Student essay contest: Spirituality and public health - Deadline Jan. 8

The second annual Berkeley-based Student Essay Contest has been expanded with topic and prizes for 2017-2018. Last year's contest was only for graduate students but the Fall 2017 contest has divisions for both graduate and undergraduate students in public health.

This year's prizes are substantial ($1000 1st prize for undergrad, $1000 1st prize for graduate students). The topic has a large and growing base of empirical research: Spirituality, Religion, and Health, on which there are now more than 3000 empirical studies and more than 100 systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

The website suggests diverse potential questions on which your interested students might write essays. Also, in two nationwide surveys of i) public health leaders (e.g. deans) and ii) public health graduate students that were recently conducted, the majority of respondents in each group felt that more attention should be given to R/S in public health teaching. This essay contest will support motivated students in giving thoughtful attention to these vitally important but often neglected factors that are very often connected with health, usually beneficially but sometimes also adversely.

The contest website, with all key information and a link to the submission portal is at http://www.spirituality-public-health-essay.com/.