Annual Essay Prize from Religious Studies Program at SUNY Plattsburgh

Annual Essay Prize

This award recognizes student achievement in the study of religion. It is awarded to the student who writes an essay that best reflects the objectives of the Religious Studies Minor program, which aim at helping students:

• Identify and distinguish between major world religions, and their various sub-groupings.
• Understand the variety of religious experience, ranging as it does from formal membership in state-sponsored institutions to more diffuse beliefs and practices.
• Demonstrate the ability to contextualize religion in its social, political, cultural and anthropological ramifications.
• Identify and critically assess the merits and shortcomings of different scholarly approaches to religion.
• Appreciate the complexities of religion as a human enterprise.

All students enrolled in courses affiliated with the Religious Studies minor during the school year are invited to submit. Essays must address religion or the study of religion, substantively but not exclusively, and must be between 1500 and 2000 words. Essays will be reviewed by a panel of 3 faculty members.

Contact Information

If you would like more information about religious studies at SUNY Plattsburgh, please contact

Dr. Richard Schaefer, Program Coordinator

Office: Champlain Valley Hall 321
Phone: (518) 564-5211
E-mail: schaefr@plattsburgh.edu