Alcira Dueñas

Associate Professor Dueñas is an international scholar who joined the Department of History in 2003. For 20 years, she taught a variety of undergraduate courses in Latin American history in Colombia, and, since 1996, in the United States. She first came to the United States as a Fulbright scholar to conduct her graduate studies. A specialist in Latin American history, colonial Latin American literature and women’s history. Dueñas's teaching and research interests include the history of colonialism and post-colonialism in Latin America and the roles of Andeans, women and other subordinate subjects in such processes. Her teaching includes courses on colonial and modern Latin America, eomen's history of Latin America, and modern world history. Her research explores the cultural, intellectual and social history of marginalized groups in Latin America, particularly in the Andean region. Her first book, published in July 2010 by the University Press of Colorado, reconstructs the history of indigenous and mestizo intellectuals in mid- and late-colonial Peru, and illuminates the writing practices and social agency of Andeans in their search for social change. Dueñas has published articles in academic journals in the United States, Peru and Colombia and also chapters in edited books in the United States.

Areas of Expertise

• Latin American History, colonial Andean ethnohistory with a focus on the formation of local indigenous knowledge, its transatlantic intertextuality, and cross-cultural dialogues
• The everyday workings of the colonial “Republic of the Indians”
• Indigenous history of Mexico and Central America
• History of Latin America through Film
• Intersections of U.S. History and Latin American History since 1823

Education

PhD | Latin American History | The Ohio State University

BA | Economics | University of Bogotá JTL (Colombia)