The José E. Limón Best Paper in Latino Studies is a special recognition for written work done on U.S. Latino communities, to support scholarly work by undergraduate and graduate students consistent with the mission of the Institute for Latino Studies.
Best Paper Winners
Cole Grabowski '19
Major: Mechanical Engineering
"Bringing La Lucha to the Golden Dome: Mexican American Student Activism at the University of Notre Dame, 1969-75"
In his essay, Grabowski uses primary source documents from the collected papers of ILS Founding Director Gilberto Cardenas to reconstruct the earliest efforts of Latino and Latina students and faculty to push Notre Dame to live up to its highest values of equity and inclusion for those communities who are the future of Catholic Church. Grabowski helps us understand that these efforts were not always well received.
Gregory Jenn '18
Major: Political Science, Romance Languages and Literatures, Latino Studies
"Mexican Migration: A Dantean Illumination"
Utilizing all of his majors, Latino Studies, Political Science, and Italian, Jenn develops a truly unique analytical linkage between the journey of Dante that takes him to the inferno to the perilous journeys of so many Mexican migrants to the U.S. He helps us appreciate that the struggles of so many of ' migrants are aligned with the perennial human struggle to find happiness and meaning in life. He also helps us understand the these migration paths, in the end, lead to the living of the virtuous life of the soul, whatever the struggles the body may be forced to endure.
Romelia Solano
Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Political Science
"Revisiting the Role of Group Consciousness and Co-ethnic Contact in Political Participation Among Latinos in the United States"
Using cutting edge data and statistical techniques, Solano deepens our understanding of the most important factors affecting the levels of civic engagement of Latino and Latina in the U.S. As Latino communities grow in their capacity to influence politics in the U.S., it is work like that of Solano that will better inform not just the academy, but all those interested in maximizing that influence in the future.