Heritage Scholarships

Procedures and Guidelines

The Western Heritage Faculty invites all students who have written exemplary essays or papers for Western Heritage to apply for a Heritage Scholarship. Your submission should be a text-based essay written for a Western Heritage course. The paper should explore and analyze the meaning of a primary text that is part of the Western Heritage curriculum.

1. To apply, make a submission prepared according to the following guidelines to Cindy Welch in the Heritage/Honors Office (Lentz Hall 235) by 3:30 p.m. on the deadline to be announced.

a. Select your very best Western Heritage writing. (Each student may submit only one paper.) Papers submitted for a previous year's Heritage Scholarship competition (whether they won or not) may NOT be resubmitted.

b. Prepare a clean copy of your manuscript. Neither your name nor any instructor's comments may appear anywhere on your work. All work must be typed and legible.

c. After selecting your best work, write a new essay of no more than 500 words responding to the following questions, focusing on the paper you are submitting: How and why did you write this particular piece? How and why was it inspired or provoked by a text, idea, or conversation you encountered in Heritage? What did you learn about the course material, about writing, and/or about yourself through the process of writing this work?

d. Prepare a cover sheet that clearly provides:

• 1) Your full name
• 2) Your Carthage student ID number
• 3) Your full campus box number (or local street address, if living off campus)
• 4) The quickest way to contact you (cell phone, e-mail, campus extension, etc.)
• 5) The date of your current or most recent Western Heritage course
• 6) The name(s) of all Western Heritage teachers
• 7) A brief summary of the assignment or writing task for which you produced this paper.

e. Fasten all sheets together with a paper clip (do not staple) and place in a standard manila filing folder.

2. All submissions following the above guidelines will be carefully read by a faculty panel. Submissions will be evaluated for how clearly and convincingly the author has made a judgment about some aspect of the world, the course material, or him/herself, as well as for how carefully that judgment has been supported by illustrations and analysis. (Narrative should engage the reader through accomplished use of significant detail.) Whatever the form, clear, sincere, orderly writing will be valued. The faculty panel will then select the top papers from each group as finalists.

3. After all submissions have been evaluated, the Director of Honors will notify the finalists, providing them with an official copy of a reference form for one of their Western Heritage instructors to complete. Only finalists must submit instructor reference forms. All completed reference forms must be received by Cindy Welch in the Heritage/Honors Office (LH 235) by 3:30 p.m. on a date to be announced.

4. Each finalist will also be scheduled for an interview (conversation) with a Carthage professor or administrator.

5. Three sets of evaluations (papers, references, and interview results) will be combined to determine the scholarship recipients.

6. The Heritage Scholars will receive special invitations to the Honors Convocation in Siebert Chapel, where the awards will be presented. We hope that all competitors will plan on attending the Convocation.

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