Senior English major Ashley Zingillioglu was recently selected as the recipient of the undergraduate Daniel Walden Prize by the Mid-Atlantic Popular and American Culture Association (MAPACA) for her conference presentation “‘Talking with My Classmates’: An Interactive Social Story for Students with Autism.” MAPACA awards the prize annually to an outstanding emerging scholar in popular culture studies.
Zingillioglu will be presented with the award at a reception at this fall’s conference in Philadelphia, and her paper will be published in the Association’s journal, Response: The Journal of American and Popular Culture.
“I am incredibly honored to be the recipient of the Daniel Walden Prize for the best undergraduate presentation,” Zingillioglu said, “and am humbled to be considered an outstanding emerging scholar.” She says her success at the conference has encouraged her to submit proposals to other scholarly conferences and to apply to graduate programs.
She was nominated for the award by A. Nicole Pfannenstiel, associate professor of English at Millersville University in Pennsylvania. Pfannenstiel first accepted Zingillioglu’s proposal to present at MAPACA’s 2024 Atlantic City conference, and afterwards nominated her for the award, saying “your work, ideas, and project resonated with a lot of people in attendance and should be celebrated further.” Zingillioglu’s publication-ready copy of her presentation then went on to win the award.
Zingillioglu excerpted her conference paper from her Honors School thesis, which she was permitted to undertake by Acting Dean Jennifer Ross. “Ashley has taken on an important topic and attempted to help understand and support it in a unique way,” Ross remarked. “Blending technology as an effective tool to aid children with autism shows a true outside-the-box way of thinking. It is a perfect example of the honors interdisciplinary work that we strive to support and encourage in Monmouth’s Honors School.” She added, “We are happy to have been able to support Ashley’s great work and find a home for this project at Monmouth University.”