UCSB Latin American and Iberian Studies Program

Congratulations to LAIS students Favián Muralles (BA) and Christine Khrlobian (MA)

Congratulations to LAIS students Favián Muralles (BA) and Christine Khrlobian (MA) for receiving the LAIS 2019-2020 student awards!

Favián Muralles (BA) received the 2019-2020 Undergraduate Award for Exemplary Academic Performance. When asked for a quote about his time as a LAIS major, Favián had the following to say, “After jumping around between three different majors my first two years of undergrad, I grew anxious and thought I was not going to find my fit on this campus. Thankfully I found LAIS and it saved my undergraduate career. I ended up loving every single aspect of this major, the support, the faculty, and the courses. Receiving this award really means the world and marks a perfect end to my time at UCSB.”

Christine Khrlobian received the 2019-2020 Graduate Award for Best MA Thesis for her thesis “El Negro Permitido: Representations of Black Bodies and Beings in the Colombian Press, 1970-1980“. This thesis focuses on the representations and stereotypes of Afrocolombians in the Colombian press from 1970 to 1980; and explains how racism, through el negro permitido operated, thrived, and continued to normalize Black subordination through a color-blind rhetoric in Colombia. Her thesis advisor was Cecilia Méndez (History, LAIS Director). Learn more about Christine’s thesis here: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/68z1c0dp.

Congratulations Favián and Christine!