I am a teacher and historian of Mexico in the context of the Americas and the World. I most aim to understand the histories of popular communities as they have faced colonial, national, and transnational powers. In the process, I continue to search for ways to integrate studies of the environment, production, state powers, social and gender relations, and cultural constructions.
In other words, I study Mexican communities seeking to create a more integrated history--and to explore that history over the long run and in global context.

For Georgetown undergraduates, I teach the historical foundations of Latin America, 1400-1800, as well as the history of Mexico, its revolutions, and its integrations with the United States.
With graduate students, my courses focus on integrating the History of Mexico with global developments--from the colonial period through the present. I have recently begun to rething global capitalism from the perspectives on its roots in the Americas.
My primary comparative interests focus on Central America and the Caribbean, Brazil, and increasingly the United States--all viewed in Atlantic and global contexts.

When I leave the department (which my family knows is not often enough) my goal is to get to the Bay, the ocean, or the mountains--to exhale and remember that nature still rules, if only we will allow her.

Finally, I am a long suffering citizen of the Red Sox nation (yet open enough to accept a committed Yankees fan as a doctoral student). Recent triumphs have thrown the world into disarray. We of the Nation have lived our lives knowing that the best of people will repeatedly fight the good fight--and despite valiant efforts, always fall short of victory. We have no idea how to live in the glow of victory. The collapse of 2011 tells me the world stays its course.