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BHS students win honours in global essay competition

Sienna Spurling learnt about embryonic stem cell research in biology class at the Bermuda High School.

The 14-year-old was intrigued by the controversy. Embryonic stem cells are the building blocks of the body and can become any kind of cell. Scientists want to use them to research a range of diseases but harvesting them kills the embryo.

“There is a global debate with so many different views political, religious, and scientific,” she said. “It is very similar to the abortion debate in that there are opposing pro-life and pro-choice camps.”

Two thousand words on the topic won her a distinction in the prestigious John Locke Institute 2023 Global Essay Competition , based in Oxford, England.

Her classmate, Joy Yammine, also received a distinction in the Under-15 category; 13-year-old Aditi Varwandkar was shortlisted.

Each year 19,000 students from around the world enter the competition; 100 are shortlisted. Three winners are chosen; the top 15 per cent receive distinctions.

Essays were judged on the writer’s understanding of the relevant material, the use of evidence, quality of argumentation, originality, structure, writing style and persuasive force.

The contest was named for the English philosopher John Locke and asks students 18 and under to ponder questions such as why John Locke is considered the father of liberalism; why safety is more important than fun; and if you had $10 billion, how would you use it to make the world better.

Sienna and Joy wrote in response to the question, what is something important that people are often wrong about?

Joy took a philosophical angle, making her essay about happiness.

“It is something I have been interested in for a while,” she said. “My essay was about how people pursue happiness. Often happiness is looked at as a destination, when it is really a journey. It is not a tangible feeling. You do not know if you have reached happiness.”

The 14-year-old looked at the correlation between money and happiness.

“Beyond the point where all your basic needs are met and you are comfortable with food and shelter, there is no correlation with happiness,” she said. “Money does not make you any more happy.

“In my conclusion, I said that if you want to pursue happiness over a long period of time, you first need to find fulfilment, and contentment.”

Aditi tackled the question what, if anything, do parents owe their children?

“My take on it was that a parent owes their child the best life possible and the tools to succeed in life,” she said.

The teenager discussed central things that children need, such as food, water, clothing, and love. She felt they also needed practice for the real world and tools such as education.

“All children deserve a parent but not all parents deserve a child,” Aditi said. “It’s just about making sure that you’re in the position where you can give your child that better life.”

Their prize was a weekend seminar at Oxford University and admission to a prizegiving reception and gala dinner there.

The girls were scheduled to be in England for the weekend of September 16, but Hurricane Lee intervened, brushing past Bermuda with high waves and power cuts.

“Our flights were pushed back,” said Sienna. “Joy and I arrived a day late.”

That meant they missed the gala dinner and workshops arranged for the Saturday morning.

“At least we got to go to most of the seminars and the main award ceremony on Saturday evening at the Sheldonian Theatre,” Joy said. “That was really great.”

The awards ceremony was very formal.

“They don’t make you walk across the stage to receive your certificate [but] they call your name,” Sienna said. “It is very exciting to see so many people from around the world.”

It was her second time attending after she was shortlisted last year for an essay on taxes.

“We were told we were in the room where students take exams,” Sienna said. “There was a giant clock on the wall. The instructor told us that if we went to Oxford this would be one of the most stressful places for us.”

Seminar topics covered everything from essay writing, to tips on the United Kingdom university application process, to application to Oxford and Cambridge. The winning students also shared their essays.

“Getting into Oxford or Cambridge is not my main goal but that was very interesting,” Sienna said. “There were lots of people at the awards ceremony. It was good that BHS could be represented.”

Students took part in the competition with the help of BHS global politics and history teacher Amy Dingley-Jones.

“I’ve directed students to the John Locke essay prize for the last eight or nine years while working in different countries,” she said.

She added that the competition was a great opportunity for students to explore subjects they were interested in.

“They have to cut it down and structure it in a way that is readable but also different to the other thousands of entries,” Ms Dingley-Jones said. “They also have to give references. It is really impressive that they have been not only shortlisted but received distinctions, as well.”

Reading and writing about embryonic stem cell research cemented Sienna’s fascination with science. “I might go into biology or medicine,” she said.

Joy would like to take courses in psychology. “As a career, I might go into medicine or dentistry,” she said.

Meanwhile, Aditi was also considering psychology, or law.

• For more information on the John Locke Institute Global Essay Competition see www.johnlockeinstitute.com/essay-competition

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How is the modern world different from previous periods of history and why did it come into existence when and where it did? (Dr. Stephen Davies, Institute of Economic Affairs)

Runan Lin, Georgetown Preparatory School, United States

Winner of the 2020 History Prize ​| 7 min read 

Picture a country that is the global leader in terms of military strength and political influence. It has a complex law code that governs all parts of the population regardless of their social or economic status; it plays a major role in global trade and maintains a vibrant industrial system divided into public and private sectors; this is a country whose population comes from different cultures and has various religious affiliations, including but not limited to Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam; this country practices the idea of meritocracy - selecting government officials on the base of merit - and has a complex system of government built upon the balance of power. This country is also unrivaled globally in civil and military technology, its inventions being spread across continents.

This country, of course, is china during the tang and song dynasties. the “complex law code” refers to the law code of the tang dynasty, which went through three major modifications and included four distinct forms of law enforcement; [1] meritocracy is exercised through the keju examination system; the “complex system of government” refers to the “three departments and six ministries” model, which divides the government into three major branches and six subordinating ministries; advanced “civil and military technology” is exemplified in the development of gunpowder and the introduction of paper currency. indeed, for many living during the tang-song period, this was the pinnacle of civilization, their “modern” society. [2], the oxford dictionary defines the concept of modern as “[pertaining to] the present time or recent times.” [3] the encyclopaedia britannica explains modernity as “the self-definition of a  generation about its own technological innovation , governance, and socioeconomics,” and the key phrase in this explanation is “self-definition of a generation. [4] this essay aims to reconsider the questions of how, why, when, and where the modern world came into existence, and what sets it apart from the pre-modern world. instead of tying the emergence of the modern world to a specific time and place, this work will analyze several historical periods to suggest that the definition of modernity is extremely subjective and that this concept manifests itself differently in various times and places., since modernity is, according to the encyclopedia britannica, “a self-definition of a generation,” the concepts of modernity and of a modern society have been subject to different interpretations at different time periods. for example, the united states considered itself to be the “city upon a hill,” the beacon of liberty and the avant-garde in democracy and human rights. american exceptionalism was a common theme since the founding of the young republic, and thomas jefferson famously described the united states in the following words:, [the united states was] trusted with the destinies of this solitary republic of the world, the only monument of human rights, and the sole depository of the sacred fire of freedom and self-government from hence it is to be lighted up in other regions of the earth, if other regions of the earth shall ever become susceptible of its benign influence. all mankind ought then, with us, to rejoice in its prosperous, and sympathize in its adverse fortunes, as involving every thing dear to man. [5], the founding fathers had indeed provided their citizens with more personal and political freedom under a democratic elective government, and, at the time, the united states did indeed seem modern. however, only several decades later, frederick douglass and w.e.b. dubois would go on to challenge jefferson’s perception of america as the epitome of modernity and freedom and the best realization of enlightenment ideals by pointing to the institution of slavery and to racial injustice. in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when the us was at the forefront of modernity in terms of industrial developments, activists such as elizabeth c. stanton criticised the society’s unequal and backward treatment of women in social, economic, and political spheres. what was thought to be modern in the 19th and early 20th centuries became obsolete within a matter of a few decades, once again demonstrating that the understanding of modernity changes over time., even within the same historical period, however, modernity remains an extremely subjective concept that could be interpreted differently in different places and cultures. in the middle ages, europe saw little progress under the shadows of feudalism and manorialism, while the islamic world and china were entering their respective “golden ages.” in the middle ages, the islamic world was reaching unprecedented heights in cultural and scientific advancements. mathematician al-khwarizmi created the concept of algebra, arab scholars in cordoba translated and preserved the works of great greco-roman writers, and muslim scholars made remarkable progress in medicine and navigation technology. [6] at the same time, song dynasty china was going through a golden age similar to that in the islamic world. therefore, while a resident of song dynasty china would have considered paper currency, thousand-miles-long canals, and civil service examinations to be modern, a contemporary western european would have never heard of gunpowder, compasses, spices of asia, and social mobility and would have seen the heavy plough as the pinnacle of modernity. [7], when europeans first discovered the american continent and came into contact with the natives, the aztecs must have thought that tenochtitilan was the most developed city of the world, and firearms, written languages, and the renaissance were definitely not included in their definition “modernity.” similarly, during the industrial age, emperor qianlong of qing dynasty wrote a letter to king george iii of the united kingdom in which he claimed that “...our celestial empire possesses all things in prolific abundance and lacks no product within its own borders. there was therefore no need to import the manufactures [sic] of outside barbarians in exchange for our own produce.” [8] at the time of this letter (1793), great britain was embroiled in the new ideas of the enlightenment and the inception of the industrial revolution and was considered to be the most advanced nation in terms of its military and civilian technology. while an 18th-century european would have defined modernity in terms of factorial production, voting, and republicanism, a citizen of the qing empire would have had a vastly different interpretation of the term. this is reflected in qianlong’s belief that the celestial empire possessed “all things in prolific abundance and lacked no product within its own borders” and therefore did not need to be modernized any further. [9], in each of the examples above, it is clear that interpretations of the concept of “modern” differ drastically across time and space. many scholars, including those not coming from a western background, believe that the enlightenment marks the beginning of the modern world. [10] however, if these criteria are applied to the contemporary world, then countries that do not have a democratic or republican form of government or do not otherwise conform to the western standards of modernity would have no place in our shared modernity. such a western-centric approach dismisses the cultural and scientific innovations that non-western civilizations have made throughout history, thus contributing to the establishment of the modern world from which they are now excluded. while the western understanding of modernity is becoming more prevalent around the world due to globalization, the contemporary world still does not have a unified definition of “modern,” nor do people in different parts of today’s world experience modernity in the same way. even in the 21st century, absolute monarchs retain their power in kingdoms such as saudi arabia and brunei, [11] despite the fact that this system of government goes against the ideals of natural rights, republicanism, and democracy. even throughout the western world, undisputedly “modern” to most, is still plagued by issues such as slavery and human trafficking, as well as the remnants of racial discrimination rooted in slavery. 12.3 million people remain under some form of forced labor, and at least 10,000 of them are in the united states - the number would increase further if the incarcerated population were included in this statistic. [12] stories of forced laborers being moved across huge tracts of land and being abused along the way frequently make us question our socioeconomic definition of “modern.”, in all of the three main factors defining modernity according to the encyclopaedia britannica - technological innovation , governance, and socio-economics - the world had never before, has not yet, and probably never will, reach a consensus. in terms of technological innovation, the internet could not be accessed by 89.3% of the households in africa and 52.4% in asia and the middle east. [13] in terms of governance, the debate ensues in terms of the balance between individual freedom and security ever since john locke’s proposal of a social contract theory. the discrepancy among attitudes towards socio-economics upheld by various nations is even more extensive and complex. taking these three factors into consideration, it is impossible to identify a specific point in history during which everyone in the world lived according to the same definition of modernity, which suggests that the concept of modernity is subject to individual interpretation and that there has never been and never will be a universal “modern world.”.

1 Li Linfu, Tang Liudian, ed. Jiuling Zhang (Shangwu Yinshuguan, 1978).

2 Patricia Buckley Ebrey, The Cambridge Illustrated History of China, trans. Shiyu Zhao, Shiling Zhao, and Hongyan Zhang (Jinan, Shandong: Shandong Huabao Press, 2001), pp.76-92; 98-105.

3 “Modern,” Oxford Learner's Dictionaries, accessed June 12, 2020, https :// www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/modern?q=modern.

4 Sharon L. Snyder, “Modernity,” Encyclopædia Britannica (Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., May 20, 2016), https :// www.britannica.com/topic/modernity.

5 Thomas Jefferson, “Thomas Jefferson to the Citizens of Washington, D.C., 4 March.,” National Archives and Records Administration (National Archives and Records Administration), accessed June 13, 2020, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-01-02-0006 .

6 Amira K. Bennison, The Great Caliphs: the Golden Age of the Abbasid Empire (New Haven, CT: Yale University, 2014), pp.181-186.

7 “China in 1000 CE,” The Song Dynasty in China (Asia for Educators, Columbia University, 2020), http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/songdynasty-module/index.html ; Thomas Barnebeck Andersen, Peter S. Jensen, and Christian Skovsgaard, “The Heavy Plough and the Agricultural Revolution in Medieval Europe,” SSRN Electronic Journal, 2013, https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2362894.

8 Qianlong, “Letter to George III, 1793,” Internet History Sourcebooks (Fordham University, 2020), https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/1793qianlong.asp.

9 Qianlong, “Letter to George III, 1793,” Internet History Sourcebooks (Fordham University, 2020), https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/1793qianlong.asp.

10 Yi Junqing, and Lingmei Fan, "Dimensions of Modernity and Their Contemporary Fate," Frontiers of Philosophy in China 1, no. 1 (2006): 6-21, Accessed June 15, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/30209946 . This article serves as a good example ofto the argument above, with the authors - both Chinese- beginning by defining modernity as “the cultural schemata and mechanisms of social action stemming from the Enlightenment.”

11 Harry St. John Bridger Philby, William L. Ochsenwald, and Joshua Teitelbaum, “Saudi Arabia,” Encyclopædia Britannica (Encyclopædia Britannica, iInc., June 13, 2020), https://www.britannica.com/place/Saudi-Arabia ; Ooi Jin Bee, Mohamad Yusop Damit, and Pushpa Thambipillai, “Brunei,” Encyclopædia Britannica (Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., June 15, 2020), https:// www.britannica.com/place/Brunei.

12 Rodger Doyle, "Modern Slavery," Scientific American 294, no. 1 (2006): 30, Accessed June 16, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/26061289.

13 Marcus Leaning, “Internet Accessibility Continental Comparison,” UNESCO, accessed June 23, 2020, https://en.unesco.org/sites/default/files/milweek17_marcus_leaning.pdf.

Bibliography

Andersen, Thomas Barnebeck, Peter S. Jensen, and Christian Skovsgaard. “The Heavy Plough and the Agricultural Revolution in Medieval Europe.” SSRN Electronic Journal, 2013. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2362894.

Bennison, Amira K. The Great Caliphs: the Golden Age of the Abbasid Empire. New Haven, CT: Yale University, 2014.

Bee, Ooi Jin, Mohamad Yusop Damit, and Pushpa Thambipillai. “Brunei.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., June 15, 2020. https://www.britannica.com/place/Brunei .

“China in 1000 CE.” The Song Dynasty in China. Asia for Educators, Columbia University, 2020. http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/songdynasty-module/index.html.

Doyle, Rodger. "Modern Slavery." Scientific American 294, no. 1 (2006): 30. Accessed June 16,

2020. www.jstor.org/stable/26061289 .

Ebrey, Patricia Buckley. The Cambridge Illustrated History of China. Translated by Shiyu Zhao, Shiling Zhao, and Hongyan Zhang. Jinan, Shandong: Shandong Huabao Press, 2001.

Hunter, Shireen T. "Can Islam and Modernity Be Reconciled?" Insight Turkey 11, no. 3 (2009): 1-12. Accessed June 15, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/26331091 .

Leaning, Marcus. “Internet Accessibility Continental Comparison.” Internet Accessibility.

UNESCO. Accessed June 23, 2020. https://en.unesco.org/sites/default/files/milweek17_marcus_leaning.pdf.

Linfu, Li. Tang Liudian. Edited by Jiuling Zhang. Shangwu Yinshuguan, 1978.

“Modern.” Oxford Learner's Dictionaries. Accessed June 12, 2020. https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/modern?q=modern .

Qianlong. “Letter to George III, 1793.” Internet History Sourcebooks. Fordham University, 2020. https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/1793qianlong.asp . From E. Backhouse and J.

O. P. Bland, Annals and Memoirs of the Court of Peking (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1914), pp. 322-331

Snyder, Sharon L. “Modernity.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., May 20, 2016. https://www.britannica.com/topic/modernity .

“Thomas Jefferson to the Citizens of Washington, D.C., 4 March 1809,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-01-02-0006. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Retirement Series, vol. 1, 4 March

1809 to 15 November 1809, ed. J. Jefferson Looney. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004, pp. 13–14.]

Yi, Junqing, and Lingmei Fan. "Dimensions of Modernity and Their Contemporary Fate." Frontiers of Philosophy in China 1, no. 1 (2006): 6-21. Accessed June 15, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/30209946.

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• 12 min read

The Ultimate Guide to the John Locke Essay Competition

Humanities and social sciences students often lack the opportunities to compete at the global level and demonstrate their expertise. Competitions like ISEF, Science Talent Search, and MIT Think are generally reserved for students in fields like biology, physics, and chemistry.

At Lumiere, many of our talented non-STEM students, who have a flair for writing are looking for ways to flex their skills. In this piece, we’ll go over one such competition - the John Locke Essay Competition. If you’re interested in learning more about how we guide students to win essay contests like this, check out our main page .

What is the John Locke Essay Competition?

The essay competition is one of the various programs conducted by the John Locke Institute (JLI) every year apart from their summer and gap year courses. To understand the philosophy behind this competition, it’ll help if we take a quick detour to know more about the institute that conducts it.

Founded in 2011, JLI is an educational organization that runs summer and gap year courses in the humanities and social sciences for high school students. These courses are primarily taught by academics from Oxford and Princeton along with some other universities. The organization was founded by Martin Cox. Our Lumiere founder, Stephen, has met Martin and had a very positive experience. Martin clearly cares about academic rigor.

The institute's core belief is that the ability to evaluate the merit of information and develop articulate sound judgments is more important than merely consuming information. The essay competition is an extension of the institute - pushing students to reason through complex questions in seven subject areas namely Philosophy, Politics, Economics, History, Psychology, Theology, and Law​.

The organization also seems to have a strong record of admissions of alumni to the top colleges in the US and UK. For instance, between 2011 and 2022, over half of John Locke alumni have gone on to one of eight colleges: Chicago, Columbia, Georgetown, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Stanford, and Yale.

How prestigious is the John Locke Contest?

The John Locke Contest is a rigorous and selective writing competition in the social sciences and humanities. While it is not as selective as the Concord Review and has a much broader range of students who can receive prizes, it is still considered a highly competitive program.

Winning a John Locke essay contest will have clear benefits for you in your application process to universities and would reflect well on your application. On the other hand, a shortlist or a commendation might not have a huge impact given that it is awarded to many students (more on this later).

What is the eligibility for the contest?

Students, of any country, who are 18 years old or younger before the date of submission can submit. They also have a junior category for students who are fourteen years old, or younger, on the date of the submission deadline.

Who SHOULD consider this competition?

We recommend this competition for students who are interested in social sciences and humanities, in particular philosophy, politics, and economics. It is also a good fit for students who enjoy writing, want to dive deep into critical reasoning, and have some flair in their writing approach (more on that below).

While STEM students can of course compete, they will have to approach the topics through a social science lens. For example, in 2021, one of the prompts in the division of philosophy was, ‘Are there subjects about which we should not even ask questions?’ Here, students of biology can comfortably write about topics revolving around cloning, gene alteration, etc, however, they will have to make sure that they are able to ground this in the theoretical background of scientific ethics and ethical philosophy in general.

Additional logistics

Each essay should address only one of the questions in your chosen subject category, and must not exceed 2000 words (not counting diagrams, tables of data, footnotes, bibliography, or authorship declaration).

If you are using an in-text-based referencing format, such as APA, your in-text citations are included in the word limit.

You can submit as many essays as you want in any and all categories. (We recommend aiming for only one given how time-consuming it can be to come up with a single good-quality submission)

Important dates

Prompts for the 2023 competition will be released in January 2023. Your submission will be due around 6 months later in June. Shortlisted candidates will be notified in mid-July which will be followed by the final award ceremony in September.

How much does it cost to take part?

What do you win?

A scholarship that will offset the cost of attending a course at the JLI. The amount will vary between $2000 and $10,000 based on whether you are a grand prize winner (best essay across all categories) or a subject category winner. (JLI programs are steeply-priced and even getting a prize in your category would not cover the entire cost of your program. While the website does not mention the cost of the upcoming summer program, a different website mentions it to be 3,000 GBP or 3600 USD)

If you were shortlisted, most probably, you will also receive a commendation certificate and an invitation to attend an academic ceremony at Oxford. However, even here, you will have to foot the bill for attending the conference, which can be a significant one if you are an international student.

How do you submit your entry?

You submit your entry through the website portal that will show up once the prompts for the next competition are up in January! You have to submit your essay in pdf format where the title of the pdf attachment should read SURNAME, First Name, Category, and Question Number (e.g. POPHAM, Alexander, Psychology, Q2).

What are the essay prompts like?

We have three insights here.

Firstly, true to the spirit of the enlightenment thinker it is named after, most of the prompts have a philosophical bent and cover ethical, social, and political themes. In line with JLI’s general philosophy, they force you to think hard and deeply about the topics they cover. Consider a few examples to understand this better:

“Are you more moral than most people you know? How do you know? Should you strive to be more moral? Why or why not?” - Philosophy, 2021

“What are the most important economic effects - good and bad - of forced redistribution? How should this inform government policy?” - Economics, 2020

“Why did the Jesus of Nazareth reserve his strongest condemnation for the self-righteous?” - Theology, 2021

“Should we judge those from the past by the standards of today? How will historians in the future judge us?” - History, 2021

Secondly, at Lumiere, our analysis is that most of these prompts are ‘deceptively rigorous’ because the complexity of the topic reveals itself gradually. The topics do not give you a lot to work with and it is only when you delve deeper into one that you realize the extent to which you need to research/read more. In some of the topics, you are compelled to define the limits of the prompt yourself and in turn, the scope of your essay. This can be a challenging exercise. Allow me to illustrate this with an example of the 2019 philosophy prompt.

“Aristotelian virtue ethics achieved something of a resurgence in the twentieth century. Was this progress or retrogression?”

Here you are supposed to develop your own method for determining what exactly constitutes progress in ethical thought. This in turn involves familiarizing yourself with existing benchmarks of measurement and developing your own method if required. This is a significant intellectual exercise.

Finally, a lot of the topics are on issues of contemporary relevance and especially on issues that are contentious . For instance, in 2019, one of the prompts for economics was about the benefits and costs of immigration whereas the 2020 essay prompt for theology was about whether Islam is a religion of peace . As we explain later, your ‘opinion’ here can be as ‘outrageous’ as you want it to be as long as you are able to back it up with reasonable arguments. Remember, the JLI website clearly declares itself to be, ‘ not a safe space, but a courteous one ’.

How competitive is the JLI Essay Competition?

In 2021, the competition received 4000 entries from 101 countries. Given that there is only one prize winner from each category, this makes this a very competitive opportunity. However, because categories have a different number of applicants, some categories are more competitive than others. One strategy to win could be to focus on fields with fewer submissions like Theology.

There are also a relatively significant number of students who receive commendations called “high commendation.” In the psychology field, for example, about 80 students received a commendation in 2022. At the same time, keep in mind that the number of students shortlisted and invited to Oxford for an academic conference is fairly high and varies by subject. For instance, Theology had around 50 people shortlisted in 2021 whereas Economics had 238 . We, at Lumiere, estimate that approximately 10% of entries of each category make it to the shortlisting stage.

How will your essay be judged?

The essays will be judged on your understanding of the discipline, quality of argumentation and evidence, and writing style. Let’s look at excerpts from various winning essays to see what this looks like in practice.

Level of knowledge and understanding of the relevant material: Differentiating your essay from casual musing requires you to demonstrate knowledge of your discipline. One way to do that is by establishing familiarity with relevant literature and integrating it well into their essay. The winning essay of the 2020 Psychology Prize is a good example of how to do this: “People not only interpret facts in a self-serving way when it comes to their health and well-being; research also demonstrates that we engage in motivated reasoning if the facts challenge our personal beliefs, and essentially, our moral valuation and present understanding of the world. For example, Ditto and Liu showed a link between people’s assessment of facts and their moral convictions” By talking about motivated reasoning in the broader literature, the author can show they are well-versed in the important developments in the field.

Competent use of evidence: In your essay, there are different ways to use evidence effectively. One such way involves backing your argument with results from previous studies . The 2020 Third Place essay in economics shows us what this looks like in practice: “Moreover, this can even be extended to PTSD, where an investigation carried out by Italian doctor G. P. Fichera, led to the conclusion that 13% of the sampling units were likely to have this condition. Initiating economic analysis here, this illustrates that the cost of embarking on this unlawful activity, given the monumental repercussions if caught, is not equal to the costs to society...” The study by G.P. Fichera is used to strengthen the author’s claim on the social costs of crime and give it more weight.

Structure, writing style, and persuasive force: A good argument that is persuasive rarely involves merely backing your claim with good evidence and reasoning. Delivering it in an impactful way is also very important. Let’s see how the winner of the 2020 Law Prize does this: “Slavery still exists, but now it applies to women and its name in prostitution”, wrote Victor Hugo in Les Misérables. Hugo’s portrayal of Fantine under the archetype of a fallen woman forced into prostitution by the most unfortunate of circumstances cannot be more jarringly different from the empowerment-seeking sex workers seen today, highlighting the wide-ranging nuances associated with commercial sex and its implications on the women in the trade. Yet, would Hugo have supported a law prohibiting the selling of sex for the protection of Fantine’s rights?” The use of Victor Hugo in the first line of the essay gives it a literary flair and enhances the impact of the delivery of the argument. Similarly, the rhetorical question, in the end, adds to the literary dimension of the argument. Weaving literary and argumentative skills in a single essay is commendable and something that the institute also recognizes.

Quality of argumentation: Finally, the quality of your argument depends on capturing the various elements mentioned above seamlessly . The third place in theology (2020) does this elegantly while describing bin-Laden’s faulty and selective use of religious verses to commit violence: “He engages in the decontextualization and truncation of Qur'anic verses to manipulate and convince, which dissociates the fatwas from bonafide Islam. For example, in his 1996 fatwa, he quotes the Sword verse but deliberately omits the aforementioned half of the Ayat that calls for mercy. bin-Laden’s intention is not interpretive veracity, but the indoctrination of his followers.” The author’s claim is that bin-Laden lacks religious integrity and thus should not be taken seriously, especially given the content of his messages. To strengthen his argument, he uses actual incidents to dissect this display of faulty reasoning.

These excerpts are great examples of the kind of work you should keep in mind when writing your own draft.

6 Winning Tips from Lumiere

Focus on your essay structure and flow: If logic and argumentation are your guns in this competition, a smooth flow is your bullet. What does a smooth flow mean? It means that the reader should be able to follow your chain of reasoning with ease. This is especially true for essays that explore abstract themes. Let’s see this in detail with the example of a winning philosophy essay. “However, if society were the moral standard, an individual is subjected to circumstantial moral luck concerning whether the rules of the society are good or evil (e.g., 2019 Geneva vs. 1939 Munich). On the other hand, contracts cannot be the standard because people are ignorant of their being under a moral contractual obligation, when, unlike law, it is impossible to be under a contract without being aware. Thus, given the shortcomings of other alternatives, human virtue is the ideal moral norm.” To establish human virtue as the ideal norm, the author points out limitations in society and contracts, leaving out human virtue as the ideal one. Even if you are not familiar with philosophy, you might still be able to follow the reasoning here. This is a great example of the kind of clarity and logical coherence that you should strive for.

Ground your arguments in a solid theoretical framework : Your essay requires you to have well-developed arguments. However, these arguments need to be grounded in academic theory to give them substance and differentiate them from casual opinions. Let me illustrate this with an example of the essay that won second place in the politics category in 2020. “Normatively, the moral authority of governments can be justified on a purely associative basis: citizens have an inherent obligation to obey the state they were born into. As Dworkin argued, “Political association, like family or friendship and other forms of association more local and intimate, is itself pregnant of obligation” (Dworkin). Similar to a family unit where children owe duties to their parents by virtue of being born into that family regardless of their consent, citizens acquire obligations to obey political authority by virtue of being born into a state.” Here, the author is trying to make a point about the nature of political obligation. However, the core of his argument is not the strength of his own reasoning, but the ability to back his reasoning with prior literature. By quoting Dworkin, he includes important scholars of western political thought to give more weight to his arguments. It also displays thorough research on the part of the author to acquire the necessary intellectual tools to write this paper.

The methodology is more important than the conclusion: The 2020 history winners came to opposite conclusions in their essays on whether a strong state hampers or encourages economic growth. While one of them argued that political strength hinders growth when compared to laissez-faire, the other argues that the state is a prerequisite for economic growth . This reflects JLI’s commitment to your reasoning and substantiation instead of the ultimate opinion. The lesson: Don’t be afraid to be bold! Just make sure you are able to back it up.

Establish your framework well: A paragraph (or two) that is able to succinctly describe your methodology, core arguments, and the reasoning behind them displays academic sophistication. A case in point is the introduction of 2019’s Philosophy winner: “To answer the question, we need to construct a method that measures progress in philosophy. I seek to achieve this by asserting that, in philosophy, a certain degree of falsification is achievable. Utilizing philosophical inquiry and thought experiments, we can rationally assess the logical validity of theories and assign “true” and “false” status to philosophical thoughts. With this in mind, I propose to employ the fourth process of the Popperian model of progress…Utilizing these two conditions, I contend that Aristotelian virtue ethics was progress from Kantian ethics and utilitarianism.” Having a framework like this early on gives you a blueprint for what is in the essay and makes it easier for the reader to follow the reasoning. It also helps you as a writer since distilling down your core argument into a paragraph ensures that the first principles of your essay are well established.

Read essays of previous winners: Do this and you will start seeing some patterns in the winning essays. In economics, this might be the ability to present a multidimensional argument and substantiating it with data-backed research. In theology, this might be your critical analysis of religious texts .

Find a mentor: Philosophical logic and argumentation are rarely taught at the high school level. Guidance from an external mentor can fill this academic void by pointing out logical inconsistencies in your arguments and giving critical feedback on your essay. Another important benefit of having a mentor is that it will help you in understanding the heavy literature that is often a key part of the writing/research process in this competition. As we have already seen above, having a strong theoretical framework is crucial in this competition. A mentor can make this process smoother.

Lumiere Research Scholar Program

If you’re looking for a mentor to do an essay contest like John Locke or want to build your own independent research paper, then consider applying to the Lumiere Research Scholar Program . Last year over 2100 students applied for about 500 spots in the program. You can find the application form here.

You can see our admission results here for our students.

Manas is a publication strategy associate at Lumiere Education. He studied public policy and interactive media at NYU and has experience in education consulting.

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2024 John Locke Essay Competition Prompts: The Incredible, Transformative Power of the John Locke Institute Essay Competition

We’ve written about the John Locke Institute Essay Competition (JLIEC) before , discussing the basics of the competition, and how it can improve your chances of college admissions, and shared the success of Ivy-Way students shortlisted for the Junior and regular Essay Competition. In general, the goal of the JLIEC is to encourage “independent thought, depth of knowledge, clear reasoning, critical analysis and persuasive style.” For the uninitiated, here’s the breakdown of the basic information:

You can get the latest information and deadlines, submission guidelines, and questions for each subject directly from the JLI’s website . 

Given that the JLIEC prompts for 2024 just came out on February 13, 2024, we thought we would revisit the topic in the form of Q&A. We’ve tried not to cover the same ground we’ve covered before so please take a look at our previous post if you still have questions.

Should you consider writing an essay for the John Locke Institute Essay Competition?

If you have any interest in the liberal arts (humanities or social science), especially one of the seven subject categories of the competition (Economics, History, Law, Philosophy, Politics, Psychology, and Theology), Ivy-Way counselors often recommend our students to submit an essay to the John Locke Institute Essay Competition . It’s also a great opportunity for anyone who has even a passing interest in writing.

Why? Regardless of whether you receive a commendation, the process of responding to one of the essay prompts will deepen your understanding of the subject and give you practice in writing a research-based argumentative essay (a common college assignment). Besides, the prompts are interesting; you’ll be sure to learn something that’s useful for you personally, and when you are applying to colleges, you may . Most of the students we’ve guided through the process have reported that it was an incredible, transformative experience . They felt like they became better writers and more critical thinkers as a result. 

What are the prompts like?

All of the prompts have something of a philosophical bent (not just the philosophy prompts). They challenge you to apply concepts from different fields to analyze contemporary and hypothetical scenarios. Take a look at this sample from the 2023 prompts to see what we mean:

• “A government funds its own expenditure by taxing its population. Suppose, instead, it relied solely on money newly created by the central bank? What would be the advantages and/or disadvantages?” Economics-1
• “In what sense are you the same person today that you were when you were ten?” Philosophy-2
• “Which characteristics distinguish successful movements for social change from unsuccessful ones?” History-3
• “If China becomes the leading superpower, what would that mean for the people who live there? What would it mean for everyone else?” Politics-2

What are the prompts for 2024?

• What is the optimal global population?
• Accurate news reporting is a public good. Does it follow that news agencies should be funded from taxation?
• Do successful business people benefit others when making their money, when spending it, both, or neither?
• Why was sustained economic growth so rare before the later 18th century and why did this change?
• Has music ever significantly changed the course of history?
• Why do civilisations collapse? Is our civilisation in danger?
• When, if ever, should a company be permitted to refuse to do business with a person because of that person’s public statements?
• In the last five years British police have arrested several thousand people for things they posted on social media. Is the UK becoming a police state?
• Your parents say that 11pm is your bedtime. But they don’t punish you if you don’t go to bed by 11pm. Is 11pm really your bedtime?
• Do we have any good reasons to trust our moral intuition?
• Do girls have a right to compete in sporting contests that exclude boys?
• Should I be held responsible for what I believe?
• Is there such a thing as too much democracy?
• Is peace in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip possible?
• When is compliance complicity?
• According to a study by four British universities, for each 16-point increase in IQ, the likelihood of getting married increases by 35% for a man but decreases by 40% for a woman. Why?
• There is an unprecedented epidemic of depression and anxiety among young people. Can we fix this? How?
• What is the difference between a psychiatric illness and a character flaw?
• “I am not religious, but I am spiritual.” What could the speaker mean by “spiritual”?
• Is it reasonable to thank God for protection from some natural harm if He is responsible for causing the harm?
• Does God reward those who believe in him? If so, why?

Junior Prize

• Does winning a free and fair election automatically confer a mandate for governing?
• Has the anti-racism movement reduced racism?
• Is there life after death?
• How did it happen that governments came to own and run most high schools, while leaving food production to private enterprise? 
• When will advancing technology make most of us unemployable? What should we do about this?
• Should we trust fourteen-year-olds to make decisions about their own bodies?

How do you get started?

First, you’ll want to start by researching the topic and critically evaluating different viewpoints before constructing your own argument. The prompts don’t give you much to work with. In most cases, you’ll have to define some terms and set the limits of the scope of the argument you want to make. You’ll need to use evidence to support your plans, and students often find a writing research mentor at Ivy-Way to help them choose the best prompt and brainstorm the evidence.

Taking the economics prompt above–about government funding through money creation rather than taxation–as an example, you could start with an overview of monetary policy and the role of central banks in managing a country’s money supply. Then you need to present both advantages and disadvantages: the benefits of economic stimulus by avoiding direct taxation against the long-term risks of inflation and potential laws of confidence in the currency. You could use historical examples and economic theories to support your analysis. 

Second, you’ll also need to consider potential counter-arguments. Using the philosophy prompt above about the continuity of the self, you might argue that personal identity persists over time through the continuity of consciousness. You are the same person as you were at ten because of your continuous psychological experiences, memories, and sense of self that you can trace back to your younger self. The counterargument is that personal identity is not fixed due to physical changes. Consider the Ship of Theseus argument applied to the human body: cells, tissues, and organs rejuvenate periodically and over a 7 to 10-year period your entire body has completely regenerated. The person you are today differs significantly from who you were at ten due to physical development and biological processes. Dramatic physical changes challenge the notion of a singular, unchanging identity.

Finally, you must ensure your essay is coherent, well-structured, and persuasive. From start to finish the entire task is somewhat complex and probably best done with some help from an experienced advisor.

Where can you find past essay winners?

One of the best ways to prepare to write your own essay is to read past winning essays and use them as “mentor texts” (as the NY Times editors refer to them). Mentor texts are “pieces of literature that you…can return to and reread for many different purposes. They are texts to be studied and imitated…” (the National Writing Project ). The point of mentor texts is to learn the craft your own essay by discovering the moves the writers make and how they effectively make your own argument.

You can find a selection of past essay winners on JLI’s website . There are eight winning essays on that page, from first to third prize from 2021 to 2023, including 2023’s grand prize winner. That’s a fairly limited collection of essays. Here are some other winning essays you can use as mentor texts:

Economics – 2020 First Prize . Prompt: “What is the socially efficient level of crime?”

Law – 2020 First Prize . Prompt: “Does a law that prohibits the selling of sex protect or infringe women’s rights?”

History – 2020 First Prize . Prompt: “How is the modern world different from previous periods of history and why did it come into existence when and where it did?”

Theology – 2020 First Prize . Prompt: “Many people have committed acts, execrated and deplored by others, in obedience to sincerely held beliefs. Can we reasonably ask anyone to do better than simply to obey his own conscience?”

Philosophy – 2020 Grand Prize . Prompt: “Is intuition to philosophy as observation is to science?”

Politics – 2020 First Prize . Prompt: “American citizens give away more than $300 billion each year in charitable donations. Only a tiny fraction of this (less than 0.001%) is donated to federal, state, and local governments. Politicians claim that they spend taxpayers’ money efficiently, to accomplish the most good with the budgets at their disposal. But if this were true wouldn’t governments be able to compete more successfully with private charities? What are the implications of your answer?”

Psychology – 2020 First Prize . Prompt: “Isn’t all reasoning (outside mathematics and formal logic) motivated reasoning?”

Junior Category – 2020 First Prize . Prompt: “Who should own your data? The companies with which you agree to share your data, everybody, just you, or nobody?”

What are some tips for crafting a successful essay?

• Read the question/prompt carefully. Make sure you understand what the question is asking and that you address all parts of it.
• Demonstrate familiarity with relevant theories. Others have written about the question at hand. Find some authors (through research, of course) that you find particularly convincing or unconvincing.
• Figure out what you want to argue and write a thesis. You are writing to convince the reader. Keep that reader in mind throughout.
• Use evidence effectively. You’ll need to show how you arrived at your claim from the evidence you examined. Evidence may include quotations, paraphrasing, data, graphs, or primary sources. It’s not enough just to state some evidence: you’ll need to analyze it and explicitly connect it to your claim. 
• Think of alternative answers to your question and anticipate objections. Offering and analyzing evidence that supports your thesis isn’t enough. You need to consider the arguments that readers can raise to challenge your thesis and explain why your argument is stronger than the alternatives.
• Make sure your essay has a clear logical flow. When you have strong clear paragraphs, you guide the reader through your argument by showing how each point fits to your thesis. 
• End with a conclusion. The form of the conclusion varies depending on the nature of the essay you’ve written. But in general, you should conclude by stating “what” you have said, explaining the “so what” (why the reader should care), and end with the “now what,” some insight or new way to understand the question that results from reading your essay.

Take a look at Lumiere’s excellent article for additional tips along with illustrative examples. Their writing tips include: focusing on essay structure, grounding arguments in theory, being bold in conclusions, and seeking mentorship for guidance in logic and argumentation.

How competitive is it? To what extent can the JLIEC boost my chances of college admissions?

It’s fairly competitive. Each year 1,000s of entries are submitted from over 100 countries. About 10% of essays for each category are shortlisted and considered for a prize. Shortlisted candidates are also invited to Oxford for the award ceremony. There are three prizes for each of the seven categories one of which is chosen as the overall best essay, so 21 prizes not counting the junior category winners.

That being said, some subjects are more popular and receive more submissions. In 21, Theology had about 50 people on the shortlist while Economics had over 200 . So one strategy might be to submit for a category that has fewer entries. However, given how long it takes to research and write one of these essays (weeks at least), you might be better off just choosing a topic that genuinely interests you.

Recent winners of the grand prize have gone to essays in Philosophy (2023), Economics (2022), Law (2021), Philosophy (2020), and Economics (2019).

As to how much of a boost it gives your college application, it will certainly demonstrate your abilities to conduct research, engage with complex ideas, and articulate a well-reasoned argument. All of these are considered valuable by admissions officers at elite universities. Over half of the John Locke alumni enrolled in just eight universities: Chicago, Columbia, Georgetown, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Stanford, and Yale.

Final Thoughts

The John Locke Institute Essay Competition is a great opportunity for you to practice your research and writing skills and gain some insight into a subject that you’re interested in. It also has the potential to help you develop as a critical thinker and demonstrate your curiosity and creativity. And, of course, it will make your college application stronger.

If you’re looking for a mentor for the John Locke competition or want to do your own independent research, consider applying to Ivy-Way’s Research Mentor Program.

Harvard College Writing Center, “Strategies for Essay Writing”

Manas Pant, “The Ultimate Guide to the John Locke Essay Competition,” Lumiere Education.

Dr. R.J. is a writer, editor, teacher, and academic coach & consultant. He's a devotee of speculative fiction, especially stories involving spaceships, robots, time travel, and/or laser swords. He currently works at Ivy-Way Academy helping students achieve their full academic potential.

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Everything You Should Know about the John Locke Institute (JLI) Essay Competition

By Jin Chow

Co-founder of Polygence, Forbes 30 Under 30 for Education

2 minute read

We first wrote about the world-famous John Locke Institute (JLI) Essay Competition in our list of 20 writing contests for high school students . This contest is a unique opportunity to refine your argumentation skills on fascinating and challenging topics that aren’t explored in the classroom.

The Oxford philosopher, medical doctor, political scientist, and economist John Locke was a big believer in challenging old habits of the mind. In that spirit, the JLI started this contest to challenge students to be more adventurous in their thinking. 

While not quite as prestigious as getting published in The Concord Review , winning the grand prize or placing in one of the 7 categories of the JLI Essay Competition can get your college application noticed by top schools like Princeton, Harvard, Oxford, and Cambridge. Awards include $2,000 scholarships (for category winners) and a $10,000 scholarship for the grand prize. (The scholarships can be applied to the JLI’s Summer Schools at Oxford, Princeton, or Washington D.C., or to its Gap Year programs in Oxford, Guatemala, or Washington, D.C.) 

But winning isn’t necessarily the best thing about it. Simply entering the contest and writing your essay will give you a profound learning experience like no other. Add to that the fact that your entry will be read and possibly commented on by some of the top minds at Oxford and Princeton and it’s free to enter the competition . The real question is: why wouldn’t you enter? Here’s a guide to get you started on your essay contest entry.

Who is Eligible for JLI Essay Competition?

The John Locke Institute Essay Competition is open to any student anywhere in the world , ages 15-18. Students 14 or under are eligible for the Junior prize. 

What topics are available to write about?

The essay questions change from year to year. You can choose from 7 different categories (Philosophy, Politics, Economics, History, Psychology, Theology, and Law). Within each category, there are 3 intriguing questions you can pick from. When you’re debating which question to write about, here’s a tip. Choose whichever question excites, upsets, or gives you any kind of strong emotional response. If you’re passionate about a topic, it will come through in your research and your writing. If you have any lived experience on the subject, that also helps. 

re are some sample questions the 2023 contest for each of the seven JLI essay subject  categories and the Junior Prize (the questions change each year):

Philosophy : Is tax theft? 

Politics : Do the results of elections express the will of the people?

Economics : What would happen if we banned billionaires?  

History : Which has a bigger effect on history: the plans of the powerful or their mistakes?

Psychology : Can happiness be measured?

Theology : What distinguishes a small religion from a large cult?

Law : Are there too many laws?

Junior Prize : What, if anything, do your parents owe you?

What are the John Locke Writing Contest Requirements?

Your essay must not exceed 2,000 words (not counting diagrams, tables of data, endnotes, bibliography, or authorship declaration) and must address only one of the questions in your chosen subject category. No footnotes are allowed, but you may include in-text citations or endnotes. 

What is the timeline and deadline for registering and submitting an essay to JLI?

January - New essay questions are released

April 1st - Registration opens

May 31st   - Registration deadline

June 30th - Essay submission deadline

We highly recommend you check the JLI website as soon as the new questions are released in January and start researching and writing as soon as you can after choosing your topic. You must register for the contest by the end of May. The deadline for the essay submission itself is at the end of June, but we also recommend that you submit it earlier in case any problems arise. If you start right away in January, you can have a few months to work on your essay. 

What is the Competition Judging Criteria for JLI?

While the JLI says that their grading system is proprietary, they do also give you this helpful paragraph that describes what they are looking for: “Essays will be judged on knowledge and understanding of the relevant material , the competent use of evidence , quality of argumentation, originality, structure, writing style and persuasive force. The very best essays are likely to be those which would be capable of changing somebody's mind . Essays which ignore or fail to address the strongest objections and counter-arguments are unlikely to be successful. Candidates are advised to answer the question as precisely and directly as possible. ” (We’ve bolded important words to keep in mind.) 

You can also join the JLI mailing list (scroll to the bottom of that page) to get contest updates and to learn more about what makes for a winning essay.

What are Some Helpful Tactics for Effective Research and Essay Writing?

Give yourself a baseline. First, just write down all your thoughts on the subject without doing any research. What are your gut-level opinions? What about this particular question intrigued you the most? What are some counter-arguments you can think of right away? What you are trying to do here is identify holes in your knowledge or understanding of the subject. What you don’t know or are unsure about can guide your research. Be sure to find evidence to support all the things you think you already know. 

Create a reading/watching list of related books, interviews, articles, podcasts, documentaries, etc. that relate to your topic. Find references that both support and argue against your argument. Choose the most highly reputable sources you can find. You may need to seek out and speak to experts to help you locate the best sources. Read and take notes. Address those questions and holes in the knowledge you identified earlier. Also, continue to read widely and think about your topic as you observe the world from day to day. Sometimes unrelated news stories, literature, film, songs, and visual art can give you an unexpected insight into your essay question. Remember that c is a learning experience and that you are not going to have a rock-solid argument all at once.

Read past winning essays . These will give you a sense of the criteria judges are using to select winning work. These essays are meant to convince the judges of a very specific stance. The argument must be clear and must include evidence to support it. You will note that winning entries tend to get straight to the point, show an impressive depth of knowledge on the subject with citations to reputable sources, flow with excellent reasoning, and use precise language. They don’t include flowery digressions. Save that for a different type of writing.

Proof your work with a teacher or mentor if possible . Even though your argument needs to be wholly your own, it certainly helps to bounce ideas around with someone who cares about the topic. A teacher or mentor can help you explore different options if you get stuck and point you toward new resources. They can offer general advice and point out errors or weaknesses. Working with a teacher or mentor is important for another reason. When you submit your entry, you will be required to provide the email address of an “academic referee” who is familiar with your work. This should be a teacher or mentor who is not related to you. 

Research and Prepare for your Competition or Fair

Polygence pairs you with an expert mentor in your area of passion. Together, you work to create a high quality research project that is uniquely your own. Our highly-specialized mentors can help guide you to feel even more prepared for an upcoming fair or competion. We also offer options to explore multiple topics, or to showcase your final product!

Graders Needed for Essay Competition

The  John Locke Institute  is seeking final-year undergraduate and graduate students who might be interested in becoming graders of our Essay Competition for appropriate remuneration.

The globally renowned John Locke Institute annual essay competition covers topics in the categories of Philosophy, Politics, Economics, History, Law, Theology, and Psychology. Free to enter, the competition attracts entries from students of 14 to 18 years old from all over the world. Since its launch, it has been growing apace. Last year, we received about 7,400 entries from students with the widest possible range of socioeconomic backgrounds from over 100 countries.

For most participants, the competition provides their first opportunity to research, write and have graded a university-style essay that makes an original argument. The experience motivates many of them to raise their sights to institutions of learning of the highest quality – such as the Ivy League in the USA, and Oxbridge in the UK – that they would otherwise have not considered.

Submitted essays are graded in the first instance by academically talented graduates and final-year undergraduates, before the very best of them are sent to Professors in the relevant disciplines for final marking and the selection of prize-winners.

The three questions in the Economics category for which we are looking for graders are as follows.

Q1 . A government funds its own expenditure by taxing its population. Suppose, instead, it relied solely on money newly created by the central bank? What would be the advantages and/or disadvantages?  

Q2 . In his thought experiment, the Iowa Car Crop, David Friedman tries to show that growing wheat is, in an important sense, just another ‘technology’ we can use for manufacturing cars, and in some circumstances a much more efficient one.

If international trade is thus a way of using less valuable inputs to produce more valuable outputs, why would governments impose trade barriers such as tariffs and quotas, thereby forcing producers to be more wasteful and less efficient?

Q3 . What would happen if we banned billionaires?

The grading work will be intense, interesting and satisfying, and begin on  July 1, to be completed in about two weeks . Graders have flexibility regarding their hours and speed at which they work.

Essays are up to 2000 words long and need only be given a numerical grade. We will pay  $2 per essay  and require a  commitment to grade 500 essays  (or more only if the grader wishes to do more). A grader who has hit his or her stride should be able to make at least $25 an hour.

Further details and examples of previous years’ questions can be viewed on our  website .

Interested final-year undergraduate and graduate students should email  [email protected]  to declare their interest and obtain further details.

1022 International Affairs Building (IAB)

Mail Code 3308

420 West 118th Street

New York, NY 10027

JOHN LOCKE INSTITUTE ESSAY COMPETITION

JOHN LOCKE INSTITUTE

Sponsoring Institution: John Locke Institute

Type: Essay competition

Eligibility: All students under 18 years of age are welcome to join. The documents that applicants submit must not have their name appear on it and have no footnotes. However, a bibliography is required. Students must also include an academic referee that knows the writer’s work.

Application Deadline : End of June or early July for late entries

Highlight: Are you a budding intellectual eager to showcase your ideas on a global stage? Look no further than the John Locke Institute Essay Competition! This prestigious competition offers you the chance to delve into your favorite subjects, whether it’s Philosophy, Politics, Economics, History, Psychology, or Theology. Winners not only gain recognition from academic experts worldwide but also enjoy a $2,000 scholarship to any John Locke Institute program and can win a $10,000 scholarship to attend one of John Locke’s summer schools.

Entry is entirely free, but you must remember to register by the end of May, to qualify. The submission process is straightforward yet challenging. Select a question from your chosen category, pen down your thoughts in a compelling essay, and submit it before the end of June. All details on how to submit your essay, from formatting guidelines to submission processes, are meticulously outlined on the John Locke Institute Essay Competition website .

So, if you’re ready to take this exciting leap and put your ideas to the test, ensure you’re all set before the deadlines. Don’t let this extraordinary opportunity slip away—prepare, participate, and pave the way to your future.

It is our anual free funding event for high schoolers from all over the world