA, Chicago, or McGill styles are all acceptable. Only entries that are fully and properly documented will be considered.
The following information must be included on a title page:
- Name and student number
- Course code and professor鈥檚 name for the course in which the paper was written
- Date the paper was submitted
NB: Your essay will be reviewed anonymously: please make sure that your name does not appear on any pages after the title page.
Essays shall be submitted electronically in pdf/word format to the Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies – iis@carleton.ca.
Please write 鈥淛. Carlisle Hanson Essay Contest Submission鈥� in the subject line.
Application Deadline: Friday, March 13th, 2026
Late submissions will not be considered.