II: ROLE IN GRADUATE EDUCATION
PROGRAM BUILDING
Chair, Department of History, UNC Charlotte, 2009-2022
Initiated overhaul of M.A. program in History to improve time to degree and mentorship, 2010-2011
Led initiative to create M.A. in Director of Graduate Studies, Latin American Studies, 2005-2007
MENTORSHIP
- Co-Authored and Co-Edited Publications
With Jules Geaney-Moore. “U.S. Intellectuals in Mexico,” in The Oxford Research of Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History, ed. Ángela Vergara (New York: Oxford University Press, forthcoming).
With Madison Green. “‘If You Don’t Cheat, You’ll Face Defeat:’ La Ley de Herodes, Corruption, and Authoritarianism in Mexico,” in Latin American History at the Movies: Based on a True Story, ed. Donald Stevens (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2022), 193-212.
With Breanna C. David and Pablo Yankelevich. “Mexico’s Foreign Communities, 1821-Present,” co-edited volume of essays, currently compiling proposal for a university press.
- Service on Ph.D. committees
John Catton, History, UT Austin, ongoing.
Bree David, History, University of Alabama, ongoing.
Iván Flores Martínez, UNC Charlotte (Public Policy, 2023)
Julian Dodson, University of New Mexico (History, 2015)
Paul Worley, UNC Chapel Hill (Comparative Literature, 2009)
José Alfredo Gómez Estrada, CIESAS-Occidente, Guadalajara, Mexico (History, 2008)
Uta Raina, Temple University (History, 2008)
Iain McDonald, University of Aberdeen, Scotland (History, 2000)
Nathaniel Means, University of Southern Mississippi (History, 1999)
Lonnie Burnett, University of Southern Mississippi (History, 1999)
- Service Chairing M.A. Committees (UNC Charlotte only)
History
Sarah Beckhart (Ph.D. in History, Columbia University)
Thesis: “Mexico’s Modernizing Miracle: The Tlatelolco Housing Project, 1960-1964” (2013)
Alex Brint (exams)
John Catton (Ph.D. student, University of Texas at Austin)
Thesis: “Dios no muere: The Cristo Rey Monument and Church-State Relations
in Revolutionary Guanajuato, 1914-1950” (2023)
David Cook
Thesis: “Eugenics, Religion, and Politics: The Sex-Education Controversy in
Post-Revolutionary Mexico” (2000)
Bree David (Ph.D. student, University of Alabama)
Thesis: “Building La Casa: The Spanish Intellectual Experience in Mexico, 1938-
1941” (2023)
Julian Dodson (Ph.D. in History, University of New Mexico)
Thesis: “Las cristeras de Jalisco: Women’s Participation in Mexico’s Cristero
Rebellion, 1926-1929” (2007)
Kurt Garfield (current student writing a thesis)
Jules Geaney-Moore (current student writing a thesis)
Olivia Hughes (current student writing a thesis)
David C. Johnson (Ph.D. in History, Texas Christian University)
Thesis: “Observing and Interpreting Ethnicity in Guatemala” (2001)
Kristl Kelley
Thesis: “Representing the Maya: John Lloyd Stephens’ Re-Imagining of the Maya World” (2005)
Elizabeth King
Thesis: “Lorain, Ohio’s First Colonia: A Blueprint for Midwestern Mexican
Migration” (2019)
Maria Labbato (Ph.D. in History, Florida International University)
Thesis: “Spanish Civil War Exiles in Mexico City: Intellectual Refuge from a Gendered Perspective, 1939-1960” (2014)
Mar Murray (current student writing a thesis)
Matthew Needham
Thesis: “War of the Words: Propaganda, Public Opinion, and the Great War in Mexico” (2017)
Marissa Nichols (Ph.D. in History, Emory University)
Thesis: “The Greatest Enemy: Smallpox, Elimination, and Politics in Mexico,
1942-1970” (2016)
Macree Penny (exams)
Juan Pimentel-Otero
Thesis: “Latin Americanism in the Music of Rubén Blades and Calle 13” (2014)
Treasure Rouse (current student writing a thesis)
Patricia Ryckman
Thesis: “Race, Imperialism, and Nation-Building in the United States: An Analysis of Images from the 1890s” (2006)
Paul Telljohann
Thesis: “Canary in the Coal Mine: The Relationship between the United States
and Chinese-Mexicans, 1882-1933” (2023)
Erica Weatherford
Thesis: “Gender and Prostitution in Porfirian Mexico City” (2011)
Joseph Willard
Thesis: “Ebony in Exile: An Examination of Revolutionary Black America and the Cuban Influence, 1960s-1980s” (2017)
Katie Witty (Ph.D. candidate in History, University of Maryland)
Thesis: “The Mexican Guerrilla, 1960-1974: A Look at New Evidence” (2007)
Latin American Studies
Susanny Acosta (exams)
Candie Almengor
Thesis: “The Representation of Guatemala at the World’s Fairs in the Late
Nineteenth Century” (2015)
David Arroyo (exams)
William Branch (exams)
Paula Campos (exams)
Melissa Castañeda (exams)
Vanessa Chicas (exams)
Janine de Assis (exams)
María Cherry Leyva (exams)
Melinda Erickson (exams)
Audrey Henderson (Ph.D. candidate in History, Emory University)
Thesis: “Remedying the Ill: Mexican Agrarian Credit Reform and its Environmental Impact on Revolutionary Mexico City” (2013)
Kayla Hensley (exams)
Martha Hernández (exams)
Alexandra Lemos (Ph.D. in History, Emory University)
Thesis: “Brazilian Rock in the Context of Redemocratization” (2012)
MJ Mciever (exams)
Arin McCormack (exams)
Grace McGuire (current student writing a thesis)
Bruna Milligan
Thesis: “The Brazilian Secret Service During the Military Dictatorship: The
Herzog Case” (2022)
Diana Maruri (current student writing at thesis)
Woodworth Osborne (exams)
Brenda Paredes Guerrero
Thesis: “Two Quechua Protestant Villages and Terror in Huanta, Peru, 1981-1990” (2018)
Aleksander Peña (exams)
Rossmery Palacio Pérez (exams)
Noe Pliego-Campos (Ph.D. in History, University of Notre Dame)
Thesis: “The 1986 World Cup and Political Legitimacy During Mexico’s ‘Lost
Decade’” (2017)
Nashaly Ruiz-González
Thesis: “Mi Rey, el Narco: Masculinity in Mexico’s Narco Culture” (2019)
Laurie Satter (exams)
Jasmine Smith (exams)
Erick Suárez Salazar (exams) Ph.D. student in Geography, UNC Charlotte
Ana Valdez (exams)
Jesse Vasquez (exams)
Juan Vivanco (exams)
Rebekah Ward (exams)
Debora Winch Saavedra (Ph.D. candidate in Curriculum and Instruction, UNC Charlotte)
Thesis: “Redeeming the Canal, Centralizing the Nation: Omar Torrijos and the
Quest for Panamanian Sovereignty” (2021)
Jeanna Williams (exams)
Service on external M.A. committees
Allie Cobb, History, Clemson University (2022)
Leonardo Flores, History, Universidad de Guanajuato (2022)
SUPERVISION OF GRADUATE STUDENTS AS TEACHING OR RESEARCH ASSISTANTS
Supervision of teaching assistants in large LBST or HIST 2207 survey, sixteen times since 1999.
Supervision of administrative assistant as Executive Director of the Conference on Latin American History; six different assistants since Fall 2012.
Supervision of editorial assistant of The Latin Americanist, five different assistants since 2021.
PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS OF ALUMNI IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Noe Pliego Campos, Assistant Professor of History, Wabash College. I was Noe’s Honors and M.A. thesis adviser at UNC Charlotte and continue as a professional mentor.
Paul Worley, Chair, Department of Languages, Literatures & Cultures, Appalachian State University. I served on Paul’s Ph.D. committee at UNC Chapel Hill and have been his primary professional mentor throughout his career. He and I collaborated as fellow officers of the Southeast Council of Latin American Studies when he was the president of the organization.
Julian Dodson, Lecturer, “Roots of Contemporary Issues” program, Washington State University, and author of Fanáticos, Exiles, and Spies: Revolutionary Failures on the U.S.-Mexico Border, 1923-1930 (Texas A&M University Press, 2019). I served on Julian’s Ph.D. committee at the University of New Mexico, and his dissertation developed a theme from his M.A. research at UNC Charlotte. I continue to serve as a mentor.
Marissa Nichols, Postdoctoral Fellow, Emory University. I was Marissa’s M.A. thesis adviser at UNC Charlotte and continued to mentor her throughout her Ph.D. program. I participated in mock interviews, read drafts of her dissertation chapters, provided advice on her job application materials, and invited her back to campus last year to deliver a talk. Marissa has accepted an offer as an assistant professor of history at UC-Santa Barbara beginning in Spring 2026.
GRADUATE COURSES TAUGHT AT UNC CHARLOTTE
HIST/LTAM 6000 The United States and Mexico
HIST/LTAM 6000 Latin America in the Twentieth Century
HIST/LTAM 6000 Mexico in the Era of Globalization
HIST/LTAM 6000 The United States and Latin America
HIST/LTAM 6000 MexAmerica: The United States and Mexico
HIST/LTAM 6000 Revolutionary Change in Latin America
HIST 6201/LTAM 6251 Colloquium in Colonial Latin American History
HIST 6202/LTAM 6252 Colloquium in Modern Latin American History
HIST 6693 Historiography and Methodology
LTAM 5000 Latin American Revolutions
LTAM 5000 Latin American Political Economy
LTAM 5600 Revolutions in Twentieth-Century Latin America
LTAM 5600 The United States and Mexico
LTAM 6300 Latin American Thought
SERVICE TO THE PROFESSION INVOLVING GRADUATE STUDENTS
Executive Director, Conference on Latin American History, 2012-2023
The Conference on Latin American History has 1,365 members, including 600 graduate students. It meets every year in conjunction with the American Historical Association and constitutes the primary opportunity for Latin American History graduate students to present papers to professional audiences.
Local Arrangements Co-Chair, Southeastern Council of Latin American Studies, 2015-present
The annual SECOLAS conference is the primary networking event in my field in the southeastern United States and includes more than 80 graduate students and 70 junior faculty members each year. It is by far the most prominent venue for graduate students to present their work in Latin American Studies, and we have recently attained a national reach with over 300 members in 35 different states and 10 different countries.
FUNDRAISING BENEFITING GRADUATE STUDENTS
Patrick Thesis Prize ($10,000 each for the best UNC Charlotte masters thesis project on markets, 2023-25)
Battista Fellowships and Awards for faculty travel fellowships and student best paper awards, 2022-2032. Includes funding for post-doctoral fellow, speakers, and faculty and graduate research funds, 2019.
$59,000 to establish and fund Rawlinson (today Pharr-Buchenau) Research Award to support thesis-related research for History and Latin American Studies graduate students at UNC Charlotte. 2013-present.