Our warmest congratulations to Taylor Borowetz who was awarded the 2018 John MacGregor Prize and Eliane Engeler who was awarded the 2018 John Groom Prize. Both students graduated in Canterbury Cathedral amongst almost 60 of their peers at the evening ceremony on Friday 23rd November 2018.
Taylor Borowetz was awarded an MA in International Development with Human Rights Law. Eliane Engeler was awarded an MA in Political Strategy and Communication with International Migration.
Dr Bojan Savic, who acted as Taylor’s supervisor and first marker said of her dissertation titled, “Racialization and the Carceral State: Discipline, Punishment, and the Reproduction of the Neocolony”: “A beautifully written, educated, creative, and intellectually bold submission that set an ambitious goal for itself. It effectively combined arguments from a variety of fields that are not often correlated in academia: from abolitionist literature, postcolonialism, and post-structuralism to criminal justice, development, and critical race readings.”
When asked about her dissertation, Taylor said, “The guidance I received from my supervisor, and others at BSIS, pushed me out of my comfort zone and inspired me to do more than I ever thought possible. The advice, challenges, and encouragement made the difference between what I assumed I could do, and surpassing the limits I imagined I had… Now, I want to prove to myself that I can do more: that I have something to offer.”
Eliane’s dissertation, titled, “Threatening Posters: Visual Representation of Immigration by the Populist Radical Right in Switzerland” was supervised and first marked by Dr Albena Azmanova who said about the dissertation, “Why does the construction of (Muslim) immigration as a threat appeal to voters regardless of their actual experience with immigration? This expertly executed dissertation provides an answer through an original analysis of the Swiss anti-Muslim/anti-immigration campaign posters. The analysis demonstrates wide-ranging reading, independent critical thought, and a scientific imagination in creating an original theoretical framework. “
Ambassador John Macgregor was Dean of the University of Kent’s Brussels centre from 2007 to 2009. On his departure he established a prize which is to be awarded, by the Brussels Board of Examiners, to the student with the best taught postgraduate performance on any programme at the Brussels School of International Studies.
Professor John Groom is the intellectual founder of the Brussels School of International Studies. In 2007 he established a prize which is to be awarded, by the Brussels Board of Examiners, to the student with the best taught postgraduate performance on a politics programme at the Brussels School of International Studies. If that student has been awarded the John Macgregor Prize, the award goes to the next best student.