Simón Bolívar Prizes

The Simón Bolívar Prizes recognise outstanding essays and dissertations completed by students on the MPhil in Latin American Studies. The prizes celebrate the breadth and originality of student research across the social sciences, cultural studies and humanities.

2025–26 recipients

Social Sciences

Best Essay

Evan Grandidge de Paz
Embodied in the Landscape: Memories of Conflict in the Sondondo Valley, Peru

Best Dissertation

Vedanitya Dharwar
‘In Perpetuity’: The Chronopolitics of Panama Canal Construction (1903–1915)

Cultural Studies and Humanities

Best Essay

Vedanitya Dharwar
The Labouring Body and the Politics of Impossibility in Roma

Best Dissertation

Evan Grandidge de Paz
The Return Journey: Art, Objects and Architectural Influences from the Colonial Americas in Iberian Spain

2024–25 recipients

Social Sciences

Best Essay

Santiago Sanchez Checa
The Threat of Securitisation: The Panama Canal Impasse as a Case Study of Trump’s Interventionist Rhetoric

Best Dissertation — Joint Recipients

Santiago Sanchez Checa
Between Access and Impunity: The Impact of Mining Concessions in the Formalisation Efforts of Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Miners in Peru

Cormac Whitney Low
A Study of Home Invasions by Security Forces in Rio de Janeiro (2007–2019)

Cultural Studies and Humanities

Best Essay

Grace McGuinness
Stone and Art: Imagining Ecological Scale in Luis Carrera-Maul’s Metonimias

Best Dissertation

Grace McGuinness
Catedral de Santa María la Menor: Monumental Architecture in Sixteenth-Century Santo Domingo

Study Latin American Studies at Cambridge

The MPhil in Latin American Studies offers students the opportunity to develop interdisciplinary research on the histories, cultures, societies, politics and economies of Latin America.

Find out more about the MPhil in Latin American Studies and how to apply here.