Jaclyn Sumner, Ph.D.

Courses I have taught include Modern Latin America, Colonial Latin America, Race, Gender and Power in Latin America, History of Mexico, Indigenous Politics in Latin America, US-Latin America Relations, and Rise of World Cultures and Modern World, PC’s general education courses. I have led student trips to the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico in 2018 and to Spain in May of 2019.

My book manuscript, Indigenous Autocracy, forthcoming with Stanford University Press (2023), examines how Próspero Cahuantzi, an Indigenous person from the central state of Tlaxcala, Mexico, stayed in power longer than any other governor during the rule of Porfirio Díaz (1876-1910)—the historical apex of anti-Indigenous discrimination in Mexico. Through the themes of race, environmental change, and modernization, the book explores how Governor Cahuantzi brokered between the demands of the national dictatorship and the people of Tlaxcala. My research has been supported by the American Council of Learned Societies, the Fulbright-Hays Program, the Fulbright IIE Program, and various grants and fellowships through PC and the University of Chicago.

I completed my Ph.D. (2014) and my M.A. (2009) in Latin American history from the University of Chicago. My B.A. is from Northwestern University (2005) where I studied history and Spanish. It was at Northwestern where I learned the tremendous value of forging close relationships with faculty through a liberal arts education. When I am not writing or teaching, I am running around Greenville with my husband Billy, our 5-year-old Harrison, and our dogs, Logan and Fitz.

Education

Ph.D., History, University of Chicago
M.A., History, University of Chicago
B.A., History and Spanish, Northwestern University

Research or Areas of Specialty

Latin America and Mexico