Colonial Mexico & Borderlands Historian
Biography
Hello!! I am a graduate student at the University of Texas at Tyler and Historian of Colonial Mexico and American Borderlands History. My research interest focus is on postcolonial analysis of historical narratives and the various actors and powers that shape the nuanced storytelling of academic history. My research includes, Early and Modern American History, Boderlands History, and Colonial Mexico History.
Thesis Project
My current research delves into the 4-year siege on the tiny volcanic island of Mezcala, located on Lake Chapala, Mexico’s largest lake. It served as a stronghold for over 500, mostly indigenous, insurgents who repelled Spanish attempts to take the island during the Mexican War of Independence in the early 19th century. Through their systems of indigenous knowledge, the insurgents sustained themselves through different trade routes on canoes across the lake and into the mountains, connecting them to different groups across the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt.
FELLOWSHIP & HONORS
2025 – Dr. Hector P. Garcia Fellowship (Mary and Jeff Bell Library at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi).
2024 – UTTyler President’s Undergrad Honor Roll Spring List.
MUSEUM EXHIBITS
2025 – Historical Contributor to “Spanish Texas During the American Revolution: Life and Legacy” Bibliography, Spanish Involvement in the American Revolution, Bernardo de Galvez, submitted to exhibit hosted at The Mexican American Museum of Texas by Dr. Tim Seiter.
CONFERENCES/PRESENTATIONS
2026 – “The Insurgency of Mezcala Island: Indigenous Resistance On Lake Chapala,” Oral Presentation, 73rd Annual Rocky Mountain Council for Latin American Studies, April 16th.
2026 – “The Liminality of Racial Borders: Rhetoric and Biopolitics In Southern Texas,” Oral Presentation, 2nd Annual Alliance for Texas History 2026 Conference, May 29th.
2025 – “Radio Throughout Vietnam: Sound, Power, and Hybridity.” UT Tyler’s Military and Veterans “Commemorating 50 Years Since the Vietnam War,” 26 March, hosted by The University of Texas at Tyler.
2025 – “Beyond Permissible Dissent: Black Power and the Cold War Liberal Consensus,” Oral Presentation, 10th Annual Regional Student Scholars Forum, LSU Shreveport, April 4th.
TEACHING/LECTURE VISIT
2025– Visiting Lecture, “Texas Revolution: Sister Republics and the Texas Cherokee,” for Dr. Seiter, Texas History, October 6.
2025 – Visiting Lecture, “Black Power and America’s Liberal Confines,” for Dr. Dotson, The Long Sixties, April 21.
PROFESSIONAL AND TEACHING DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS
2025– Workshop on “CAPSO Transfer Essays,” Sponsored by UT Tyler Writing Center for Coordinated Admission Program Student Organization, February 2 (organizer/presenter).
2025– Workshop on “Citations Workshop: What, Why, and How?” Sponsored by UTTyler Writing Center, March 11 (co-organizer/presenter).
BOOK REVIEWS
2025– Raid and Reconciliation: Pancho Villa, Modernization, and Violence in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands. By Brandon Morgan. The Journal of South Texas #:# (December )
FOREIGN LANGUAGES
Spanish: Native Speaker, Fluent in writing and reading
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Alliance For Texas History (ATxH)
Phi Alpha Theta
UTTYLER History Club
Rocky Mountain Council for Latin American Studies
