The judges of the Staton Essay Prize are delighted to announce the winners for 2016:
Overall Winner – Henry Coleman
Contemporary Worlds – Lewis Bedford
Literary Worlds – Sarah Nolan
Congratulations to these entrants who were highly commended by the judges:
Joshua Garrett
Christopher Lamb
Bethany Lucas
Emily May
Seren Mehmet
Lottricia Millett
Franklin Nelson
Oliver Sampson
Sebastian Shemirai
Violetta Suvini
Robert Swift
Daniel Waters
Lara Wildenberg
Details of Staton Essay Prize 2017 will be released in March
About the Prize: The Staton Essay Prize is an interdisciplinary essay competition open to all students currently studying in Year 12 anywhere in the UK (or its equivalent in the EU and internationally). One prize will be awarded in each of 3 categories in the competition: £250 to the best overall essay, and two prizes of £150 each to two other essays. Prize winners and their parents or carers will be invited to a special Awards Dinner at Regent’s.
Regent’s Park College specializes in teaching and research in the humanities and social sciences. It has developed a particular expertise in teaching joint honours degrees and this prize is designed to give entrants the opportunity to explore connections between the subjects they are currently studying or are interested in, develop their abilities for independent research, and encourage them to apply for undergraduate courses that may be interdisciplinary.
The Theme for the 2016 Prize was ‘The City’, and the questions were as follows:
Contemporary Worlds category
In this category, entrants could combine subjects like contemporary history (1980s onwards), economics, philosophy, religious studies, and politics.
(1) Are humans destined to live in cities?
(2) Why do some cities never sleep?
(3) Does urbanisation encourage toleration?
Historical Worlds category
In this category, entrants could combine subjects like ancient history, archaeology, classical literature, history (from the fall of Rome to 1979), philosophy, and religious studies.
(4) Are states made strong by having strong cities?
(5) Do successful protest movements have their roots in cities?
(6) Is urban transformation an expression of power?
Literary Worlds category
In this category, entrants could combine subjects like classical literature, English language, English literature, history (any period), philosophy, and religious studies.
(7) Heaven is a garden but hell is a city. Do literary texts endorse or challenge this view?
(8) What are the imaginative possibilities offered to writers by the city?
(9) Is the paradox of simultaneous belonging and alienation best explored through the representation of cities?