Teaching
I was hired in 1995 to teach the History of Latin America—I consider myself a sort of “NAFTA hire”; the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect on 1 January 1994 and forever changed the dynamic between the United States and Mexico (and, lest we forget (but we always do), Canada). The leaders of the college, post-NAFTA, decided to connect the history department curriculum to the new political, economic and social realities imposed by late twentieth century “globalization.”
I have been privileged to spend time teaching the history of Latin America to Rhodes College students. Most students arrive to my classes with limited exposure to the complex history, geography and culture of Latin America, but they are eager to begin learning a history that is intrinsically interconnected with European, African and U.S. history. I have taught the standard survey sequence (Colonial, 1500-1826 and Contemporary, 1826 to today). I also teach a History of Latin America through Feature Film, a course that deals with the History of United States-Latin American relations, and a History of Religion in Latin America among other courses. Students leave my classes, ojalá, with a clear understanding of learning as a life-long journey that should be exciting and challenging yet thoroughly grounded in critical reflection and analysis.
Research
My scholarship focuses on the social, political and religious history of Latin America, more specifically, Colombia. Most of my work has been conducted in collaboration with historians in Latin America and social scientists in the U.S. For example, Colombia: Preguntas y respuestas sobre su pasado y presete, is co-edited with the Colombian historians Diana Bonnett and Mauricio Nieto Olarte. I co-edited a book of readings dealing with U.S.-Latin American relations in collaboration with Frank Mora, the current U.S. Ambassador to the OAS. That book, Neighborly Adversaries, has released in a third edition (in 2017). With the Colombian historian Germán Mejía, I've published a textbook titled Colombia: A Concise Contemporary History, which has also gone into a third edition (2023) and was translated into Spanish. My most recent work is a book, written with Rhodes alum and attorney Bryce W. Ashby (2000), that focuses on immigration from Latin America to the USA. That book will be released in the fourth quarter of 2024!
How I spend my summers
Since 1993, I have lived in Colombia for the equivalent of six years. Bogotá is a second home for me and the Colombian people have always treated me with grace, kindness and social solidarity. During my summer breaks from Rhodes College, I move to Bogotá; there, I have taught history courses at three different universities, twice under the sponsorship of the J. William Fulbright scholarship program.
