A dynamic Bermudian academic has followed in a family member's footsteps when she received a prestigious local award.

Roiyah Solange Saltus-Blackwood was recently awarded the Bermuda Historical Society Award for her research on local history.

Mrs. Saltus-Blackwood is the second recipient of the $2,500 award, which is granted bi-annually to post-graduate Bermudian students.

The first recipient, Clarence Maxwell, is Mrs. Saltus-Blackwood's first cousin and is currently completing his doctoral dissertation at the University of Warwick in Coventry, England.

Mrs. Saltus-Blackwood received her Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology and English from the University of Kent and a Master of Arts in sociology and women's studies from the University of Lancaster.

She is currently in the last stages of her doctoral programme in sociology at the University of Essex.

Mrs. Saltus-Blackwood described herself as "a feminist sociologist and cultural theorist doing a socio-historical study of Bermuda'' and has taken an interdisciplinary approach to her studies.

Her research covers four major events in local history: emancipation in 1834, the granting of women's suffrage in 1944, the granting of universal suffrage in 1963 and the independence referendum of 1955.

She said her research is aimed at developing an analysis of local society that addresses Bermuda's complexities rooted in race, ethnicity, class, and gender.

"It is becoming increasing and painfully apparent that Bermuda -- as a society -- is at a loss for words,'' Mrs. Saltus-Blackwood said.

"The push for multi-culturalism or diversity is an important step, but until we address the structural legacies (of the past) and their continuing impact on Bermudian society, we will continue to only scratch the surface.

"I am seeking to dig deeper, refute the negations and decode the silences,'' she added.

Mrs. Saltus-Blackwood noted that a number of local and international scholars' previous research has aided her in her multi-faceted thesis including the works of Jolene Bean, Kenneth Robinson, Cyril Packwood, Ira Philip and Walton Brown.

Roiyah Solange-Saltus: `It is becoming increasing and painfully apparent that Bermuda -- as a society -- is at a loss for words'