BIO
Above: in El Alto, Bolivia Summer 2010
Matthew Rothwell studies the influence of the Chinese Revolution in Latin America and the history of communism in Latin America more generally. His research uses oral history interviews and archival sources from Mexico, Peru and Bolivia to understand the ways in which activists, intellectuals and guerrilla fighters across the globe found meaning in communist ideology and through their actions shaped the meanings that international communism would hold for their contemporaries and for later generations. This includes, but is not limited to, investigating how international networks functioned, the processes of idea transmission, and the ways in which local actors adapted Marxist ideas to local conditions that differed tremendously from the conditions in which those ideas were born. His work stands at the intersection of Latin American social history, the intellectual history of the global 1960s and the history of Chinese foreign relations.
Fluent in Spanish and Finnish, as well as his native English, he has lived in Mexico, Peru, Bolivia and Finland. He received his PhD from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2009, and now is an assistant professor of history at the University of Southern Indiana. He regularly teaches classes which situate Latin America within the global context of the Cold War and the 1960s, as well as surveys of Latin American, Chinese and global history.
CV
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Education:
University of Illinois at Chicago, PhD, 2009
Dissertation: "Transpacific Revolutionaries: The Chinese Revolution in Latin America"
Dissertation Committee: Christopher Boyer (co-chair), Bruce Calder (co-chair), Nils Jacobsen, Javier Villa Flores, James Searing
University of Illinois at Chicago, MA, History, 2003
Northeastern Illinois University, BA, History, 1998
Research Interests:
Revolutionary Movements in Latin America
Latin American Maoism
Cold War in Latin America
The Global 1960s
International Communism in Latin America and Asia
Intellectual History of Marxism
Academic Experience:
Assistant Professor, Department of History, University of Southern Indiana, fall 2009-present
Instructor, Loyola University Chicago, fall 2008
Instructor, University of Illinois at Chicago, spring 2005
Publications:
Transpacific Revolutionaries: The Chinese Revolution in Latin America. Book under contract with Routledge.
"The Chinese Revolution and Latin America: The Impact of Global Communist Networks on Latin American Social Movements and Guerrilla Groups" in World History Connected, October 2010.
"Influencia de la Revolución China en América Latina: México, Perú y Bolivia" in Fuentes: Revista de la Biblioteca y Archivo Histórico de la Asamblea Legislativa Plurinacional (La Paz, Bolivia), agosto 2010.
"Transpacific Solidarities: A Mexican Case Study on the Diffusion of Maoism in Latin America" in The Cold War in Asia: The Battle for Hearts and Minds, Zheng Yangwen, Hong Liu and Michael Szonyi, eds., Brill, 2010.
"Revolucionarios transpacíficos: La creación del maoísmo latinoamericano" in Retornos: Revista de Historia y Ciencias Sociales (La Paz, Bolivia), 2009.
"Transpacific Revolutionaries: The Creation of Latin American Maoism" in New World Coming: The Sixties and the Shaping of Global Consciousness, Karen Dubinsky, Catherine Krull, Susan Lord, Sean Mills, and Scott Rutherford, eds., Between the Lines, 2009.
"Grenada," "Javier Pérez de Cuellar," "Peru," and "Third World" in Encyclopedia of the Cold War, MTM Publishing, 2008.
"Iran-Contra Affair," "Iranian Hostage Crisis" and "Socialism: Socialism, Anarchism, and Communism in East Asia" in Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern World, Oxford University Press, 2008.
Presentations:
(* indicates invited lecture)
"The Chinese Revolution and Latin America: The Impact of Global Communist Networks on Latin American Social Movements and Guerrilla Groups." Presented at the conference "Cold War Encounters: National, International and Transnational History in the 20th Century," University of Waterloo, Ontario, October 16, 2010.
* "Comparando la influencia de la revolución china en Bolivia y el Perú." [Comparing the Influence of the Chinese Revolution in Bolivia and Peru]. Presented at the Biblioteca del la Asamblea Legislativa Plurinacional [Library of the Plurinational Legislative Assembly], La Paz, Bolivia, July 8, 2010.
* "La influencia de la revolución china en Bolivia." [The Influence of the Chinese Revolution in Bolivia]. Presented at the Universidad Pública de El Alto, El Alto, Bolivia, July 6, 2010.
* "La influencia de la revolución china en Bolivia." [The Influence of the Chinese Revolution in Bolivia]. Presented at the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, La Paz, Bolivia, June 28, 2010.
"Transpacific Solidarities: A Mexican Case Study on the Diffusion of Maoism in Latin America." Presented at the Third Annual Midwest Workshop on Latin American History, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, April 4-5, 2008.
"Transpacific Solidarities: A Mexican Case Study on the Diffusion of Maoism in Latin America." Presented at the conference "The Cold War in Asia: Beyond Geopolitics and Diplomacy," Sun Yat-sen University (co-sponsored by Harvard University and the University of Manchester), Guangzhou, China, November 1-2, 2007.
"The Origins of Latin American Maoism: A Mexican Case Study." Presented at the 13th congress of the Federación Internacional de Estudios sobre América Latina y el Caribe: "América Latina-Caribe y Asia-Pacífico en el siglo XXI," Macau, September 25-28, 2007.
"Transpacific Revolutionaries: The Creation of Mexican Maoism." Presented at the conference "New World Coming: The Sixties and the Shaping of Global Consciousness," Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, June 13-16, 2007.
"Transpacific Solidarities: Latin American Maoists and China." Presented at the conference "Solidarities Through History," Columbia University, March 30, 2007.
* "Revolucionarios transpacíficos: La influencia de la revolución china en América Latina" [Transpacific Revolutionaries: The Influence of the Chinese Revolution in Latin America]. Presented at the Biblioteca del H. Congreso [Library of Congress], La Paz, Bolivia, March 22, 2007.
"Transpacific Encounters, the Chinese Cultural Revolution and the Origins of Mexican Maoism." Presented at the First North American Conference on the Study of Global Radicalism, Michigan State University, January 25-27, 2007.
"Transpacific Revolutionaries: Latin Americans Learn from Maoist China (a Mexican Case Study)." Presented at the conference "The Fortieth Anniversary: Rethinking the Genealogy and Legacy of the Cultural Revolution," City University of Hong Kong, June 9-10, 2006.
"Antonio Díaz Martínez, the Chinese Cultural Revolution and the Creation of Peruvian Maoism." Presented at the Regional Mellon Conference in Latin American History, University of Chicago, April 8-9, 2005.
"Antonio Díaz Martínez and the Creation of Peruvian Maoism." Presented at the 25th Conference of the Institute for Latin American Studies Student Association, Austin, TX, February 10-12, 2005.
Media Appearance:
Interviewed on radio program "Combates por la historia" in La Paz, Bolivia, March 15, 2007.
Honors and Awards:
Faculty Research and Creative Work Award, University of Southern Indiana, 2010
College of Liberal Arts Faculty Development Award, University of Southern Indiana, 2009
Liberal Arts Research Award, University of Southern Indiana, 2009
Dean's Scholar Award Fellowship, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2007
Albert J. Beveridge Grant for Research in the History of the Western Hemisphere, American Historical Association, 2006
David L. Boren Graduate Fellowship, National Security Education Program, 2006
Multi-Country Research Fellowship, Council of American Overseas Research Centers, 2006 (declined)
Provost's Award for Graduate Research, Graduate College, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2006
Judy Curry Endowed Award for Study Abroad, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2006
Graduate Student Council Travel Award, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2006, 2007
Student Travel Award, Graduate College, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
Courses Taught:
Historiography (fall 2011)
Modern Latin American History (spring 2011)
History Seminar: International Communism (spring 2011)
Colonial Latin American History (fall 2010)
Revolution and Revolutionaries in Latin America (spring 2010, fall 2011)
Latin America in the Global Cold War (fall 2009)
World History, 1500-Present (fall 2009-spring 2010, three classes each semester)
Latin America in Recent Times (fall 2008)
China Since 1911 (spring 2005)
Distance Education Courses Taught:
World History, 1500-Present (fall 2010-fall 2011, two classes each semester)
Service to the Profession:
Manuscript review, Oxford University Press.
Editor of H-Latam email list since Feb. 2010. (Main professional listserv for historians of Latin America.)
University Service:
Chair, Assessment Committee, Department of History, University of Southern Indiana, fall 2011-present.
U.S. History Search Committee, Department of History, University of Southern Indiana, fall 2011-present.
Faculty Development Award Committee, College of Liberal Arts, University of Southern Indiana, fall 2011-present.
Curriculum Committee, Department of History, University of Southern Indiana, fall 2009-spring 2011.
Faculty Sponsor of Student History Society, University of Southern Indiana, fall 2010-spring 2011.
Oral Histories Committee, Office of the President, University of Southern Indiana, fall 2010-spring 2011.
Distinguished Professor Lecture Committee, College of Liberal Arts, University of Southern Indiana, fall 2010-spring 2011.
McGucken Prize Committee, Department of History, University of Southern Indiana, spring 2010.
Professional Affiliations:
American Historical Association
Latin American Studies Association
Conference on Latin American History
World History Association
Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations
Language Skills:
Fluent in Spanish and Finnish