Betsy Konefal

Betsy Konefal is a Professor of modern Latin American history at William and Mary, where she has been since 2005. She holds a Ph.D. in Latin American history from the University of Pittsburgh (2005), an M.A. in International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (1996), and a B.A. in International Relations and Latin American Studies from the University of Pennsylvania (1990).

Her research focuses on race, indigenous organizing, and human rights, particularly in Guatemala’s civil war context. She authored For Every Indio Who Falls: A History of Maya Activism in Guatemala, 1960-1990, recognized as a Choice Outstanding Academic Title (2011). Her current project examines Maya resistance, state repression, and genocide through massacre sites and exhumations.

At William and Mary, she teaches courses on Latin America, human rights, indigenous histories, and comparative race studies. She is a W. Taylor Reveley, III Interdisciplinary Faculty Fellow, collaborating with Professor Silvia Tandeciarz on a project titled “State Terror and Its Memory: Argentina and Guatemala Then and Now.”

Her grants and fellowships include support from the Fulbright Foundation, AAUW, the US Institute of Peace, and Fulbright-Hays.