Kenneth Roth to Judge 5th Annual 3QD Politics & Social Science Prize

Update 23 Mar: Winners announced here.

Update 13 Mar: Voting round now closed, semifinalists announced here, finalists here.

Update 6 Mar: Voting round now open, will close on 11 Mar 11:59 pm EST. Go here to vote.

Dear Readers, Writers, Bloggers,

We are very honored and pleased to announce that Kenneth Roth has agreed to be the final judge for our 5th annual prize for the best blog and online-only writing in the category of politics and social science. Details of the previous four politics (and other) prizes can be seen on our prize page.

Kenneth Roth is the executive director of Human Rights Watch, one of the world’s leading international human rights organizations. Under Roth’s leadership, Human Rights Watch has grown eight-fold in size and vastly expanded its reach. It now operates in more than 90 countries, among them some of the most dangerous and oppressed places on Earth. Prior to joining Human Rights Watch in 1987, Roth served as a federal prosecutor in New York and for the Iran-Contra investigation in Washington. A graduate of Yale Law School and Brown University, Roth has conducted numerous human rights investigations and missions around the world. He has written extensively on a wide range of human rights abuses, devoting special attention to issues of international justice, counterterrorism, the foreign policies of the major powers, and the work of the United Nations.

As usual, this is the way it will work: the nominating period is now open. There will then be a round of voting by our readers which will narrow down the entries to the top twenty semi-finalists. After this, we will take these top twenty voted-for nominees, and the editors of 3 Quarks Daily will select six finalists from these, plus they may also add up to three wildcard entries of their own choosing. The three winners will be chosen from these by Ken Roth.

The first place award, called the “Top Quark,” will include a cash prize of 500 dollars; the second place prize, the “Strange Quark,” will include a cash prize of 200 dollars; and the third place winner will get the honor of winning the “Charm Quark,” along with a 100 dollar prize.

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The schedule and rules:

February 16, 2015:

• The nominations are opened. Please nominate your favorite blog entry by placing the URL for the blog post (the permalink) in the comments section of this post. You may also add a brief comment describing the entry and saying why you think it should win. Do NOT nominate a whole blog, just one individual blog post.
• Blog posts longer than 4,000 words are strongly discouraged, but we might make an exception if there is something truly extraordinary.
• Each person can only nominate one blog post.
• Entries must be in English.
• The editors of 3QD reserve the right to reject entries that we feel are not appropriate.
• The blog entry may not be more than a year old. In other words, it must have been first published after February 15, 2014.
• You may also nominate your own entry from your own or a group blog (and we encourage you to).
• Guest columnists at 3 Quarks Daily are also eligible to be nominated, and may also nominate themselves if they wish.
• Nominations are limited to the first 100 entries.
• Prize money must be claimed within a month of the announcement of winners.

March 4, 2015

• The public voting will be opened.

March 11, 2015

• Public voting ends at 11:59 PM (NYC time).

March 13, 2015

• The finalists are announced.

March 23, 2015

• The winners are announced.

One Final and Important Request

If you have a blog or website, please help us spread the word about our prizes by linking to this post. Otherwise, post a link on your Facebook profile, Tweet it, or just email your friends and tell them about it! I really look forward to reading some very good material and think this should be a lot of fun for all of us.

Best of luck and thanks for your attention!

Yours,

Abbas