Who are we
Founded in 1969, the Harvard Political Review (HPR) is an undergraduate-run journal of politics, policy, and culture. Over the past generation, the HPR has incubated some of the best political minds in America with magazine alumni including Al Gore, Jr. (former United States Vice President and Nobel Laureate), E.J. Dionne, Jr. (Washington Post columnist), Jonathan Alter (former Newsweek Senior Editor and columnist), and Jeffrey Sachs (Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University). In recent years, HPR writers have won the National Press Club Award for Outstanding College Political Writing and matriculated to staff positions with Politico, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Reuters, Al Jazeera, and elsewhere. The HPR features student perspectives in the form of articles, podcasts, investigations, data-driven storytelling, photo journals, and interviews in sections spanning US, World, Local, Culture, and Science & Technology. Housed under Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, the publication benefits from a broad readership base of over one million per year. Moreover, this support and reach allows the publication access to some of the most influential political and cultural figures of our time. Past interviewees range from Dr. Anthony Fauci to Yo-Yo Ma to Tarja Halonen, the first female President of Finland.
Competition Overview
At the Harvard Political Review, we work under the mantra “timely, but timeless,” and asked submissions to strive toward this goal as well. While the Harvard Political Review is a non-partisan publication, we encouraged our own authors to take ownership of their opinions, conduct rigorous and thorough research, and demand attention from their audience through captivating writing.
Entries were judged in three categories:
Short-form Articles (11-12 grade): These articles, 800 – 1,200 words in length, span four categories: Outlook (opinionated), Explained (informative), Narrative (personal), and Review (e.g. books, movies, shows etc.).
Short-form Articles (9-10 grade): These articles, 800 – 1,200 words in length, span four categories: Outlook (opinionated), Explained (informative), Narrative (personal), and Review (e.g. books, movies, shows etc.).
Multimedia Projects: These entries took the form of podcasts (15 minutes maximum), photojournalism pieces (8-20 photographs with total 300-800 words), or video essays (15 minutes maximum).
2024 Competition Winners
Short-Form Article, Grades 11-12:
First Place: “Maybe Liberty’s Torch Still Burns: A Case for the American Democracy” by Srilakshmi Sen (Grade 11)
Second Place: “How a Founding-Era Article Explains America’s Broken Politics” by Sabrina Ottaway (Grade 12)
Short-Form Article, Grades 9-10:
First Place: “Luces, Cámara, Acción: Looking for Identity at the Chicago Latino Film Festival” by Elena Whitford (Grade 10)
Second Place: “The Right to Die: Legal and Ethical Dilemmas in the Political Debate on Euthanasia” by Sarah Alrikabi (Grade 10)
Multimedia:
First Place: “The Rise of Fascism” by Jolie Nguyen (Grade 10)
Second Place: “Footprint by Fabric” by Hyaemhin Moon and Melanie Shim (Grade 11)
