The LA&PS Digital Composition Prizes are open to digital submissions of all sorts produced by students in first to fourth-year LA&PS courses. Successful entrants will make creative use of this medium’s capabilities, including graphics, hypertext, video, audio, programming languages (Flash, Java etc.), and platform capabilities, as applicable. Multimodal entries are encouraged.
Submissions will be web-aware (e.g., intended for a public audience on the World Wide Web) and winners will be chosen based on how well the project's form, central idea, and function combine to achieve the assignment's goals.
Competition Guidelines
Any Course Director in LA&PS may nominate one assignment per seminar (<50 students), or up to two assignments for larger courses (>50, multiple sections) in the appropriate category.
To complete their entry, applicants should first include the assignment instructions in Word/PDF format (OR, if those instructions are in non-prose based format, a Word/PDF file with an appropriate hyperlink). Second, the applicant will be asked to submit a Word/PDF file with the appropriate hyperlinks (if the submission lives online) or files for the project.
- The submission should display correctly "as is" and not require any adjustments or preparation to be viewed by the competition assessors.
- Eligible submissions must be accessible by using major browsers (Chrome, Edge, Firefox) and/or easily supported file formats such MP3, M4A, MP4, Adobe formats etc.
- The assessors must be able to view the submission on York-supported software (and not be required to download a new program).
Winners / honourable mentions will receive a cash award, an official transcript note, and the opportunity to have their digital composition hosted permanently on a York-hosted website. A static URL of their faculty-reviewed submission will remain easily accessible to those considering applications for graduate and professional studies.
Please note that any images/graphics/non-original media included with the submission must be in the public domain, Creative Commons, or fall under Canadian/York University fair use provisions. The competition coordinator will reserve the right to disqualify any submissions which contravene Canadian Copyright law.
Prize and Timing
- Fall/Winter 2022 eligible projects will come from courses offered during the Summer 2022, Fall 2022, and Winter 2023 terms.
- Entries for this competition will be accepted until June 19, 2023.
- Once each year, a winner and an honourable mention will be chosen for each year level (1000, 2000, 3000, 4000).
- Winners and honourable mentions will be contacted by the Faculty in Fall 2023.
Please note: primarily text-based submissions should be entered in the LA&PS Writing Prize Competition. This includes assignments that contain hypertext but are not available on the World Wide Web. Stand-alone infographics and posters are also ineligible for this competition.
You may save your nomination and continue at a later time if required.
Additional Instructions
- Winning entries will combine the form (structure, format, design), idea (central question, problem, or point), and function (technical aspects) of their work to creatively achieve their project goals.
- In addition to demonstrating excellent web-awareness (no matter the scope of the project, large or small), successful submissions will contain primarily original content and university-level research.
- Grammatical and citation practices should be appropriate to the composition’s medium/media and content. Assessors will pay particular attention to the critical awareness and cultural significance of the submission.
- Winning entries must show careful attention to the technical aspects of relevant software (everything works, no broken links etc.).
Questions?
This competition is adjudicated by full-time faculty working in Digital Media from across LA&PS. If you have any questions about this form or about the process for adjudicating these awards, please contact Jon Sufrin at jons@yorku.ca or x77473.