Denisa Jashari, assistant professor of history, received the Sturgis Leavitt Award from the Southeastern Council of Latin American Studies (SECOLAS) for her article, “Carrying the Cross: Popular Christian Communities and Religious Protest during Pinochet's Dictatorship, 1973–90,” published in the Journal of Latin American Studies in 2024. 

The award is given annually for the best article or book chapter on a Latin American or Iberian subject published by a SECOLAS member in the previous calendar year, with preference given to articles that have an appeal beyond a single discipline. Presented at the annual meeting, winners receive a cash award as well as their name and work printed in The Latin Americanist.

Established in 1953, SECOLAS is the oldest regional professional body dedicated to the study and teaching of Latin American and Caribbean societies and its histories. The non-political and nonprofit association focuses on promoting interest, scholarly research and friendly contacts among the peoples of the Americas.

Jashari is an advisory board member and senior research associate for the Program on Latin America and the Caribbean. She specializes in the history of modern Latin America, focusing on twentieth-century Chilean urban and social history. Her research has been supported by the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship, the American Historical Association Albert J. Beveridge Research Grant, the Doris G. Quinn Foundation and the Tinker Foundation. Her article, “The Chilean Christians for Socialism Movement: Liberationist, Third Worldist, and Utopian” (Latin American Studies Association, 2024), won the 2025 LARR–University of Florida Best Article Award.

By Mikayla Melo