We invite Miami’s newest students, members of the Class of 2016, to enter a composition contest based on the book selected for this year’s Summer Reading Program, Jess Goodell’s Shade It Black. All other Miami students, faculty, and staff are welcome to post their essays as well.

In Shade It Black, Goodell tells us about her firsthand experiences in the Iraq War and its continued influence on her life back home. We invite you to submit a composition (in written, digital, or other form) that describes how you or someone close to you has been impacted by an event of global significance.

We hope that these compositions will help Miami University highlight ways the people and places of our world have grown increasingly interconnected and the ways we all have a stake in the world stage. While not everyone will have direct involvement with such an event, one of the goals of liberal learning at Miami is to explore ways our daily lives affect and are affected by world events.

You can participate in this exploration in the following ways:

• Submit a 350- to 500-word  composition by following the process described on the Summer Reading Contest – Submit Entries webpage.

• Read, listen to, and view what Miami students and others in the Miami community have shared by going to the Summer Reading Contest – View Entries webpage.

• Join the discussion at the Miami University 2012 Summer Reading Facebook Page.

$100 Prizes for New Students

To welcome the Class of 2016, we are offering 16 prizes of $100 apiece for the best compositions by incoming first-year students. Students at all Miami campuses are eligible for prizes. The contest opens June 2, 2012. Deadline for prize eligibility: Midnight, October 2, 2012.

Winners will be featured on the website of the Howe Center for Writing Excellence. Prizes are gift certificates to the University Bookstore. This contest is sponsored by Miami’s Howe Center for Writing Excellence and the Office of Liberal Education.

All Members of the Miami Community
Are Invited to Contribute

Although the prizes in this contest are exclusively for members of the Class of 2016, we encourage all Miami students, faculty, staff, alumni/ae, and family members to enrich the conversation by sharing their compositions. Just go to the Summer Reading Contest – Submit Entries webpage.

Details about the Contest

For more information about the Summer Reading Contest for the Class of 2016, please visit our FAQ page.

Contest Sponsors

This contest is jointly sponsored by the Office of Liberal Education and the Howe Center for Writing Excellence.

Review the Contest FAQs.