UALR’s German program is calling for submissions from university and high school students to compete in a German Cultural Olympics. The prize? A trip to Germany.

Deadline for submissions is Thursday, Sept. 29. The winners will be announced during the Oct. 10-14 Do Deutsch Week, an international celebration of German culture through film, performance, athletics, and food. Both events are sponsored by the German Embassy in Washington, D.C.

UALR is the only university in Arkansas – and one of 44 other campuses nationwide – participating in the German Cultural Olympics project. Winning entries at the local level will be submitted to the nationwide finals, where an embassy jury will select national winners. The national winner in each category will receive a trip to Germany.

Contestants in the German Cultural Olympics are charged with illustrating their perception of Germany as a country, the German language, or German culture. The games are open to all university and high school students in Arkansas who have studied German or have an interest in Germany, its history, and its culture. College and high school entries will be judged separately.

Schools may submit multiple entries for each category, but an individual student may only enter one category. The German Cultural Olympics include essay, speech, visual art, film or video, and poetry or songwriting categories. Topics for the entries should focus on the German language or the German influence in American popular culture. All entries should be in English.

Individuals are invited to submit entries for the essay, speech, visual art, and songwriting/poetry contests, and individuals or groups of up to three people are invited to submit entries for the short film contest. Photographs of entrants are required with each submission. Judges from the UALR faculty and the community will select the local winners.

For the speech competition, entrants must write and present a three- to five-minute speech on the subject of German-American relations and submit a digital video of the speech. Speeches will be judged based on content, delivery, organization and originality.

For rules of the competition, visit the Do Deutsch Week website or contact Dr. Jeanette Clausen at 501-569-8708 or jxclausen@ualr.edu.