Latin American History

Dr. Miriam Villanueva (TCU Ph.D., 2017) works as a history teacher at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. She completed her dissertation, “A Cultural History of Panamanian Militarism, 1968-1986,” under the tutelage of Dr. Peter Szok.

Dr. Chad McCuthchen (TCU Ph.D., 2016) works as an Assistant Professor of History at Minnesota State University in Mankato, Minnesota. He completed his dissertation, “Born of Pumas and Lions: Cultural Mestizaje in the Viceroyalty of Peru, 1532-1650,” under the supervision of Dr. Susan Ramírez.

Dr. Luz Elvira Huertas Castillo (TCU Ph.D., 2015) works as a Lecturer at Fairleigh Dickinson University. She completed her dissertation, “Clubs and Whistles: The Institutional and Social History of the Police in Lima, 1890s-1910s,” under the tutelage of Dr. Susan Ramírez.

Dr. José Carlos de la Puente (TCU Ph.D., 2010) works as an Associate Professor of History at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. He is the author of Andean Cosmopolitans: Seeking Justice and Reward at the Spanish Court (Austin: The University of Texas Press, 2018). He completed his dissertation, “Into the Heart of Empire: Indian Journeys to the Hapsburg Royal Court,” under the supervision of Dr. Susan Ramirez.

Dr. Steven Bunker (TCU History Ph.D., 2006) is associate professor of history at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. Dr. Bunker specializes in the history of modern Mexico and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on Latin American history, Mexican history, and U.S. relations with Latin America. His research interests include modernity, material culture, consumption, economic, and business history of Mexico and Latin America. The University of New Mexico Press published his book Creating Mexican Consumer Culture in the Age of Porfirio Diaz, 1876-1911 in 2012. Through case studies of tobacco marketing, department stores, and advertising, the book provides a colorful walking tour of daily life in Porfirian Mexico City.

Dr. James Garza (TCU History Ph.D., 2001) is associate professor of history and ethnic studies at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, Nebraska. He is a specialist on nineteenth century Mexico during the age of Porfirio Diaz and teaches a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses on Latin American history, Chicano/a history, Mexican history, and the history of borderlands. In 2008, the University of Nebraska Press published his book, The Imagined Underworld: Sex, Crime and Vice in Porfirian Mexico. He serves as the program director for nineteenth century studies, program liaison for Latino and Latin American studies, and is assistant director for the Latino Research Initiative.

Readings seminars include a mix of monographs, articles, and, occasionally, primary sources. Some courses will focus on the most recent scholarship in the field, while others will take a longer look at the literature. In any case, the focus is on critical thinking and analysis

Past Readings seminar topics include: Modern Mexico; Nature and Society in the Iberian World; The History of the Native Peoples of Latin America; The Histiography of Colonial Latin America; The Social History of Latin America; Central America; Modern Histiography; and Archives, Empire, and Nation.

Upcoming Readings seminar topics include: Afro Latin American History; Indigenous History in Latin America; Latin American Popular Culture

Research Seminars Research seminars focus on independent work by each student. The faculty member leading the seminar may have preparatory readings and other assignments on the topic at the beginning of the semester, but the focus is on researching primary documents, synthesizing and contextualizing them with secondary sources, and writing an article-length paper.

Past Research seminar topics: Cartography and Power; Modern Mexico; Colonial Spanish America; and Religions in Colonial Latin America.

Upcoming Research seminar topics: To be tailored to student interest and dissertation topics.