Prizes

Throughout its many incarnations, the aim of the Writing Center has been to provide peer-to-peer instruction that enhances Dartmouth students' intellectual work at every stage of their thinking, research, and composing processes.

The Albert I. Dickerson 1930 Freshman Writing Prize

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Albert Inskip Dickerson, Class of 1930
Albert Inskip Dickerson, Class of 1930

Prize Albert I. Dickerson, for many years Dean of Freshmen, took great interest in first-year composition. In his memory, a prize has been established which will be awarded annually to that student who writes an outstanding expository essay in a First-Year Seminar/Humanities 2, or in a Writing 5/Humanities 1 class, or in a Writing 2-3 class, as decided by a committee of Writing Program faculty.

Arthur Feinstein 1955 Memorial Fund First Year Excellence in Writing Award

The First Year Excellence in Writing Award, made possible by the Arthur Feinstein 1955 Memorial Fund, is for "the best piece of writing by a first-year student in one of the first-year writing courses."

This award is drawn, by a committee of faculty judges, from the single best essay of all those essays that are nominated for the Dickerson Prize, so any essay submitted for the Dickerson Prize is automatically considered for the Feinstein Award. With both these prizes, therefore, the essay must first be nominated for the Dickerson Prize. 

Submissions

All instructors in any first-year writing course may nominate for the Dickerson Prize one essay from each section of writing that they teach.  For all of the Dickerson categories and all terms, the essay must be submitted by the instructor, with an acknowledgement that the student has consented to have the essay submitted, no later than June 15.  The instructor should also attest that the nominated essay is the draft of the essay that the student submitted for the class; further revisions are not permitted.

Faculty may contact writing.program@dartmouth.edu to request the link for submitting nominations.