SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION

Scholarship Description

This scholarship is cosponsored by the Leadership Institute’s CampusReform.org and the Intercollegiate Studies Institute.  All students admitted or enrolled to an undergraduate degree program are encouraged to apply.  Contestants will submit an essay for a chance to win up to $3,000 in scholarship money, along with all expense-paid trips to the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s annual Dinner for Western Civilization and any one of the Leadership Institute’s types of 41 training schools.

Scholarship Prizes

First Prize  

• $3,000
• All expense-paid trip for one to the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s annual Dinner for Western Civilization
• All expense-paid trip for one to any one of the Leadership Institute’s types of 41 training schools

Second Prize   

• $2,000
• A full scholarship for one to any one of the Leadership Institute’s types of 41 training schools

Third Prize    

• $1,000
• A full scholarship for one to any one of the Leadership Institute’s 41 types of training schools

Scholarship Deadline

All submissions are due by midnight on Friday, May 14, 2010. 

Scholarship Prompt

Students are asked to write an essay of no more than 2,500 words on the following topic:

Professor Donald Livingston, in his essay “David Hume and the Conservative Tradition” (Intercollegiate Review, Fall 2009), argues that “conservatism is a critique of ideology in politics.” As such, conservatism properly understood seeks to overcome putatively autonomous “false philosophy” with a “true philosophy” that is constituted by “reflections of common life, methodized and corrected.” In developing this theme, Livingston touches upon many provocative points of English and American history and presents a novel framework for a conservative approach to practical politics.

During the Cold War, American conservative opposition to ideological politics (“false philosophy”) coincided neatly with opposition to Soviet communism. Since the fall of the Soviet empire, however, the dangers and distortions of ideology have faded from the minds of many, including many conservatives. Based on your reading of Professor Livingston’s essay, how would you describe the dominant “false philosophy” of the present time in America? How can that philosophy’s falsity be shown persuasively? How, in turn, can a critique of that false philosophy avoid falling into ideology itself?

Submission Guidelines

Entries may be in essay form only.  Submissions should not exceed 2,500 words and should be submitted as Microsoft Word files. 

Essays must be emailed as Microsoft Word attachments to CampusReform.org Communications Manager Bonnie Kristian at scholarship@campusreform.org.

The first page of each submission must include entrants’ full name, college or university, major and graduation year, email address, mailing address, and CampusReform.org username.  Entries submitted without this information will not be considered complete.

Late and/or incomplete entries will not be accepted.  Winners will be announced within two to four weeks depending on the volume of entries.  First, second, and third prizes will be selected by a panel of judges composed of ISI and LI staff. 

Scholarship Rules

1. All entrants must be admitted to or enrolled in an accredited undergraduate degree program in the United States.
2. Essays must be the original work of one entrant.
3. There is a limit of one essay entry per student.
4. All entries must be submitted in English.
5. All entries become of the property of CampusReform.org and may be posted online at the discretion of the Campus Reform staff.
6. No staff member of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute or the Leadership Institute is eligible to win.
7. All entries must be received by midnight on the date of the submission deadline.
8. All entrants must be full members of CampusReform.org.  Those already enrolled in or admitted to a four-year college must be a member of their school’s Campus Reform subsite.
9. Failure to comply with these rules may lead to disqualification from the scholarship contest.

Judging Criteria

Essays will be evaluated on the basis of (1) demonstrated grasp of Hume’s argument as developed in Donald Livingston’s essay, (2) intellectual cogency of original argumentation, (3) imagination, (4) quality of writing, and (5) relevance of the overall argument to contemporary political and cultural concerns.

Questions and Additional Information

If you have any additional questions about how to enter this scholarship contest, click here.  For more information about the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, click here.  For more information about the Leadership Institute, click here.  For more information about CampusReform.org, click here.