Litwin Books has named Juliana Mestre Ph.D. '26 the recipient of the 2025 2025 Litwin Books Award for Ongoing Dissertation Research in the Philosophy of Information for her dissertation "A Post-Structuralist Approach to Informational Being, Knowing, and Caring."

The prestigious international award is given annually "to a graduate student who is working on a dissertation on the philosophy of information (broadly construed)" and "the purpose of the award is to encourage and support scholarship in the philosophy of information," said Litwin Books.  While a formal award ceremony will not be held, Litwin Books has invited Mestre to share her dissertation research as part of the Library Juice Press Webinar Series.

"I'm honored to be the recipient of this year's award, and I'm grateful to my advisor, Dr. Marija Dalbello, to my committee, and to the Rutgers School of Communication and Information for allowing me the freedom and guidance needed to pursue this research path," Mestre said.

Professor of Library and Information Science Marija Dalbello, Mestre's dissertation advisor, said, "This award recognizes Juliana's intellectual achievement. It rewards her steadfastness and confidence in building an original path for her academic journey that validates the philosophical and foundational perspectives in library and information science at a high level of excellence. Working with Juliana as her dissertation advisor has been like a long joyful conversation and I am gratified that this is bearing such good results. I am excited to see her joining an international group of past winners."

Director of the Ph.D. Program and Professor of Journalism and Media Studies Melissa Aronczyk said, "Many congratulations, Juliana! This is such a testament to the quality of your work and intellectual contributions."

Chair and Associate Professor of Library and Information Science Rebecca Reynolds said, "This is fantastic news and wonderful recognition of the strength and impact of Juliana's outstanding scholarship in the philosophy of information. Congratulations to both our student and her advisor Professor Marija Dalbello on this special award from Litwin Books."

To evaluate the doctoral student submissions for the award, Litwin Books wrote, the submissions were "judged on merit with emphasis on the following: Clarity of thought; originality; relevance to our time; and evidence of good progress toward completion."

“Juliana Mestre’s concept of Post-Structural Information Realism stands out as a significant contribution to the conceptual and critical tradition of Information Science." - Litwin Books 

The award committee wrote about Mestre and her work, “Juliana Mestre’s concept of Post-Structural Information Realism stands out as a significant contribution to the conceptual and critical tradition of Information Science. Her (re)readings of IS classics such as Shannon & Weiner, and also more contemporary information philosophers such as Luciano Floridi provides a challenging and highly original questioning of a structuralist tradition of thought that has dominated Information Science development since the mid twentieth century. It is time to reevaluate and perhaps replace these conceptual models in relation to our current informational environments, and Mestre is at the forefront of this conceptual renewal. Her work will resonate through Information Science in years to come."

Her dissertation, Mestre said, "places the structuralist, constructionist, and analytic writing of Luciano Floridi in tension with the post-structuralist, deconstructionist, and continental theorizing of Jacques Derrida. From within this tension, I build new theory around how information structures being, knowing, and caring."

"This award provides further merit to the way in which I translate between topics in philosophy and LIS. I'm incredibly grateful that I've been so well-supported in this research path at Rutgers." 

Describing her research program, Mestre said, "My research is philosophical rather than empirical, which means I do not collect or analyze data in my writing. Rather, I use post-structural and deconstructive theory to challenge foundational assumptions, deepen philosophical roots, and construct ethical scaffolding around questions of information. Though my approach is not common in Library and Information Science, my research has been published by highly regarded and field-relevant journals as well as accepted to international conferences. This award provides further merit to the way in which I translate between topics in philosophy and LIS. I'm incredibly grateful that I've been so well-supported in this research path at Rutgers." 

Mestre has been honored by SC&I several times. The Library and Information Science Department named her the “Outstanding Continuing Doctoral Student in LIS” twice during her four-year tenure in recognition of outstanding research, teaching, and service. In 2023, Mestre was awarded the Neuse Prize for best graduate essay by the Rutgers Department of Germanic, Russian, and Eastern European Languages and Literatures for her essay, “(Inter)Subjectivity: Information, Hospitality, and the Self,” submitted for the course, The Frankfurt School and its Writers. Additionally, her master’s thesis, "A Derridean Reclamation of Hospitality in Library and Information Science," was recognized as the best master’s thesis written within the School of Library and Information Studies as well as within the College of Communication and Information Sciences at the University of Alabama.

For the past three years, Mestre has taught two sections of the undergraduate course, The Structure of Information, each Fall and Spring semester. Through her teaching, Mestre said, she has "built connections with over 600 Rutgers students. I love teaching this class and sharing my enthusiasm for information science!"

Learn more about the Library and Information Science Department at the Rutgers School of Communication and Information on the website.