Several USF College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) were honored with awards during the 2023 Hispanic Heritage Month Status of Latinos (SoL) Annual Awards Breakfast held Oct. 5 at the USF St. Petersburg campus.
The president’s USF Status of Latinos (SOL) Committee presents the awards each year to “USF students, faculty, staff and community leaders who are contributing to the Latinx community through academic research and/or community service.”
This year’s CAS recipients include the Department of English’s Dr. Susan Mooney, professor, and Dr. Natalie Scenters- Zapico, assistant professor, as well as School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies students Barbara Herrera and Elvis Rodrigues.
Additionally, the Department of Sociology & Interdisciplinary Social Sciences’ Dr. Elizabeth Hordge-Freeman, associate professor, and Dr. Beatriz Padilla, associate professor and director of the Institute for the Study of Latin American and the Caribbean (ISLAC), also earned a team award for their work with USF’s Advancing Latino Access and Success Taskforce (ALAS).
ALAS, meaning wings in Spanish, was created in 2021 with the ultimate mission of improving graduation rates of Hispanic/Latinx students and attaining the U.S. Department of Education’s Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) designation for USF.
“Over the past two years, this taskforce been identifying needs and developing strategies that, if implemented, will lead to achieving HSI status, thus enhancing USF as an institution that seeks, welcomes, and actively supports, nurtures, and propels Hispanic/Latinx students, and all its students, towards success,” Hordge-Freeman, who serves as co-chair on ALAS, explained.
Susan Mooney, PhD, is a professor of comparative literature in the Department of English.
(Photo by Corey Lepak)
Natalie Scenters-Zapico, PhD, is an assistant professor of creative writing in the
Department of English. (Photo by Corey Lepak)
Mooney was recognized for her work in developing curriculum supporting Hispanic studies over the course of her professional career. Some of her most notable mentions include creating USF’s undergraduate course on Latino/Latina literature in the U.S. and designing the dual Enhanced General Education and Ethical Reasoning and Civil Engagement course “Race, Ethnicity, and Literature,” which includes assignments that engage with the local Hispanic community. Her current course on modern short narratives highlights Latin American experts from the genre and she will be teaching the new “Latinx Literature in the U.S.” graduate course this coming spring which reviews writings from José Martí to the contemporary authors of today.
Aside from also mentoring numerous Hispanic students during her time at USF, she also is currently supervising a doctoral student’s Latinx American literature area and serves as a committee member on other doctoral student comprehensive exams, where “her knowledge and support is invaluable,” as noted her nomination materials.
“I am proud of my manuscript ‘The Success of the Censored in Franco’s Spain: The Political Purposes of Spanish Literature, Engaged Authorship, and Sex’ as it addresses so many issues of censorship that we continue to see in our present day,” Mooney said. “Spanish writers under Franco experienced wide-ranging censorship, similar to many Latin American counterparts living under repressive regimes. There is a shared experience of censorship and a shared need for social justice and human rights across the Latinx and Hispanic communities.”
Scenters-Zapico was recognized for her work in the areas of immigration, femicide, and undocumented life in the U.S.
“She has spent much of her career advocating for and broadening our understanding of Spanglish and hybrid English(es) in creative work and teaching,” her nominator wrote of her. “My teacher-practitioner model of teaching has helped her to mentor many Latine students at USF.”
Scenters-Zapico is also currently the Steward for the Michael Kuperman Library in the Department of English, which is a public space encouraging the reading and writing of poetry.
She’s also published books, including “Lima :: Limon” and “The Verging Cities” and earned awards for her works, including Yale University’s Windham Campbell Prize, a Ruth Lily and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation, a Lannan Literary Fellowship, and CantoMundo Fellowship.
In 2022, she also earned a Faculty Outstanding Research Achievement Award from USF.
As a master’s student majoring in Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies from the School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies, Barbara Herrera was honored for her work in climate change and with ethnobotany. She’s conducted research on medicinal and spiritual plants used in Haitian and Cuban cultures and enhanced upon ways to preserve botanical knowledge in Latin culture.
Barbara Herrera, a master’s student in the USF School of Interdisciplinary Global
Studies. (Photo by Corey Lepak)
Elvis Rodriguez, undergraduate student in the School of International Global Studies.
(Photo by Corey Lepak)
“Her motivation for ethnobotany research lies in the rapidly increasing loss of native plant knowledge within communities worldwide. I have never seen anyone so committed and driven toward her goals, and her desire for change and transformation,” her nomination notes.
She’s also involved with CAS’ Institute for the Study of Latin America and the Caribbean (ISLAC) and conducted research in the International Center for Tropical Botany, interning in two programs—one in botany and the other in horticulture.
This past summer she also spent her time working with the City of Tampa as an art instructor teaching children across a variety of mediums, including pottery, sewing, glass work and script writing. She also conducted ethnographic research, observing and interviewing mono and bilingual students who participated in STEM summer camps in order to gain insights on teaching methods for students.
“Earning a SoL award means having to work even harder to always try and strive for my Latinx community members, to represent them and uplift them through my actions in every opportunity I am granted,” Herrera said. “It’s refreshing to remind the Latinx community that we have the support of so many individuals all throughout Tampa who are willing to show up and encourage one another. I am proud of my journey, of my motivation to pursue a master’s, a doctorate, and ideally fieldwork in the future to support the perpetuation of Caribbean and Latinx culture. I am proud of my continuous efforts to make this future possible for myself and my Latinx community members!”
Elvis Rodriguez, also a student from SIGS, was honored for his service and research work.
His nominator noted that he led the charge during UndocUnited’s Dream Week, a dedicated initiative aimed at educating and raising awareness about the needs of Dreamers and the broader undocumented community. Rodriguez managed to raise $800 in funds which was awarded to two undocumented students at USF.
Rodriguez was also highlighted for his invaluable internship with the National Migrant Head Start Association, where he was placed with the United Farm Workers in Washington, D.C.
He engaged in a pivotal advocacy role and also shared his personal story of working in various agricultural settings with key decision-makers in the White House and the House of Representatives.
As a member of the Lambda Theta Phi Latin fraternity, Rodriguez has also organized and managed several events celebrating unity.
“As a first-generation college student who has encountered many barriers, it means a lot to me to have my accomplishments commemorated. The ability to receive recognition for my hard work and dedication is truly meaningful,” Rodriguez said. “My work with the United Farm Workers in Washington, D.C., where I helped oppose a targeted bill, is my proudest accomplishment this year. I was able to use my personal story of working in the fields to create a change bigger than myself.”