Northern Illinois University
Department of Philosophy
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

2025 Call for Papers 

The Department of Philosophy invites submissions for the twenty-fourth annual (2025) JoAnne Rafalson Memorial Essay Contest. The contest is open to all graduate students enrolled in, and pursuing the M.A. degree in, the Department of Philosophy at Northern Illinois University. Papers in any area of philosophy are eligible. The author of the winning paper will receive a cash prize of $1,000, which will be awarded without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, or financial need. A departmental colloquium will be scheduled in spring 2025, at which the recipient will present the winning paper to faculty, graduate students, and the interested public.

Contestants must submit their essays in accordance with the following submission guidelines. Each contestant may submit only one paper to the contest. Papers must mploy gender-neutral language. Each paper must be double-spaced, with at least one-inch margins and page numbers. Each paper must be accompanied by an abstract of no more than 150 words. There must be a single cover sheet specifying title and author. To permit blind reviewing, there should be no self-references or other identifying elements within the papers; authors should identify themselves only on the accompanying cover sheet. Papers must not exceed a length that could be presented, reading at a moderate pace, in 45 minutes or less.

The deadline for submissions is Feb. 14, 2025. Papers should be submitted by email to the departmental Office Administrator, Linda Davis, at philosophy@niu.edu. She will remove the cover sheet with the author's name, assign each paper a numerical code, and retain the identifying information until the winning paper has been selected.

Origin of the JoAnne Rafalson Memorial Essay Contest

The JoAnne Rafalson Memorial Essay Contest is funded by an endowment established by Bruce Rafalson to memorialize JoAnne Rafalson and to recognize and support outstanding achievement in philosophical essay writing by NIU philosophy graduate students. Mr. Rafalson is a graduate of NIU’s M.A. program in philosophy.

Essay Contest Winners