José E. Limón Best Paper in Latino Studies: Undergraduate Category

The Institute for Latino Studies announces the José E. Limón Best Paper in Latino Studies competition, for written work done on U.S. Latino communities, to support scholarly work by undergraduate and graduate students consistent with the mission of ILS. This paper competition is named in honor of José E. Limón, Professor Emeritus of English, who directed the Institute for Latino Studies from 2012-2014. His outstanding research and publications have been a model for hundreds of PhD candidates and undergraduates he mentored throughout his illustrious career as an educator and leader in his field. Papers can be from any discipline and methodological approach. Students who have prepared exemplary work may submit their papers to latino@nd.edu for a writing prize of $250 for undergraduate papers of 10+ pages and $500 for graduate student work of 20+ pages.

Undergraduate Student Writing Prize | $250
Submissions for the José E. Limón Best Paper in Latino Studies are now being accepted for 10+ page papers written by Notre Dame undergraduate students exploring U.S. based, Latino Studies research topics. Exemplary papers can be from any discipline and use any methodological framework. Qualifying submissions may be research papers, thesis, articles, or original essays prepared during the student’s Freshman to Senior years at Notre Dame. Submissions can be made by current Notre Dame undergraduate students only. A letter of support from a faculty member is encouraged but not required. The winning submission will be published on the Institute for Latino Studies website and presented with a $250 prize award.

Through scholarship and teaching, the Institute for Latino Studies advances understanding of the fastest-growing and youngest population in the United States and the U.S. Catholic Church. Inquiries should be directed to Paloma Garcia-Lopez, ILS Associate Director, at Paloma.Garcia@nd.edu or (574) 631-4881.

The ILS José E. Limón Writing Prize will accept only one paper per student per submission until the deadline of 11:59 PM EST on April 1st, 2025. Paper submissions and contact information should be directed to latino@nd.edu.

2025 Winners 

Undergraduate: Yamileth Lara and Macey Bartels 

Graduate: George Azcárate

2024 Winners

Undergraduate: Sofia Casillas and Julia Marine

Graduate: Manuel Rodriguez and Christopher Rziha

2018 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.