Senior Wins Prestigious Award in Spanish Literature
May 07, 2012
For the first time, an undergraduate wins the Pilar Sáenz Award.
For the first time, an undergraduate wins the Pilar Sáenz Award.
Senior Spanish and French double major Nick Boltz was recently awarded the Ibero-American Society for Eighteenth Century Studies Pilar Sáenz Annual Student Essay Prize. The Spanish essay contest requires students to submit an investigative research paper on their topic of choice from 18th century Spanish or Latin American literature or art.
Boltz chose to examine the Cartas Marruecas (Moroccan Letters) by José Cadalso and “Los Caprichos” (Whims) by Francisco de Goya. Boltz was greatly intrigued by the comparison of two different media outlets, one in the former of an epistolary novel and the other as a set of 80 ink block prints.
The essay, “Masculinity as a Mirror of National Discourses in Moroccan Letters and ‘Whims’,” was the result of a year-long writing process under the supervision of Dr. Mehl Penrose, assistant professor of Spanish at UMD. Boltz is the first undergraduate to win this award.
“I have an amazing advisor who helped me produce a paper of this level,” says Boltz. “I am very honored and excited to have received this award.”
The Ibero-American Society is an affiliate society of the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, an interdisciplinary group dedicated to advancing scholarship in the period. The Pilar Sáenz award includes a cash prize, a one year subscription to the 18th century studies journal Dieciocho, and a two-year membership to the Ibero-American Society for Eighteenth Century Studies. A revised version of the essay will be considered for publication in Dieciocho.
In the future, Nick hopes to move to Spain and pursue a doctorate in Spanish literary studies.