Winners of 2021 UCL Americas Master's dissertation prizes announced

2 December 2021

PGT dissertation prize winners 2021. From left to right: Sarah Chocano Barboza, Isabelle Mallon, Charlie Peters, Kieran Nicholson, Patrick O'Dare

Every year, UCL Institute of the Americas awards departmental prizes to the best Master's dissertations. It's never an easy decision, as competition is tough, but we would like to announce and congratulate the winners of the 2020-2021 competition:

PRIZE	FIELD	WINNER
The Allende Dissertation Prize	Latin American programmes	Sarah Chocano Barboza
The Graham Woodgate Dissertation Prize *	Latin American Environmental Issues	Isabelle Mallon
The Graham Woodgate Dissertation Prize *	Latin American Environmental Issues	Charlie Peters
The International Relations Dissertation Prize	International Relations	Kieran Nicholson
The Roosevelt Dissertation Prize	US themes	Patrick O'Dare

* prize jointly awarded to two finalists this year

This is what the winners say about their prize, their time at UCL Institute of the Americas and their plans:

Sarah Chocano Barboza

Dissertation title: ‘Todo se gana con la lucha’—An ethnographic approximation to an urban intercultural day-care centre in Santiago de Chile

Supervisor: Dr Katherine Saunders-Hastings

'I am immensely grateful to have been awarded the Allende Prize. Among many things, my dissertation highlights the importance of building community during challenging times. Analogously, this accomplishment would not have been possible without mine. I want to thank my supervisor, Kate, for her patience and fruitful advice. I would also like to thank the people who participated in this project. Their fight for a more just and sustainable future is admirable and should not go unnoticed. This research has also benefitted from conversations with students of the 2020-21 cohort. Despite the distance, they were able to nurture my intellectual and social experience at UCL Americas. Currently, I am applying to Ph.D. programs in Canada and the UK to continue expanding this exciting research'.

Isabelle Mallon

Dissertation title: REDD+: The Conservation of Carbon and Gender Inequalities?

Supervisor: Professor Maxine Molyneux

' I am thrilled and honoured to have received the Graham Woodgate Prize, particularly given these challenging circumstances. I am proud not only to have achieved a masters during the pandemic, but also to be recognised as the best dissertation for the field of Latin American environmental issues for 2020/21. I would like to extend my gratitude to my family, friends and dissertation supervisor Dr. Maxine Molyneux who have guided and supported me throughout the process. I am especially happy to have achieved this award as it has enabled me to further my passion for Latin America, which I am currently using at as an analyst at a political and security risk firm.'

Charlie Peters

Dissertation title: Place Attachment, Meaning, and Stewardship in Urban Green Spaces: Insights from environmental stewards in Xochimilco, Mexico City

Supervisor: Dr Par Engstrom

'I am delighted and honoured to have been awarded the Graham Woodgate Dissertation Prize on Latin American Environmental Issues. Whilst it is great to receive recognition for the hard work that I put in, much of the credit must go to my supervisor Par, whose constant encouragement and inquisitive mentoring approach kept me constantly reflecting on my work and how I could improve it. I would also like to thank the members of the ‘work smart’ initiative, who provided both academic and emotional support through some of the most difficult times of the pandemic, and have become lifelong friends in the process. Studying at UCL has been an unforgettable experience and I look forward to being an active and involved alumnus in the future.'

Kieran Nicholson

Dissertation title: Neoconservative foreign policy in the post-Cold War era: realism, unipolarism and humanitarianism in the case of the Balkan Wars

Supervisor: Dr Nick Witham

'I feel proud and grateful to have won the International Relations prize. Working with Nick Witham was a really enjoyable and rewarding experience – I want to thank him for being such a supportive supervisor. I’m currently working in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office as a civil service Fast Streamer.'

Patrick O'Dare

Dissertation title: President Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis: Bureaucratic political dynamics and their effect on presidential decision-making during the Cuban Missile Crisis (October 16, 1962 – October 28, 1962)

Supervisor: Professor Gareth Davies

'During my time at UCL, Institute of Americas I got to work under superb teachers with engaged, intellectually curious fellow students. I am proud to have won the Roosevelt Prize for my dissertation on bureaucratic politics during the Cuban Missile Crisis and hope to go on to publish my work, thereby contributing to broader discussions on the nature of bureaucratic politics and its effects on presidential decision-making. I hope to peruse this field of inquiry into a Ph.D. subject. '

The Chair of the Postgraduate Board of Examiners at the Institute of the Americas, Dr Par Engstrom, added: 'It is with great pleasure that we announce these awards every year. In addition to the honour of the award, each winner will receive a prize of £100.

If you are interested in pursuing a Master's degree at UCL Institute of the Americas, please have a look at our current portfolio of MA and MSc programmes, covering nearly every region of the American continent and delivered with an interdisciplinary approach. You can also read here what some of our students have said about their studies at UCL Institute of the Americas.

Also, please be advised of the upcoming round of virtual open days for PGT degrees will be announced shortly. We will update this information in the News page and also via our social media channels: Twitter, Facebook/Meta and Instagram. Watch these spaces!