Master's students essay competitions


Publishing outstanding US related work by LSE Master's students


The LSE Phelan US Centre's Essay Competition seeks 1000-word articles from current LSE Master's students on a specific topic which relates to the United States.


2024 Essay Competition - How should the United States work to shape the future of capitalism in this age of insecurity?

In January 2024 the Phelan US Centre issued a call for entries from LSE Master's students to write a 1000-word essay on climate change and the United States with the prompt: "How should the United States work to shape the future of capitalism in this age of insecurity?" Students were encouraged to interpret this prompt from a variety of perspectives, and with an interdisciplinary focus. 

Submitted essays were judged by a panel of Phelan US Centre staff and LSE academics.

The winning entry and runners up were published on the US Centre's LSE United States Politics and Policy Blog (USAPP)

In March 2024, the winning student will present their essay to members of the British-American Parliamentary Group and other UK Members of Parliament (MPs) with an interest in capitalism . 

The 2024 essay competition winners and runners up were:

More details about the 2024 essay competition.

2023 Essay Competition - What responsibility does the US have to the rest of the world on climate change?

In February 2023 the Phelan US Centre issued a call for entries from LSE Master's students to write a 1000-word essay on climate change and the United States with the prompt: What responsibility does the US have to the rest of the world on climate change? Students were encouraged to interpret this prompt from a variety of perspectives, and with an interdisciplinary focus. 

Submitted essays were judged by a panel of Phelan US Centre staff and LSE academics.

The winning entry and runners up were published on the US Centre's LSE United States Politics and Policy Blog (USAPP)

In April 2023, the winning student presented their essay to members of the British-American Parliamentary Group and other UK Members of Parliament (MPs) with an interest in climate change policy. 

The 2023 essay competition winners and runners up were:

More details about the 2023 essay competition.

2018 Essay Competition - What does 2018 mean for America?

In 2018 the LSE US Centre held its first Student Essay Competition with the topic covering what the year held for the United States.

2016 and 2017 were turbulent years for the United States;  2018 promised to be no different.The LSE US Centre held its inaugural Undergraduate Student Essay Competition in early 2018 on the topic, “What does 2018 mean for X in America?”.

The winning entry and two runners up were published on the US Centre's United States Politics and Policy Blog (USAPP)

The 2018 essay competition winners and runners up were:

 

 

 Master's students essay competition further details

Originality

All submitted essay competition entries must be the original work of a current LSE Masters student, following the same standards of academic integrity as set out by LSE. Any submissions found to be based in whole or in part on existing coursework or essays, copied from other resources, or AI generated, will be disqualified from the competition and the student’s home Department informed.

Criteria and Judging Panel

Entries are scored based on the following criteria: 


  • Title
  • Topic
  • Readability
  • Use of evidence

The judging panel will be made up of a combination of the US Centre team and LSE faculty. 

Writing Guidelines

Submissions should be no more than 1000 words. Strong submissions will have followed the style guidelines (PDF) as set out in the US Centre’s USAPP blog style guide. Students are advised to consult articles posted on the USAPP blog for inspiration.  

Eligibility

The Phelan US Centre essay competition is only open to LSE students at Master's level. Unfortunately, former, or future LSE Master's students are unable to apply. Entries from Undergraduate or PhD students will not be accepted. 

All entries must be the original work of a current LSE Master's student, following the same standards of academic integrity as set out by the LSE. 

Contact

Please send any inquiries via email to the Phelan US Centre team at uscentre@lse.ac.uk

 

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Contact us

Telephone

Telephone +44 (0)207 955 6938

Email

Email uscentre@lse.ac.uk

Address

LSE US Centre, Centre Building, 10th Floor, , 2 Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AD