The Metropole/Urban History Association Graduate Student Blogging Contest exists to encourage and train graduate students to blog about history—as a way to teach beyond the classroom, market their scholarship, and promote the enduring value of the humanities.

This year’s theme is Stumble. We are looking for blog posts about: efforts in urbanism that have stumbled and fallen; times when a stumbling block was overcome to implement a project or initiative; instances when communities or organizations stumble across an unexpected solution to an urban problem; or a time when you stumbled upon unexpected information in your research.

All submissions that meet the guidelines outlined below will be accepted. The Metropole’s editors will work with contest contributors to refine their submissions and prepare them for publication. 

In addition to getting great practice writing for the web and experience working with editors, the winner will receive a certificate and a $150 prize!

The contest is now open to submissions, and the deadline for entries is Friday July 14, 2023. Entries must be emailed to themetropole@urbanhistory.org. Posts will run on the blog in August and early September, and we will announce the winners in October. Finalists will have their entries reviewed by three award-winning historians. 

Contest Guidelines

1. Contest entrants must be enrolled in a graduate program.
2. Contest entrants must be members of the UHA. A one-year membership for graduate students costs $25 and includes free online access to the Journal of Urban History.
3. Contest submissions must be original posts not published elsewhere on the web.
4. Contest submissions must be in the form of an essay related to the theme of “Stumble.” Essays can be about your research, historiography (but not book reviews), or methodology.
5. We encourage contest entrants to read Lessons Learned from Three Years of the Blogging Contest. Essays that stick to the following criteria will be most successful:
   • Write for a non-academic audience and assume no prior knowledge.
   • Don’t try to do too much; focus on one argument, intervention, or event.
   • Spend more time showing than telling.
   • Include images and illustrations that help the reader visualize the people, places, or sources you write about.
6. Posts must be received by the editors (themetropole@urbanhistory.org) by Friday, July 14, 2023 at 11:59 PM EST to be eligible for the contest.
7. Posts should be at least 700 words, but not exceed 2000 words.
8. Links or footnotes must be used to properly attribute others’ scholarship, reporting, images, and media. The Metropole follows the Chicago Manual of Style for citation formatting.

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Featured Image (at top): Harold Lloyd in Safety Last (1923). National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.