David Tavarez

David Tavárez is a Professor of Anthropology and Director of Latin American and Latino/a Studies at Vassar College since 2003. His research focuses on linguistic anthropology, colonial Latin America, Mesoamerican cosmology, Indigenous intellectuals, and religious syncretism. He holds a BA from Harvard University and MA/PhD from the University of Chicago.

His major works include Rethinking Zapotec Time (2022), The Invisible War (2011), and Words and Worlds Turned Around (2017). He has been awarded fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, NEH, and NSF. His current projects explore Indigenous humanism and Nahuatl devotional texts.

Key affiliations include co-editing Anthropological Linguistics and serving on the editorial board of Journal of Native American and Indigenous Studies. His research bridges historical linguistics, ethnohistory, and colonial archives, emphasizing Indigenous agency and intellectual contributions in colonial contexts.