Jane Mangan John and Ruth McGee Director of the Dean Rusk International Studies Program | Mary Reynolds Babcock Professor of History and Latin American Studies

My interest in International Studies began in the 1980s as an exchange student in Chile. Since then, I have lived in Mexico, Bolivia, and Peru, and traveled to numerous other countries in Latin America for research.

Soon after arriving to Davidson in 2004, I co-founded the Davidson-in-Peru program and served as Director through 2022.

I am a member of both the History and Latin American Studies Departments, and most recently, I was the Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies.

Lived experiences in Latin America influenced my historical research on inequality and responses to colonialism. Publication highlights include two monographs Trading Roles: Gender, Ethnicity, and the Urban Economy in Colonial Potosí (Duke, 2005) and Transatlantic Obligations: Creating the Bonds of Family in Conquest-Era Peru and Spain (Oxford, 2016). Transatlantic Obligations earned the Bandelier/Lavrin Book Prize in Colonial Latin American History from RMCLAS as well as the Friedrich Katz Prize for the Best Book in Latin American and Caribbean History from the American Historical Association. 

I have also published articles in South America and Europe and presented my work throughout the Americas and Europe. My current research topics include material culture and built environment of colonial Andean cities and the history of Harvard University’s Boyden Observatory in late 19th- century Arequipa, Peru.

Teaching

I teach a range of history courses, which include Latin American history surveys (1492 to NAFTA), public health and society in Latin America, and Latinx history. I also teach interdisciplinary courses such as Intro to Latin American Studies and The Latin American City: Cultural and Historical Perspectives.