Every year, the Department of Philosophy will award two new tri-campus undergraduate essay prizes: the Spinoza Award (for students in their first two years of undergraduate study) and the Hypatia Award (for students in advanced years of their undergraduate degree).
Spinoza Award
- best philosophy essay by an undergraduate with at most 10.0 completed course credits (any program) at the time of submission
- open to students from all three University campuses
- students must have been registered during the 2025-2026 academic year (the 2026 summer term counts)
- essays may be pieces previously handed in for coursework or work written independently
- prize amount: $2,250
- deadline: August 28, 2026
Hypatia Award
- best philosophy essay by a senior Philosophy undergraduate student who is enrolled in a Philosophy program and has completed at least 3.0 Philosophy course credits at the time of submission
- students may be a major, minor, or specialist in Philosophy (including the Bioethics programs on the St. George campus)
- open to students from all three University campuses
- students must have been registered during the 2025-2026 academic year (the 2026 summer term counts)
- essays may be pieces previously handed in for coursework or work written independently
- prize amount: $2,250
- deadline: August 28, 2026
Information needed at time of submission
(for either award)
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student’s full name
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student number
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student’s degree program (indicating major/minor/specialist)
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if submitting for the Hypatia Award, the number of philosophy credits at the time of submission (no matter when the paper was written); if submitting for the Spinoza Award, the number of total credits at the time of submission (no matter when the paper was written)
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student’s current year of study
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student’s campus
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IF the paper was submitted for coursework previously, the course number and title; otherwise, just an indication that the essay was written independently
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essay title
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name of the award to which the student is submitting
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student’s written consent that their essay be submitted to TurnItIn by the Department of Philosophy
Past Winners
The inaugural Spinoza Award (2025) went to Matthew DeKock for “Do External Goods Contribute to Eudaimonia?”
The inaugural Hypatia Award (2025) went to Zifan Nameer for “How Is Metaphysics Metaphysically Possible?
Want to know more about these two award-winning writers? Read an interview with Zifan and Matthew.
Read previous winning essays: “Kant and Spinoza on the Transcendental Ideality of Space” and “The Impingement Account: A Peircean Response to Radical Skepticism.”
For questions about the prize, please contact Piali Roy.
To submit your essay for the Spinoza Award, fill out this form: Spinoza Award Submission Form – Fill out form
To submit your essay for Hypatia Award, fill out this form: Hypatia Award Submission Form – Fill out form