2008 Hassan (Husni) and Safia Haddad Peace Award

Saint Xavier University announces the 2007-08 competition for the Hassan (Husni) and Safia Haddad Peace Award, given annually to a student who prepares the best essay on the pursuit of peace. Applicants must be degree-seeking students who are currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program at Saint Xavier University, and who will be enrolled again in the spring term and the summer or fall term of 2008. Applicants are asked to: describe and analyze an experience (or a sequence of related experiences) during the course of your University education that helped you better understand the complexities of and paths toward achieving peace in the world today. A possible focus for your essay might include one or more of the following:

  • insights you gained from particular texts you were assigned to read
  • your application of ideas presented and discussed in one or more of your classes 
  • understanding you gained from internship, fieldwork or study abroad activities

This award honors the lives and contributions of Professors Hassan and Safia Haddad, whose teaching and research across a range of disciplines enriched the Saint Xavier community for four decades. The late Hassan Haddad was an internationally recognized scholar in Middle Eastern studies, whose passion was to foster understanding and peaceful relations among cultures. Safia Haddad chaired the Foreign Languages Department for 26 years, taught French and the sociology of education, and embodied international culture for countless students. The Peace Award reflects the Haddads’ enduring commitment to peace as well as the global reach of their scholarship, influence and circle of friends.

Procedures

Essays to be considered for the 2008 Hassan (Husni) and Safia Haddad Peace Award must be submitted to the Office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (N-207) by Monday, March 3, 2008. Essays must have been written within the prior 12 months and may have been prepared in connection with course requirements. However, co-authored essays, master’s theses and previously published works are ineligible. Each student may submit only one essay. Essays must be word-processed, double-spaced and may not exceed 15 pages. The Dean of Arts and Sciences will appoint three full-time faculty to serve as judges (one from the Department of English and Foreign Languages, and two from among the disciplines named above).

Essays will be judged according to three criteria: relevance to the stated topic, sophistication of analysis and rhetorical style. The decision of the judges will be final. The award consists of a plaque and a scholarship of $1000 towards future tuition.