The Bech-Loughlin First Amendment Center at Texas Law is sponsoring a Free Speech Essay Contest to encourage scholarship among UT-Austin students to promote understanding and appreciation of the freedom of speech.
The essay prompt, eligibility requirements, submission link, and other information can be found using the link here!
The LAH Literary Awards support excellence in creative writing and acknowledge the accomplishments of our student community. Three prizes will be offered: one in poetry, one in fiction, and one in literary nonfiction. Please see below for detailed instructions on how to submit to each category:
Poetry: Submit a portfolio of 6-8 poems (12pt. Times New Roman) that does not exceed 12 pages.
Fiction: Submit a portfolio of fiction writing (12pt. Times New Roman) that does not exceed 5,000 words.
Literary Nonfiction: Submit a portfolio of non-fiction writing (12pt. Times New Roman) that does not exceed 5,000 words.
Your contest submissions are due by 12pm CST on February 17th. Please send your submissions to Dr. Brandon Dean Lamson utilizing his email linked here. Winning entries will be published online. Winners will also receive a $500 cash prize and will participate in a reading with the contest judges at the Cactus Cafe on April 17th.
This is a reminder that the Pinto Carver Essay Contest for first (‘28) and second (‘27) year LAHers has a submission deadline of January 29th at 11:59pm.
For more information on the 2025 essay topic, guidelines, and awards, please click here!
The Office of the Dean of Students Cactus Yearbook Bookshelf needs a makeover, and we need your help to transform it. This is an opportunity for students from any major with a flair for design to showcase their talents and leave a lasting impact on campus. The bookshelf will predominantly feature our collection of Cactus Yearbooks from nearly every year since 1920. The chosen student will work closely with the department to bring their design to life. The selected artist will also receive campus-wide recognition and a financial award of $500. Attend an info session to learn more about the application process, view the yearbook collection, and explore our space.
Info sessions will be held in the SSB 4.492:
Submit your design via the link here by January 31, 2025. If you have any questions, please contact paige@austin.utexas.edu.
UT GIS Day is back in 2024! To highlight the innovative geospatial research being carried out here at UT Austin, we are inviting UT students to share their work in our poster competition. Any project (with a student first author) that makes use of GIS or involves geospatial data is eligible to enter. A panel of judges will score posters with monetary awards for the top scoring posters. First place will be awarded $200, second place $150, and third place $100.
Submit the proposal form if you are interested in participating in the session which will take place on Wednesday 11/20 from 4:00pm to 5:00pm in the Scholars Lab in the Perry-Castañeda Library (PCL). The deadline for poster submissions is Tuesday, November 5th and there are limited poster spaces available so consider submitting early to secure a place in the competition. If you would like to present your poster but do not to want to enter the competition you may select that option in the proposal form.
Applications are now open for the 2024 Roy Crane Award for Literary Arts.
This award is given each year for unique, creative effort in the performing, literary and visual arts. In 2024, the award(s) will be given in the area of literary arts. Awards range between $1,000 and $4,500. The application and all supporting materials must be received by Friday, April 5, at 11:59 p.m. Central.
For more information on Roy Crane, award eligibility, as well as application requirements, please click the link here!
The inaugural LAH Literary Awards support excellence in creative writing and support the
accomplishments of our LAH community. Three prizes will be offered: one in poetry, one in
fiction, and one in literary nonfiction. Please see below for detailed instructions on how to
submit to each category.
Poetry: Submit a portfolio of 6-8 poems (12pt. Times New Roman) that does not exceed 12
pages.
Fiction: Submit a portfolio of fiction writing (12pt. Times New Roman) that does not exceed
5,000 words.
Literary Nonfiction: Submit a portfolio of non-fiction writing (12pt. Times New Roman) that
does not exceed 5,000 words.
Your contest submissions are due by 12pm CST on February 1 st . Please send your submissions
to Dr. Brandon Dean Lamson at brandon.lamson@austin.utexas.edu. Winning entries will be
published online.
Winners will also receive a $500 cash prize and will participate in a reading with the contest
judges.
We need your help! We’re having a course scheduling professional development conference in the spring with a State Fair theme and we need a logo. Our slogan that we’d like incorporated in some way is “Come one, come all, to celebrate and share!”
The logo, which best features our theme and/or slogan, will be displayed prominently on our conference sites and other promotional materials. Multiple submissions are welcome. Selected entry will receive a $50 gift card.
The deadline for submissions is Thursday, December 1, 2022 at 11:45pm.
Submission form: https://forms.office.com/r/acQaSNhkAX
If you have trouble accessing the form contact: lisav@austin.utexas.edu
The deadline is approaching for the School of Undergraduate Studies Writing Flag Award, honoring the best writing produced by UT undergraduates in courses carrying the Writing Flag. Students must submit their work by 11:59 p.m. on Monday, December 12, 2022, to be eligible for prizes of up to $300, awarded in three categories — Research, Persuasive/Critical, and Creative/Reflective. In each of these categories, the Writing Flag Awards will recognize student writing that best demonstrates clarity, inventiveness and intellectual rigor.
Eligible works must be written by an undergraduate student and submitted for credit in a UT Austin Writing Flag class in the Spring, Summer or Fall semester of 2022. Collaboratively written entries are allowed in all categories.
For full contest rules, submission guidelines and other information, please visit our website.
Thank you,
The Center for Skills & Experience Flags Team
The contest is open exclusively to UT undergraduates, and all undergraduates are eligible.
Prizes for the top three essays range from $700-$1500.
Deadline for submission is November 4, 2022.
The two topics that students may choose from this year concern: The Right to be Forgotten (erasing past speech) and Freedom of the Press.
The complete questions and all further details about length, submission, etc., can be found at our website: https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/freespeechessay/essay-contest/
Related: events during Free Speech Week may be of interest to students. Two that I currently know of are:
Tuesday October 18th at 6 pm in RRH 3.310 – Freedom of the Press in an Era of Misinformation – Cognitive Problems, Legal Solutions
a lecture by Professor Tara Smith https://salemcenter.org/event/freedom-of-the-press-in-an-era-of-misinformation-cognitive-problems-legal-solutions/
Thursday October 20 at 4 pm in Dealy 1.202 – The First Amendment and the Regulation of Social Media – a lecture by attorney Michael Lambert.
Please contact Roxy Becker (roxybecker@austin.utexas.edu) if you have questions about the contest or these events.
