Christopher Boyer

Department of History (M/C 198)
1021 University Hall, University of Illinois at Chicago
601 South Morgan Street
Chicago, Illinois 60607-7109

Office: (312) 413-2343
Fax: (312) 996-6377
e-mail: crboyer@uic.edu

In Brief

Associate Professor of LALS and History.  Ph.D. History   University of Chicago .  His current research focuses on the social and environmental dynamics of forest use in México over the past hundred years.  Previous research examined the formation of campesino identity during the agrarian movements in México in the 1920s and 30s.  He forms part of the editorial board of the journal, “Labor.”  Publications include the book:  “Becoming Campesinos: Politics, Identity, and Agarian Struggle in Postrevolutionary Michoacán, 1920-1935. Stanford University Press, 2003. Recent articles include: Naranja Revisted: Agrarian Caciques and the Making of Campesino Identity in Postrevolutionary Michoacán.” In Cacique and Caudillo in Twentieth Century México, edited by Wil Pansters and  Alan Knight. Professor Boyer has recently completed a research sabbatical in México, supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Education

Ph.D. 1997 University of Chicago, Department of History

M.A. 1991 University of Pittsburgh, Department of Political Science

A.B. 1986 Dartmouth College, Program in Comparative Literature

Academic Appointments

Associate Professor, Departments of History and Latin American & Latino Studies, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2003-present

Assistant Professor, Departments of History and Latin American & Latino Studies, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2001-2003

Book

Becoming Campesinos: Politics, Identity, and Agrarian Struggle in Postrevolutionary Michoacán, 1920-1935. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2003.

Recent Articles and Book Chapters

“Naranja Revisited: Agrarian Caciques and the Making of Campesino Identity in Postrevolutionary Michoacán.” In Cacique and Caudillo in Twentieth-Century Mexico, edited by Wil Pansters and Alan Knight. Institute for Latin American Studies Press, London, Forthcoming

“Who Killed Roberto González? Murder, Radicalism, and Catholic Nationalism in Postrevolutionary Michoacán.” In Causes Celebres: Crime and the Political in Modern Mexico, edited by Robert Buffington and Pablo Picatto. Under contract with the University of New Mexico Press.

“Toward a History of Community Forestry: Science, Law, and Production in Twentieth-Century Michoacán.” In The Community-Managed Forests of Mexico: The Struggle for Equity and Sustainability, edited by David Barton Bray, Leticia Merino-Pérez, and Deborah Barry, pp. 27-48. Austin: University of Texas Press. 15-39

“La revolución inventada. Salvador Sotelo y el papel del ‘intelectual local’ en el Michoacán posrevolucionario.” (“The Invented Revolution: Salvador Sotelo and the Role of the ‘Local Intellectual’ in Post-Revolutionary Michoacán.”) In Estudios Michoacanos IX, edited by Martín Sánchez Rodríguez and Cecilia A. Bautista, pp. 169-195. Zamora and Morelia: El Colegio de Michoacán/Instituto Michoacano de Cultura, 2001.

“The Threads of Class at La Virgen: Misrepresentation and Identity at a Mexican Textile Mill, 1918-1935.” The American Historical Review, 105, no. 5 (December 2000), 1576-1598.

“Old Loves, New Loyalties: Agrarismo in Michoacán, 1920-1928.” Hispanic American Historical Review, 78, no. 3 (August 1998), 419-455. Also Published in Spanish as “Viejos amores y nuevas lealtades: El agrarismo en Michoacán, 1920-1928.” in Movimientos sociales en Michoacán, siglos XIX y XX, edited by Eduardo N. Mijangos Díaz, pp. 175-222. Morelia: Instituto de Investigaciones Históricas, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, 1999.

Recent Lectures and Conference Presentations (an asterisk indicates the presentation was given at the invitation of the hosting institution)

“Landscape and Political Culture in Michoacán, 1880-2000.” Paper given at University of Chicago Latin American History Workshop, Oct. 14, 2004.*

“Modernizing the Monte: Of Tree Tappers and Scientific Development in Postrevolutionary Michoacán.” Presented at the International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, Oct. 7-9, 2004.

“Latin American Cultural History: Detour, Wrong Way, or Turn in the Right Direction?” Presented at the 2004 Conference of The Historical Society, Boothbay Harbor, Maine, June 3-5, 2004.

“¿Producción local o patrimonio nacional? Ciencia, política y reforma agraria en los bosques michoacnos (1920-1950). ” Presented at the XXV Coloquio de Antropología e Historia Regionales, El Colegio de Michoacán, Zamora, Michoacán, Oct. 23-26, 2003.*

“Contested Terrain: Forestry Regimes and Community Responses in Northeastern Michoacán, 1940-2000” Presented at the XI Reunión de Historiadores Mexicanos, Estadounidienses, y Canadienses, Monterrey, Oct. 1-4, 2003.

“Political Mediation and the Making of Campesino Identity in Postrevolutionary Michoacán.” Presented at the International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, March 27-29, 2003.

“Who Killed Roberto González? Murder and Postrevolutionary Politics in Michoacán” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Committee on Latin American History (AHA), January 2-5, 2003.

“Naranja Revisited: Agrarian Caciques and the Making of Campesino Identity in Postrevolutionary Michoacán.” Presented at the Conference on Caciques and Caudillos, Saint Antony’s College, Oxford University, Sept. 18-20, 2002.* Also presented at University of Notre Dame, May 12, 2004.*

“Regreso a Naranja. Caciques agraristas y la construcción la identidad campesina en Michoacán.” Presented at the Seminario sobre la Inclusión y la Exclusión, Instituto Dr. José Luis Mora, Mexico City, July 15, 2002.

“Environmental History in Mexico.” Presented at the Oaxaca Summer Institute on Mexican History, Oaxaca, July 12, 2002.*

“Contested Landscapes: Scientific Forestry and Political Ecology in a Mexican Woodland, 1920-2000.” Lecture at George Mason University, April 15, 2002.*

“Agrarian Leaders and the Making of a Peasant ‘Class’ in Postrevolutionary Mexico.” Presented at the Newberry Library Seminar on Labor History, January 25, 2002.

Administrative Appointments

Director of Graduate Studies, UIC Department of History, 2003-2005

Acting Director, UIC Program in Latin American and Latino Studies, Summer 2003

Director of Undergraduate Studies, UIC Department of Latin American and Latino Studies, 2002-2003

Fellowships

National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship for University Teachers, 2005-2006 (FA-51614)

Post-Doctoral Fellow, Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies, 1999-2001

National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship for University Teachers, 1999-2000 (FA-35641; Declined)

Fulbright-Hays Dissertation Fellowship, 1994-95

Editorial Boards of Professional Journals

Labor, Contributing Editor, 2004-present

Maya hieroglyphs on a stone monument at Dos Pilas, Guatemala.