From 2012 until 2016 Mònica carried out her PhD research at the UvA, under the supervision of Prof. Gerard Wiegers, Dr Richard van Leeuwen and Prof. Mercedes García Arenal (CSIC, Madrid). She received a competitive grant to do so from the Dutch Interuniversity Research School in Islamic Studies. 

Her PhD research deals with the polemical writings of the Mudejars, the Muslims who lived as minorities under Christian rule in the Medieval and Early Modern Iberian Peninsula and their relations with Iberian Jews and the dominant Christian majority. The dissertation is praised for its combination of historical, philological and more theoretical perspectives, and the various religions – Christianity, Judaism and Islam – taken into consideration. With her background in Arabic and Islamic studies, and Romance philology, along with her persistence and perseverance, Mònica completed her thesis within the time of her appointment in a way that commands the admiration of the assessment committee. 

About the award

The ASH dissertation award is presented annually to the author of the best doctoral dissertation of the Amsterdam School for Historical Studies. The award is accompanied by a prize of € 500.