Caroline Dodds Pennock

Professor Caroline Dodds Pennock is a distinguished historian at the University of Sheffield's School of History, Philosophy and Digital Humanities, where she serves as Professor in International History. Specializing in Indigenous American history with a focus on Aztec/Mexica civilization, she has been at Sheffield since 2010 after previous positions at Cambridge and Leicester universities.

Her educational background includes a B.A., M.St., and D.Phil. from Oxford University, where she focused on Aztec history. Her doctoral research laid the foundation for her expertise in Mesoamerican cultures.

Professor Pennock's research spans Indigenous American history, particularly Aztec/Mexica civilization, colonial encounters, and transatlantic exchanges. Her work explores gender roles, violence, cultural exchange, and the experiences of Indigenous Americans in Europe. She approaches these topics through interdisciplinary methods, connecting historical analysis with contemporary issues of decolonization and public history.

Her recent publications reveal a clear trajectory from focused Aztec studies toward broader transatlantic and global frameworks. While her early work centered on Aztec gender roles and ritual practices, her current research examines Indigenous American travelers in Europe, challenging conventional narratives of the 'discovery' of America by exploring how Indigenous peoples discovered Europe.

• Royal Historical Society's Gladstone Prize for 2008 for 'Bonds of Blood: Gender, Lifecycle and Sacrifice in Aztec Culture'
• Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (FRHistS)
• Teaching awards from both Leicester and Sheffield universities

Professor Pennock actively supervises doctoral students, with completed projects including Hannah Slack's research on 'Animals and the Shaping of the Early English Atlantic Experience, 1550-1630' and Harriet Smart's work on 'Choreography, Flexibility and Conformity in Postclassic Nahua Rituals.' She is keen to supervise research on Indigenous American history, Spanish American history, colonial and Atlantic history, with particular interest in Native travelers, gender, violence, and early colonial sources.

Through her involvement in international networks like the Global Middle Ages network, American Society for Ethnohistory, and Native American and Indigenous Studies Association, Professor Pennock contributes to collaborative scholarly efforts examining cultural exchange, imperial and Indigenous histories, and Native American cultures across temporal and geographical boundaries.