Betina González-Azcárate, who in 2011 earned her PhD in Hispanic Languages and Literatures at the University of Pittsburgh, is the recipient of the 2010-11 Eduardo Lozano Memorial Dissertation Prize, sponsored by Pitt’s Center for Latin American Studies and Department of Hispanic Languages and Literatures in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences.
González-Azcárate was awarded the prize for the dissertation “Plotting Slaves, Talking Animals: The Politics of Morals in Nineteenth-Century Latin American Literature.” Prior to coming to Pitt, she completed her MFA in bilingual creative writing in 2006 at the University of Texas at El Paso. In January 2012, González-Azcárate will return to her home country of Argentina to work at the Universidad de Buenos Aires.
The Pitt dissertation prize honors internationally renowned librarian Eduardo Lozano, who developed and directed the Latin American Collection at the University’s Hillman Library from 1967 until his death in August 2006. Lozano was born in Buenos Aires in 1925. In addition to being a distinguished librarian, he was a renowned painter and poet.
The Eduardo Lozano Memorial Dissertation Prize is awarded annually by a committee of Pitt faculty members for the best doctoral dissertation at the University on a topic related to Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latin American communities in other countries. The prize, which includes a cash award of $1,250, is cofunded by contributions from Pitt’s Center for Latin American Studies and Department of Hispanic Languages and Literatures, and donations to the Eduardo Lozano Memorial Dissertation Prize Fund.
The Pitt faculty committee also awarded Juan Carlos Rodríguez-Raga an Honorable Mention for his dissertation titled “Strategic Prudence in the Colombian Constitutional Court, 1992-2006.” Rodríguez-Raga earned his PhD in political science from Pitt this year. He currently serves as Profesor Asistente, Departamento de Ciencia Política, Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia.