Hispanic Studies Program Awards
Graduation 2010
Hispanic Studies congratulates...
Chris Hansen
Recipient of the Howard Fraser prize, Chris is a double major in Hispanic Studies and History who studied abroad in La Plata, Argentina and interned with the Comisión Provincial por la Memoria's Committee Against Torture and the Spanish Embassy. He participated in the Mellon Foundation-funded Spring Break research trip to the U.S.-Mexico Border where he studied the intersection of gender, immigration, and human rights. He presented his research at a Williamsburg Community forum that brought together local professionals, students, faculty, and administrators for an afternoon of reflection on the local impact of the border issues studied. Chris returned to the border for a second time this past Spring and worked with fellow William and Mary students and professors to develop a high school teaching module on immigration that was presented at area high schools. Chris also worked on the National Security Archive internship opportunity which brought together his expertise in history and Hispanic Studies to advance the cause of human rights work.
Nathan Hoback
Recipient of the R. Merritt Cox fellowship, Nathan will continue his studies with graduate work towards a Master of Arts in Foreign Language Education at William & Mary. Nathan was a member of a 2009 Mellon Foundation-funded undergraduate research team, directed by Professor Francie Cate-Arries, whose fieldwork in Madrid about Spain's recovery of the legacy of the civil war and the Franco dictatorship, provided the basis for the student-created website, "Mapping Memory in Madrid." His senior thesis on the topic of cinema, trauma, and collective memory in Franco's postwar Spain, was awarded Highest Honors.
Kate Hibbs
This year's book award recipient, Kate is a major in Hispanic Studies and the self-designed Immigration Studies. Kate's journey began in a Sharpe freshman seminar with Professor Arries that propelled her into the world of service learning as the class improved an English as a Second Language program at the university, CPALS. Motivated by this experience, Kate spent the next two summers working with immigrant communities in her hometown, Chicago and on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. As a Junior, Kate studied abroad in La Plata, Argentina, where she took advantage of internship opportunities at the "Comisión Provincial por la Memoria". Upon her return, she participated in a Mellon Foundation-funded internship with the National Security Archive researching declassified government documents on Operation Condor; requested by an Argentine judge, these documents will be used as evidence in ongoing trials. This past Spring, she joined a group of Argentine and William & Mary students on a Spring Break research trip to the U.S.-Mexico Border and helped develop a teaching module on immigration that the group presented in area schools. Throughout the 2009-2010 year she served as a teaching fellow in the Hispanic Studies Ethical Fashion freshman seminar, which resulted in the creation of the Student Ethical Fashion Organization. Kate was recently inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and received the additional honor of giving the student address at the induction ceremony.
Congratulations to all our graduates!
Senior class trip to Washington D.C., fall 2009
