Arlene Díaz

Arlene Díaz is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at Indiana University Bloomington (IU), affiliated with the College of Arts & Sciences. Her research focuses on Latin American history, empire, digital humanities, and gender studies. She holds a B.A. from Universidad de Puerto Rico (1987), and M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota (1997).

• Education:
• B.A., Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras (1987)
• M.A., University of Minnesota (1997)
• Ph.D., University of Minnesota (1997)

Her major research interests include the Spanish-Cuban-American War, coloniality, slavery, and Caribbean history. She uses digital humanities methods to analyze underutilized archival materials, such as espionage reports, to challenge traditional narratives of US imperialism. Her book Female Citizens, Patriarchs, and the Law in Venezuela, 1786-1904 (2004) examines gender dynamics in legal frameworks. Currently, she is completing a manuscript analyzing media manipulation and espionage during the Spanish-Cuban-American War.

Dr. Díaz has received numerous awards, including the Ford Foundation Senior Fellowship (2021-22) and the IU Trustees Teaching Award (2021). Her work bridges historical scholarship with pedagogy, as seen in co-authored articles on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.

• Key Awards:
• Ford Foundation Senior Fellowship (2021-22)
• Trustees Teaching Award (2021)

Her courses address topics like Caribbean history, gender in Latin America, and decolonizing academia. She actively engages in public scholarship through podcasts like Cointelpro, discussing historical events' contemporary relevance.