The Howard M. Fraser Award was established in 1998 in memory of our colleague, Professor Howard Fraser, who for twenty-four years was a much-beloved professor of Portuguese and Spanish at the College. He was an active leader in the campus community who also served as Chair of our department for six years. Professor Fraser was a well-known scholar in the field of Latin American literature and culture. This award recognizes the graduating Hispanic Studies major who has made significant achievements in the area of research and service related to the field of Hispanic Studies.

 This year’s recipient is Pamela Sertzen. Pam’s list of accomplishments in the area of community service and excellence in academic research is a long one, I share a few highlights with you. During a semester abroad in Lima, Peru, Pam studied issues of human rights, citizenship, and the performance of collective memory in today’s Peru. This was the topic of her senior research paper, which she presented this past February at the annual professional meeting of the Middle Atlantic Council on Latin American Studies in Pennsylvania. Her paper received the Juan Espadas Prize for Best Undergraduate Paper at that conference. Pam has also established an extraordinary service record. This year she was a team member for AID, Assisting Indigenous Development, a humanitarian and medical relief team that traveled to Cuje Nicaragua in March. In the summer of 2005 she volunteered for a church group that sponsored programs serving the homeless as well as sick children in a hospital pediatric unit in Buenos Aires, Argentina. For two years here in Williamsburg she worked as an assistant facilitator for the Migrant Mothers Parent Group, helping young families integrate into the local community. In the spring of 2006, she was the student coordinator for a week-long seminar at W&M on the topic of Terrorism in Peru, which promoted discussions about the national processes of reconciliation and memory, through a lecture series, film screenings and a photo exhibit on campus. In 2007 she received the Office of Student Volunteer Services’  Walk the Talk Service Award.

Book Award 2007: Jenna Morgan

 Jenna Morgan is this year’s recipient of the Book Award. We recognize Jenna’s work related to her own book project, the successful completion of a novel titled, Duende’s Shadow, which traces her protagonist’s journeys through the streets of Spain and the pathways of personal and national memory. At Jenna’s recent Honors Exam, the English Department awarded this Creative Writing Honors Thesis “High Honors.” With this Book Award, we recognize her fine accomplishment in the area of the creative arts and Hispanic Studies.

2007 Hispanic Studies Graduates

Marlena Anderson volunteered as a translator on behalf of local Spanish-speaking families at the Williamsburg non-profit, Child Development Resources.

Lauren Armheim researched the role of poetry in Latin American social movements for her senior seminar paper.

Sarah Blitzer pursued her interest in Art History during a memorable semester abroad in Madrid, studying art and exploring museums.

Ben Boone received W&M’s 2007 Phoenix Award for an outstanding student employee for his work for the College’s Freshman Orientation Program.

Ashley Borum, inspired by her previous study in Barcelona, plans to return to Spain in the Fall to work as a North American Language and Culture Assistant teaching English.

Kenneth Bumbaco worked last summer as a medical
interpreter in clinics serving migrant farm 
workers on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

Heather Collmus will work as a surgical assistant in the Esperanza Clínica Benefactora in Mérida, Mexico.

Jessica “Efe” Foster received the College’s 2006 Presidential Service Award for her work with  Spanish-speaking communities both at home and abroad in Nicaragua and Honduras.

Lindsay Fullerton spent her junior year studying (and dancing) in the Tango Capital of the World, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Sarah Hall, who studied abroad in both Spain & Argentina,will attend LSU law school in the fall.

Victoria Howell completed a research project in Morelia, Mexico on the topic of the Mexican public's response to the uprising in Chiapas.

Jane Kennedy, who will intern in Geneva at Airports Council International, wrote a senior paper that is currently under review for a national essay competition about the Spanish Civil War.

Kevin Kosoris has worked as a campus tour guide for the past three years, and will begin Law School at Southern Methodist University in the fall.

Lili-Marie Mann will work next year for a non-profit organization in Tucson that addresses border issues between the U.S. and Mexico..

Lauren Manso plans to attend Law School after spending next year in La Paz, Bolivia.

Maybelline Mendoza was a summer intern at a publications company in Morelia, where the radio advertisement she recorded still gets airtime in Mexico

Veronica Montalvo has completed research projects on the topic of Puerto Rican cultural and political history.

Jenna Morgan will enroll in George Mason's M.F.A 
program in Creative Writing in the fall.

Megan Packett will teach elementary Spanish at James RiverElementary School      in Williamsburg .

Renee Price studied abroad in Madrid for a semester; and after graduation she will work in Boston at TJX Companies

Patricia Roman-Lagunas will spend the summer in  Lima, Peru  working for a Peruvian non- profit organization, and in the fall she will enroll in Indiana University’s law school.

Pamela Sertzen will work next year in Boston with City Year.

Alexander Smith, president of the W&M Men's Soccer Club, will attend American University Law School in the fall.

Michelle Thorne walked the Camino de Santiago in Spain with Professor Greenia’s summer student team, and next year will be involved with church ministry as an intern in Ohio.    

Kaitlin Turck will teach next year at an elementary school in Cofradia, Honduras, run by the non-profit organization Bilingual Education for Central America.

Ray Walsh studied the role of protest music in Franco’s Spain during his summer research trip to Cadiz Spain.

Kendra Wergin, president of W&M’s Model United Nations team, 
will work as a Spanish teacher in the national Teach For America 
corps.