Juan Fernandez

Juan Fernandez is an Assistant Professor of Southeast Asian History at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His research focuses on the intersection of gender, ethnography, and colonialism in the Philippines, particularly analyzing how anthropologists’ performances of masculinity influenced their fieldwork and how Indigenous communities responded. He explores the gendered dimensions of the Southeast Asian 'headhunter' trope and the controversial Tasaday 'discovery' in the 1970s. His teaching spans modern Southeast Asia, colonial photography, ethnohistory, and gender/sexuality studies.

Education:

• Ph.D., Cornell University
• M.A., University of Chicago
• B.A., University of the Philippines at Baguio

Research Interests: His first project, 'Manly Encounters,' examines the reciprocal yet hierarchical construction of masculinity between anthropologists and Indigenous groups. His second project critiques the Tasaday narrative as a media-hyped myth exploited by the Marcos regime. He also investigates colonial photography’s role in shaping perceptions of Indigenous identities.

Publications: Recent works include analyses of Igorot militarized masculinity through Dean Worcester’s photographs and a forthcoming study on William Jones’ fatal encounter with the Ilongots. Earlier work addresses Tagbanua food sovereignty.

Courses Taught:

• History 201: The Historian’s Craft – The Camera as Historian
• History 229: Love and Sex in Asian History
• History 500: Gender and Empire in Southeast Asia