Monisha Jackson wins the RACE Dissertation Prize in RGS-IBG competition
BA Geography and Sociology alum Monisha Jackson has been awarded the Royal Geographical Society with IBG Dissertation Prize in the Race, Culture and Equality Working Group.
Her dissertation, entitled “I’m not your SISTA”: Queer Black Women’s Experiences in LGBTQ+ Night-time Spaces” won first place in the 2019/20 national competition and will be added to the dissertation prize winner archive.
Monisha is currently studying a joint masters and PhD programme at Georgia State University, Atlanta. She says:
"I am really honoured to have been recognised for my research in this national competition. Carrying out a joint honours degree in both Geography and Sociology was an extremely difficult experience due to the Eurocentric nature of the curricula and the lack of Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) representation within UK institutions.
Thank you to everyone who shared their stories with me so openly and honestly and made this research a possibility, to mentors and comrades such as Dr. Laura Loyola-Hernández and to all of the beautiful queer Black people past, present and future. I feel affirmed and rejuvenated in my current PhD journey!
To both centre queer Black women within my research and to utilise Black feminist theory and methodology is to go against the norms of academia and I feel blessed to have had the strength, determination and resilience to do this. It was extremely important for me to centre the lived experiences and voices of queer Black women who are so often ignored, disregarded and erased throughout the world.
Thank you to everyone who shared their stories with me so openly and honestly and made this research a possibility, to mentors and comrades such as Dr. Laura Loyola-Hernández and to all of the beautiful queer Black people past, present and future. I feel affirmed and rejuvenated in my current PhD journey!"
During her undergraduate degree in the School of Geography, Monisha co-organised the Decolonising Geographies panel with Dr Laura Loyola-Hernández and two of her peers.
She also worked incredibly hard in opening spaces for BIPOC in the School. On behalf of the School of Geography, we offer a big congratulations to Monisha on receiving this award.
