Sciences Participating with Arts & Culture in Education

Fifth Annual Writing Contest

This 2022/2023 academic year, SPACE is excited to be hosting its fifth annual writing competition. Students from every discipline across Dawson College are invited to submit writing that encourages reflection on this year’s SPACE theme: WHAT IF?

Students can submit in one or more of three categories: prose (fiction or creative non-fiction), poetry, and essay.  Submissions may emerge from classroom work as well as independent initiatives and may be individual or collaborative.

Contest winners and honourable mentions will be selected by an interdisciplinary jury of faculty. In addition to prizes awarded in each category, there will also be an opportunity for publication on the SPACE website.

To better understand some of the various dimensions of the theme WHAT IF?, we highly encourage participants to read and consider the description of this year’s theme, as well as to check out the thoughtful reflections on the theme by some of the Dawson Illustration students who participated in creating proposals for this year’s theme poster including the 2022/23 theme poster created by 2nd year Illustration student Alexia Boreham.

Of special note in the theme description:

• WHAT IF? questions about the world as we know it
• WHAT IF? questions about the possible worlds we have yet to discover or imagine
• The impact of asking WHAT IF? —how it may spark hypotheses, models, exploration, discovery, innovation, decisions, policies and more
• How the question WHAT IF? guides inquiry across the disciplines, from quantum physics to modern art to artificial intelligence to history to philosophy and many more
• How the question WHAT IF? points to potential intersections among the disciplines, from biotechnology to cognitive sciences to environmental economics, to offer just a few examples

Deadline to apply:
The deadline to apply to the contest is Sunday, December 18, 2022.

All participants will be informed of the results of the contest by Tuesday, February 7, 2023.

To make a submission to the contest, as well as to view all details and guidelines, click the "GET INVOLVED" button on the left.

You can view the winners and honorable mentions of last year's writing competition here.

We look forward to reading your perspective on WHAT IF?