Maria Victoria (Vicky) Muñoz, a graduate student in our department, has been awarded the prestigious essay prize from the Feministas Unidas Inc. coalition, an allied organization of the Modern Language Association (MLA). Vicky’s accomplishment highlights her exceptional work in the field of feminist scholarship and adds to the growing list of accolades for our department. Additionally, Vicky has been selected for the Graduate Humanities Summer Institute organized by the Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere, which will take place on May 8-12.
Vicky began working on her award-winning article during a Fall 2021 graduate seminar on Disease, Contagion, and Biopolitics, led by her professor. Her preliminary findings were presented at a student colloquium organized within the seminar framework in December 2021, and later invited to present her project at an undergraduate seminar on Disease and Contagion in Spring 2022. Photographs from these events will be available in a forthcoming newsletter.
The Feministas Unidas essay prize has a distinguished history of recognizing outstanding work in feminist scholarship. Notably, two other professors from our department have previously received the award: Emily Hind in 2005 and Paola Uparela in 2019. Vicky’s win further cements our department’s reputation for producing high-quality research in this critical area of study.
In addition to the Feministas Unidas essay prize, Vicky also won the Calvin A. Vander Werf Award, one of the awards given by the Graduate School of University of Florida. This award was established in memory of Dr. VanderWerf, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences from 1971 to 1978 and chemistry professor from 1978 to 1988, who served several years on the selection committee for the teaching awards.
As we celebrate Maria Victoria Muñoz’s outstanding achievement, we also look forward to learning more about her work and its potential impact on the academic community. Vicky’s dedication to her research and the recognition she has received from the Feministas Unidas society and Graduate School of University of Florida serve as an inspiration to her fellow students and colleagues. Please join us in congratulating Vicky on this well-deserved honor, and stay tuned for further updates on her research and accomplishments.