Proust and Rocha Win 2026 James D. Woods Award

Doctoral candidate Valentina Proust and doctoral student Arelí Rocha have been named co-recipients of the 2026 James D. Woods Award.

Given in memory of Annenberg graduate student James D. Woods, the award is granted to outstanding graduate teaching assistants.

Valentina Proust was nominated for the award by Dean Sarah Banet-Weiser and Professor Amy Gutmann for her work as a Teaching Fellow for their course COMM 2898: The Art and Ethics of Communication.

Banet-Weiser and Gutmann praised Proust’s willingness to learn new material, her dedication to mentoring students, and her warmth, generosity, and professionalism.

“Over our many years of teaching at Annenberg, Valentina stands out as one of the most insightful, proactive, caring, and expert Teaching Fellows we have had the privilege and pleasure of working with,” Banet-Weiser and Gutmann said.

In her own work, Proust examines how social movements use mediatized memory to shape their discourses, with particular attention to the affects of grief, mourning, and hope.

Arelí Rocha was nominated by lecturer Murali Balaji for her work as a Teaching Fellow for two courses: COMM 2860: Media and Masculinity and COMM 3650: Media and the Apocalypse.

Balaji commended Rocha’s willingness to lead class discussions, to use her own expertise in AI to bring nuance to classroom lessons, and her ability to adapt her teaching methods to different classes.

“Arelí has demonstrated tremendous growth as a teacher and shows great care for our students,” Balaji said. “Some of the students remarked that Areli is the best Teaching Fellow they have had in their time at Penn.”

In her own research, Rocha explores technological and discursive constructions of reality and personhood, with particular interest in the multimodal semiotic signs influencing ideas, representations, and interactions with non-human entities

Proust and Rocha received the award at Annenberg’s Doctoral Graduation Ceremony on May 18.