Media Secolas

Dr. Reginald Bess, the incoming President of SECOLAS, spoke with Steven about his lifelong love for languages and the humanities and his dedication to teaching at HBCUs. They also discuss the enduring importance of language study for young Americans and what universities can do to innovate language programs. Originally aired March 26, 2019

Dr. Mark Healey, associate professor in the Department of History at the University of Connecticut, spoke with Carlos about his research on the environment and governance in the Argentine Andes. They also talk wine, earthquakes, drum machines, concrete and a host of other things. Originally aired March 18, 2019

Dr. Jane Mangan, the Mary Reynolds Babcock Professor of History and Latin American Studies at Davidson College, spoke with Steven about her research on non-elite women in Potosí and her work on how ideas of familial obligations crisscrossed the Atlantic in the colonial era. They also discuss her use of 3-D printing to bring to life material culture for her students. Originally aired March 11, 2019

Dr. Aaron Coy Moulton of Stephen F. Austin State University sat down with Steven and Dustin to talk about the activities of right-wing dictators in the Caribbean basin during the 1950s and 1960s. They also chatted about archives and the importance of serendipity in academic careers.

In this ‘State of the Field’ edition, Dr. Michelle Chase and Dr. Devyn Spence Benson spoke with Dustin and Steven about the historiography and current status of scholarship on the Cuban Revolution. The conversation explores the evolution of the scholarship of Cuban Revolution 60 years on and how many scholars today are less interested in the leadership. Instead, researchers are increasingly interested in how the revolutionary period has been experienced by ordinary Cubans. Originally aired February 25, 2019

Steven spoke with historians Luis Herrán Ávila and Randal Sheppard about the history of revolutionary nationalism in Mexico, its enduring place in political life, and its importance to AMLO. Luis and Randal also discuss the immediate challenges facing the Mexican president, including huachicoleo, insecurity, impunity, and Mexico’s relationship with the United States. Originally aired February 18, 2019

James Mestaz, a post-doctoral fellow at Claremont-McKenna College, joined Carlos to discuss his research on water, the indigenous Mayo communities in northwestern Mexico, and revolutionary state between the 1920s and 1970s. Originally aired February 11, 2019

In this episode, professor of political science Michael Allison discusses the February 3, 2019 presidential election in El Salvador. With Nayib Bukele from the GANA party emerging as the victor, Bukele is the first candidate since the end of the Civil War not from the two dominant political parties. Allison offers what this election means for not only El Salvador and Latin America, but the Americas as a whole. Originally aired February 6, 2019

Carlos spoke with Dr. Bianca Premo, Professor in the Department of History at Florida International University, to discuss her past and current research and time in the archives. Dr. Premo is scholar with a wide range of research interests in Latin American history, including childhood and youth, the law, intellectual history, gender, slavery and ethnohistory. Her original regional expertise was in the colonial Andes and Lima, Peru, but in recent years Dr. Premo has explored the history of Mexico City, Oaxaca, and the rural region around the city of Toledo. Current research projects are bringing her back to Lima and sending her off to the twentieth century. Originally aired January 28, 2019

In the inaugural episode of our Luminaries series, Steven spoke with Dr. Lyman Johnson, professor emeritus of history at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Lyman’s impact on Latin American history is broad and deep. Along with Mark Burkholder, he is author of Colonial Latin America and is the founding editor of the Diálogos series from the University of New Mexico Press. Lyman’s research agenda has earned him three NEH awards and three Fulbrights. His Workshop of Revolution: Plebeian Buenos Aires and the Atlantic World, 1776–1810 is the culmination of decades of research on the lives of non-elite in one of the most transformative epochs in the Americas. Finally, his peers have recognized Lyman’s commitment to the field by awarding him the Distinguished Service Award from the Conference on Latin American History in 2015 and the Nason-Sadler Distinguished Service Award from Rocky Mountain Council of Latin American Studies in 2013. Originally aired January 14, 2019

Dr. Micah Oelze joined Steven to discuss his research on the politics of urban planning in 1940s Colombia, his current book project on cultural politics in 1930s Brazil, and how his embrace of technology has influenced his pedagogy. Originally aired December 4, 2018

Dr. Christina Bueno, an associate professor in the department of history at Northeastern Illinois University, joined Steven to discuss her award-winning book, The Pursuit of Ruins: Archaeology, History, and the Making of Modern Mexico, which was published by University of New Mexico Press in 2016. Originally aired November 26, 2018

Dr. Raul Pacheco-Vega joined Carlos and Dustin to discuss his research on water, waste, resource management, and the importance of research having a positive impact on communities, especially its most marginal members. They also discuss his use of social media to offer mentorship and guidance for graduate students and early career academics.

Dr. Eunice Rojas, an associate professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at Furman University, joined Steven to discuss her work on Argentine authors’ use of madness and the insane asylum. She also talks about her current project on protest music in Chile and the opportunities and tough choices in making a mid-career move. Originally aired November 13, 2018

In our inaugural state of the field episode, Drs. Tanya Harmer and Renata Keller talk with Dustin about Latin America’s Cold War. They discuss the meaning of the Cold War in Latin America, questions of chronology and areas of scholarly emphasis, and their own work highlighting voices long overlooked in the historiography. Originally aired November 5, 2018

Colin Snider, Courtney Campbell, and Gray Kidd joined Steven to discuss yesterday’s runoff presidential election in Brazil. They discuss the evolution of democracy, the importance of regional history, and what may lay ahead. Originally aired October 29, 2018

Dr. Javier Puente sits down to chat with Carlos for the first episode of The Environmental Series. They discuss Environmental History and Historical Climatology, the importance of being interdisciplinary, future work, and current events in Peru. Originally aired October 22, 2018

Dr. Abbey Steele joined Dave and Steven to discuss her book Democracy and Displacement in Colombia’s Civil War, published in 2017 by Cornell University Press. In this important work, Abbey explores the idea of collective violence, in which a particular group of people – not based on race or ethnicity – are targeted in an attempt to cleanse them from an area. The Colombian example is a cautionary tale of the unintended consequences of an earnest attempt to transition to democracy after the end of violent civil conflict. Be sure to check out the extra time conversation with Abbey as she talks social science methods and conducting research using surveys in Colombia. Originally aired October 15, 2018

Yesterday, Sunday, October 7, 2018, well over 100 million Brazilians cast their votes in presidential and congressional elections, with a sizable number voting en blanco or destroying their ballots. Of the presidential aspirants, the top two vote-getters were Congressman Jair Bolsonaro of the Social Liberal Party and former education minister and Sao Paulo mayor Fernando Haddad of the Workers Party. Bolsonaro’s rise also led to an impressive display for his party in the congressional elections, earning a projected 51 seats in the lower Chamber of Deputies. Previously, his party had fewer than 10 seats. Dr. Amy Erica Smith, an associate professor of political science at Iowa State University, joined Steven to make sense of yesterday’s election. Dr. Smith said that the Brazilian electorate made a clear statement to the political class. Originally aired October 8, 2018

Dr. Miguel Tinker Salas of Pomona College joined Dustin and Steven to discuss the various problems afflicting Venezuela today. Tinker Salas reminds us that to fully understand the economic, political, and humanitarian crises, one must understand the historical evolution of the oil industry, the myth of the país privilegiado, and such state institutions as the military. Notum bonum: There’s a special treat for this episode’s intro and outro music, which features the song Tierra sin culpa by Ali Primera (source: archive.org). Our thanks to Miguel for the suggestion.