Professional Development

Education

Arts (Media and communication) at the University of Sydney. Major in Spanish and Latin American Studies (2014-2018) – Distinction average (mark of 84.6)
Arts (Media and communication) Honours at the University of Sydney (2018), supervised by Professor Gerard Goggin – Honours Class (Overall mark of 89)
Doctor of Philosophy (Medicine and Health Sciences) at the University of Sydney (2019-current), supervised by Associate Professor Jennifer Smith-Merry and Professor Gerard Goggin.

Further training

Lifeline Accidental Counsellor (2021)
Adobe Dreamweaver Alpha CC level 1 (2016) – Alpha CC is an authorised Adobe Training Centre, the course taught basical web design (html) skills.
91352NSW Course in Peer Literacy Tutoring

About my PhD

My PhD is an interdisciplinary project that explores how to improve the representation of people with invisible disability in Instagram health campaigns. It spans across the fields of health, media and disability studies. After completing my undergraduate degree I transitioned from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences to the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney. I was awarded a prestigious Research Training Program (RTP) scholarship and was also offered a scholarship by the NHMRC funded Centre for Research Excellence in Disability and Health (CRE-DH). I am currently a PhD Student with the Centre for Research Excellence in Disability and Health and the University of Sydney Centre for Disability Research and Policy.

Awards & achievements

Invited to be keynote speaker at ‘How invisible is an invisible disability? Myths and misconceptions from a student perspective and available support‘ panel (21 September, 2021), as part of the University of Sydney’s Disability Inclusion Week 2021.
Won the University of Sydney Faculty of Medicine and Health 3 Minute Thesis competition heat (2021) with my entry, How people with invisible disability help us improve our health advice.
Awarded the prestigious ANZCA Christopher Newell Prize (2021). The award is given to the best paper dealing with matters relating to disability and communication, or to questions of equity, diversity and social justice at the ANZCA conference.
Invited to guest lecture in on my PhD research that explores invisible disability in a unit run by the University of Sydney HSBH3010 Health and Lifelong Disability (2019).
Offered a competitive PhD scholarship by the NHMRC funded Centre for Research Excellence in Disability and Health (March, 2019)
Awarded the prestigious Research Training Program Scholarship (March, 2019).
Awarded the prestigious University of Sydney Academic Merit Prize (2018) – The prize valued at $1000 recognises exemplary undergraduate students and academic excellence.
Awarded the competitive University of Sydney Harris Fellowship (now known as the Harris Student Award) (2017/18) – This small student grant was valued at $3,000 to execute a creative project based in the medical humanities. The project can be found here: Why you should believe my pain.
Awarded the prestigious University of Sydney Academic Merit Prize (2017) – The prize valued at $1000 recognises exemplary undergraduate students and academic excellence.
Awarded the prestigious University of Sydney Academic Merit Prize (2015) – The prize valued at $1000 recognises exemplary undergraduate students and academic excellence.
Awarded the University of Sydney Access Scholarship (2014-2018) – The scholarship valued at $6,000 p.a. was awarded for the duration of my undergradute degree including the honours year.

Journal publications

Mantilla, S., & Goggin, G. (2020). Thirty years of (in)visible disability in Australian television: “Home and Away”s’ experiments with representation and inclusion. Media International Australia Incorporating Culture & Policy, 174(1), 39–48. doi: 10.1177/1329878X19883890
Mantilla, S. (2021). Interrogating (In)visibilities: Invisible Disabilities and their Economies in the Australian soap opera Home & Away. Journal of Literary & Cultural, 15 Disability Studies, 15(4), 419-435. https://www.muse.jhu.edu/article/837185.

Conference presentations

IAMCR Conference on ‘Rethinking borders and boundaries: Beyond the global/local dichotomy in communication studies‘ (2021) – Improving Instagram obesity prevention messages for people with (in)visible disability – Certificate of presentation
ANZCA Conference on ‘Communication, Authority and Power’ (2021) – Slides available here: Exploring #invisibledisability on Instagram: Challenging new health messages
ANZCA Conference on ‘Communication, Authority and Power’ (2021) – Video available here: Visualising Invisible Disability Inclusion as a Way to Improve Disability Inclusion in Australian Health Media Campaign
Digital Health Week (2021) co-author: Associate Professor Jennifer Smith-Merry – Slides available here: Examining (in)visible disability in an obesity-prevention Instagram campaign
ICA Pre-Conference (2020) on ‘Visual Representation and Marginality’ – Video available here: Exploring Invisible Disability and Economies of Visibility in the Girls Make Your Move Instagram Campaign

Media / Press

‘Invisible disabilities: They are more common than you think‘ (14 September, 2021) on The University of Sydney Student (Student News) – Interview about invisible disabilties
‘Meet our 3 Minute Thesis and Visualise Your Thesis winners and finalists‘ (15 September, 2021) on The University of Sydney News (Staff Intranet/News) – Featured as a 3 Minute Thesis Finalist