Bruce A. Erickson, Ph.D.

My interest in Latin America began in the early 1980s when I became active in the political movement opposing U.S. intervention in Central America. In 1985 I visited the University of El Salvador, which had been occupied by the Salvadoran army for four years and was still under siege. In 1992, I was fortunate to be present for the celebration of peace accords to end El Salvador’s long civil war, spending much of that visit in areas under the control of the guerrilla forces that had opposed the government. I completed an M.A. in Latin American Studies at the University of New Mexico in 1991, studying Latin America through a variety of disciplines including Political Science, Geography, and Economics. My majors were History and Sociology. In 2001, I completed a Ph.D. in Latin American History, with a Women’s History minor, also at University of New Mexico. I worked as a research historian for eight years and have traveled to Latin America several times. In 2007, I took part in a faculty development seminar during the Spring Semester and traveled to China in May­June as part of the “Globalizing the Le Moyne Core: Exploring Justice in an Interdependent World,” program, administered by the Center for Peace and Global Studies.

My experiences contribute greatly to my understanding and teaching of world history. My current research interests include the development of colonial road systems in northern New Spain (Mexico and the southwest of the United States) and the politics of global trade in narcotics.

Education
University of New Mexico, Ph.D., Latin American History with a Women’s Studies minor, May 2001
University of New Mexico, M.A., Latin American Studies, May 1991

Courses currently taught
World Civilization I and II
Colonial Latin America 1492-1825
Latin America Since 1825
Seminar: Mexico
Latin American Social Movements
Opium, Empire, and State in Asia
Coca, Culture, and Politics in Latin America
Bitter/Sweet: Stimulating Human History with Caffeine and Sugar
Global Slavery, Past and Present

Recent publications

• From Saltillo, Mexico, to San Antonio and East Texas: An Historical Guide to El Camino Real de Tierra Afuera and El Camino de Los Tejas during the Spanish Colonial period, with Joseph P. Sánchez, Rio Grande Books, 2016.
• From Mexico City to Santa Fe: A Historical Guide, with Joseph P. Sánchez. Albuquerque: Rio Grande Books, 2011.
• Between Two Countries: A History of Coronado National Memorial, 1939-1990, with Joseph P. Sánchez and Jerry L. Gurulé. Rio Grande Books, 2007.
• “Gender and Violence: Conquest, Conversion, and Culture on New Spain’s Imperial Frontier,” in Gender, Race, and Religion in the Colonization of the Americas, edited by Nora E. Jaffary, Ashgate Press, 2007.