Gary VanValen

Dr. Gary VanValen is a Professor of History at the University of West Georgia, affiliated with the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences and the Department of History. He serves as Graduate Coordinator for the History program. His research focuses on Latin American history, ethnohistory, and Indigenous peoples, particularly in Bolivia, New Mexico, and Argentina. He holds a Ph.D. in Latin American History from the University of New Mexico (2003), an M.A. from the University of South Carolina (1995), and a B.A. from Montclair State University (1988).

Dr. VanValen’s research interests include Indigenous agency in colonial and post-colonial contexts, cultural contact in the Amazon, and the histories of Pueblo peoples in New Mexico under Mexican rule. His award-winning book Indigenous Agency in the Amazon: The Mojos in Liberal and Rubber-Boom Bolivia (2013) examines Indigenous resistance during Bolivia’s 19th-century reforms. He has also published extensively on Afro-Indigenous communities in Argentina, Pueblo land preservation, and transnational Indigenous networks.

Recent publications (2023–2022) explore Pueblo and Genízaro agency in land preservation, Afro-Argentine leadership among the Santiagueño Quichua, and Bolivia’s cultural history. His work frequently bridges ethnohistory, borderlands studies, and transnational frameworks.

• Awards: Erminie Wheeler-Voegelin Book Award (2013)
• Courses: Colonial Latin America, Latin American History since Independence, US-Latin American Relations, Indigenous Peoples in the Americas
• Labs/Teams: Coordinates the History program’s graduate curriculum and oversees thesis advising.