Study Abroad Storytelling Contest
In recognition of the 100th Anniversary of Study Abroad at UD and in the U.S., the Center for Global Programs and Services expanded its annual Study Abroad Photo and Video Contest to include a new Essay category. We also opened up the contests to anyone who has participated in a UD study abroad program. We're excited to see and read the stories from current students, alumni, and faculty as we celebrate this milestone.
Study abroad in the U.S. launched at the University of Delaware on July 7, 1923, when a group of eight UD students spent their junior year in France, immersed in French language and culture. The program was the brainchild of Raymond W. Kirkbride, a young modern languages professor and World War I veteran. The University’s program was hailed nationally and internationally for its success in promoting cross-cultural education and today boasts more than 100 programs in 40-plus countries. This storytelling contest is an important part of celebrating UD's rich history and global impact.
Find all of the details for this year's contest below. Participants may enter one, two, or all three of the contest categories, which will be judged independently by panels of judges from CGPS and campus partners. Winners will receive prizes that will be announced by mid May through CGPS and UD communication channels.
How Will You Share Your UD Study Abroad Story?
Essay Contest
In honor of the 100th Anniversary of Study Abroad, CGPS launched a new tradition at UD: the collection of student, alumni and faculty narratives that help tell the story of the impact of study abroad on their student experience and life after graduation while promoting intercultural learning and engagement.
The essay prompts encourage students, alumni and faculty to tell their study abroad story to a broad audience in the form of a personal narrative. The study abroad essay contest mirrors the the popular annual International Students Essay Contest from which winning essays were recently published in a book commemorating the stories and experiences of international students over the past 8 years.
Participants in the Study Abroad Essay Contest may be selected for inclusion in a publication by Open Journals in Education (OJED).
The 2023 UD Study Abroad Essay Contest deadline has been extended to July 10, 2023.
Three audiences may participate:
- Current students
Any current UD student who participated in a UD study abroad or domestic travel study program during their time as a student, including during the 2022-2023 academic year.
- Alumni
Any graduate of the University who participated in a UD study abroad or domestic travel study program during their time as a student.
- Faculty
Current and past faculty are invited to submit essays but are not eligible for prizes. Faculty essays will not be judged, but will be used to help celebrate the 100th anniverary of study abroad and may be included in a published volume. Let us know if you would like to be involved in other anniversary activities on this form.
Participants must follow the submission rules described below. You may only submit your original material. You are responsible for ensuring consent of anyone expressly identified in your essay. By submitting an essay to the contest, you are agreeing that the University of Delaware has the right to use and publish it.
Entries will be judged on content as well as literary style. Please make every attempt to submit an entry free from spelling and grammatical errors, and rich in experiential content.
CGPS reserves the right to disqualify any student who submits essays including the use of alcohol, tobacco or any other inappropriate material. In addition, CGPS will not consider essays that feature students taking part in activities with more than minimal risk (ie. skydiving or any similar activity).
Please read below for essay ideas depending on your relationship to study abroad at UD. We have provided some prompts, but you are welcome to explore any topic that you would like to share from your experience with UD study abroad, recently or from the past.
For Current Students
Studying abroad can be a challenging yet rewarding academic and cultural experience. Please share your experiences about the impact of study abroad on your personal and academic development with a broad audience. Not sure what to write about? Here are a few ideas:
- What was it like to live and learn outside of your comfort zone?
- How did you manage expectations and surprises?
- In what ways did the experience change your perspectives?
- In what ways did study abroad impact your path towards a major or minor? Did you discover a new passion for a field of study? What did you learn about your major or minor that you don’t think would have been the same back home?
- Tell us about the day you will most remember from your time abroad.
- Introduce us to people you met while studying abroad (your host family, language partners, fellow travelers, etc.).
- Describe the sights, sounds, smells and emotions of a place you visited while studying abroad.
- What is something you learned about yourself or others through your study abroad experience?
For Alumni
Many alumni say that study abroad was a highlight of their time at UD, and many who did not travel express regrets for not choosing to study abroad. Please take a moment to reminisce and reflect on your study abroad experience and tell us why your time abroad is so important to you years later. Too many stories to tell? Here are some ideas:
- How did studying abroad impact your post-graduate experience?
- What did you discover that you still value to this day?
- What moments or people inspired a commitment to life-long travel, learning, and/or seeking out new experiences?
- How woud you convince a student to study abroad if they’re feeling apprehensive about the experience or investment?
For Faculty
Faculty directors take the lead in designing programs that provide students with unique academic experiences abroad - from cross-cultural encounters to unique experiences with classroom content. We often hear from the students who participate how impactful the experiences are on their lives. Now we want you to share what it is like from your point of view.
Submit a narrative highlighting your experience leading study abroad programs at UD. Consider explaining why you decided to lead programs, what you see students experience on the programs, and how the experience has impacted your teaching, research, and/or life.
We require a maximum of 1000 words that must be typed in 12-pt size Times Roman font. Essays must be double spaced with 1-inch margins on all sides. You must include page numbers.
Authors should follow APA 7 guidelines in the selection of quotation content in length in qualitative research articles. Footnotes, endnotes, and appendices are not allowed.
All essays should be saved as pdf files and not exceed 10MB.
All submissions will be accepted via the online submission form below.
The deadline to enter the 2023 UD Study Abroad Storytelling Contest has been extended to July 10, 2023.
The top 10-15 essays will be submitted to be published in a new volume of Cross Cultural Narratives that focuses on the study abroad experience for U.S. students.
Twleve prizes will be given: six to current students and six to alumni. The prizes are $75 gift cards to the UD Bookstore, and a gift bag of CGPS items.
Current and past UD faculty are invited to submit their narrative reflections under a separate prompt, but are not eligible for prizes. These essays will not be judged, but will be used to help celebrate the 100th anniverary of study abroad and may be included in the published volume mentioned above.
Photo Contest
Students and alumni are invited to join this year's photo contest as we celebrate 100 years of study abroad. The photo contest theme is Living, Learning & Loving the Location.
Read about the required categories below, but we encourage you to make them your own. We have provided examples of the kinds of photos that could fit into each category - and those that have won in the past - but we are excited to see how you define them for yourself!
We can't wait to see your photos!
The 2023 UD Study Abroad Photo Contest began on March 20, 2023 and ended on May 7, 2023.
There are three photo categories, described in detail below:
- Living
- Learning
- Loving the Location
Three audiences may participate:
- Current students
Eligible students must have participated in a University of Delaware study abroad or domestic travel study program in the 2022-2023 academic year. This includes Fall '22, Winter '23, and Spring '23 programs. - Study abroad alumni
Any current or former UD student who participated in a University of Delaware study abroad or domestic travel study program before the 2022-2023 academic year. - Current and past UD staff/faculty are invited to submit photos but are not eligible for prizes. These photos won't be judged, but will be used to help celebrate the 100th anniverary of study abroad.
You must follow the submission rules described below. You may only submit your original material. You are responsible for ensuring consent of anyone featured in your photographs. By submitting photos to the contest, you are agreeing that the University of Delaware has the right to use and publish the photos.
Media may be edited in any manner the photographer sees fit. All work will be judged on the basis of photographic quality and subject material.
CGPS reserves the right to disqualify any student who submits media including the use of alcohol, tobacco or any other inappropriate material. In addition, CGPS will not consider photos of students taking part in activities with more than minimal risk (ie. skydiving or any similar activity).
1.
Living
Share a portrait or artistic repre- sentation of the people, creatures, and places that became part of your life while you were abroad. These could include your favorite garden to study in, the stray cat you fed on the way to class every morning, the locals you hung out with in the cafe on the corner, or anything else that gives us insight into your personal experience while abroad.
2.
Learning
Show us the academic side of your study abroad program: your outdoor classroom, community service project, faculty-led excursion, or anything else that gives us a sense of the experiential learning that those of us back in Delaware might not be able to imagine.
3.
Loving the Location
Capture the essence and energy of the geographic settings(s) in which you studied and explored. Show us the beautiful views you got to enjoy, whether urban, rural, or something in between. These landscape photos may include people or creatures, but the location should be the focal point.
We require all photos be high resolution (2MB per image minimum, 10MB maximum) and saved as .jpg files.
Students are invited to submit up to two photos in each photo category and may submit the same photo for multiple categories. The maximum number of submissions is six photos.
All submissions will be accepted via the online submission form below.
The deadline to enter the 2023 UD Study Abroad Storytelling Photo Contest was Sunday, May 7, 2023 at 11:59 p.m.
Twelve prizes will be awarded: six for current students and six for alumni of study abroad programs. The best overall photo in each of the three categories will receive a $75 gift card to the UD bookstore and a 16" x 20" canvas print of their photo. The runners-up will receive a $50 gift card to the UD bookstore.
Winners will be recognized at the UD Global Festival on May 17, 2023 in Alumni Circle next to Elliott Hall. Winning entries will be featured in UD and CGPS social media and communications, and will be printed and displayed at the UD Global Festival and in the CGPS office on the UD Newark campus.
Video Contest
Video allows us to "show and tell" in a way that a static image or written story sometimes cannot. Combining sight, sound, and motion, video can evoke emotion and convey a story in a matter of seconds. So what better way to ask students and alumni to share their UD study abroad experiences than to include a video category within the storytelling contest?
The 2023 UD Study Abroad Video Contest began on March 20, 2023 and ended on May 7, 2023.
Current UD students and alumni who participated in a University of Delaware study abroad or domestic travel study program are eligible to submit videos.
You must follow the submission rules described below. You may only submit your original material. You are responsible for ensuring consent of anyone featured in your video. By submitting video(s) to the contest, you are agreeing that the University of Delaware has the right to use and publish them.
Media may be edited in any manner the videographer sees fit. All work will be judged on the basis of videographic quality and subject material.
CGPS reserves the right to disqualify anyone who submits media including the use of alcohol, tobacco or any other inappropriate material. In addition, CGPS will not consider photos or videos of students taking part in activities with more than minimal risk (i.e. skydiving or any similar activity).
We want to know how your study abroad program made you see yourself or the world around you from a different perspective. Show us what you took away from your time abroad. Below is a list of ideas to convey this in your video.
- Tell us a story through narration. Did something unexpected happen, something that made you double over laughing, did you have an epiphany post trip that you want to share? Tell us unique story from your time abroad.
- Recap a memorable day/event/excursion. What did you do, how did you feel, what did you see? Help us understand what made it memorable.
- Demonstrate what you learned abroad. Tell us about the planned workshop(s)/ class(es) you took abroad and the biggest takeaway from them. You can also tell us about a new recipe, craft, dance, phrase, and more that you learned.
- Show and tell, clothes, physical artifacts, souvenirs, etc. Tell us how you got something meaningful on your trip and tell us why it is important to you.
- Relationships formed because of study abroad. How did study abroad bring you closer to friends, roommates, mentors, locals, professors, partners, family, etc.?
- Favorite place(s) you discovered. From tourist hotspots, a hole in the wall cafe, or a secret vista off the beaten path, show us a place that became special to you during your time abroad.
- Speaks for itself! Longform video that shows the scenery of your destination that doesn't require any bells or whistles.
- Transportation. Show us how you got to your destination and/or how you got around while you were there.
- Trying new things. What is something that you never would have done, eaten, seen, etc. without study abroad?
- Comparison. What were some major differences about customs, lifestyles, architecture, cuisine, fashion and more between your program location and Newark?
- Overall recap of trip. This is your highlight reel! The challenge is to get all your great footage into 30-90 seconds, while conveying a unique authorial voice and meaningful narrative.
Requirements:
Due to potential copyright infringement, no personally-selected music is permitted. We have provided a selection of copyright-free tracks below that you can incorporate into your submission, only to be used in conjunction with this contest. No music is also acceptable. Including a voice-over that explains the significance of your footage/pictures is acceptable if you feel that it enhances your storytelling.
Videos may be landscape or vertical, but no mixing of the two formats is permitted. You may include footage and still photos in your video in a slideshow/montage style, but again, consistency of landscape/vertical is required. You can also create footage after the fact; not all submissions need to be filmed in the location.
Videos must be 30-90 seconds long in order to utilize content for reels/other social media content. Acceptable formats are mp4, mov, and avi.
Avoid submissions that include application watermarks/logos.
Videos must be submitted via Dropbox. Instructions are below.
Please review the rules above. No explicit/inappropriate content will be accepted.
Instructions:
Complete the contest submission form below. When you reach the video submission section, you will need to follow the instructions provided in the form to send your video file(s) via UD Dropbox. These instructions are also listed below. Only upload and send one video file at a time via UD Dropbox file. If you would like to submit multiple videos, please continue through the Google form and submit each video individually. Once you have sent all of your videos, return to the contest form to continue your submission.
Dropbox instructions:
Follow this link to submit your video: https://pandora.escs.udel.edu/dropoff.php
Login to your University of Delaware account.
In the 1st box: Please insert your name, (skip organization), your udel.edu email address, and type "Video contest" in the message space.
In the 2nd box: Please insert go-global@udel.edu in the email recipient space (No name is necessary).
In the 3rd box: Please upload your video and click "Drop-Off the File(s)" (No description is necessary).
The deadline to enter the 2023 UD Study Abroad Storytelling Video Contest was Sunday, May 7, 2023 at 11:59 p.m.
Two prizes of $100 gift cards to the UD Bookstore will be awarded to the top two submissions.
Social Media:
All members of the UD community are invited to contribute to the story of study abroad by including #UDAbroad (and #UDAbroad100 this year) in your posts. In addition, like and mention @UDGlobal on Instagram and Twitter to appear on official University social media.
Remember to use good judgment when creating posts as content can go anywhere on the Internet, and represent the University, as well as yourself.