Matthew Vitz

Matthew Vitz is a Professor in the Department of History at the University of California San Diego. His research focuses on urban, environmental, and political histories of Mexico, with particular emphasis on energy history, development politics, and environmental justice. He holds a Ph.D. from New York University (2010) and has held prior appointments including Visiting Assistant Professor at Dartmouth College and postdoctoral fellowships at UCSD’s Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies and UNAM’s Instituto de Investigaciones Históricas.

His major works include A City on a Lake: Urban Political Ecology and the Growth of Mexico City (Duke UP, 2018) and forthcoming projects such as Development’s Discontents, examining critiques of state-led development in 20th-century Mexico. Current research explores ecological crises, participatory urban design, and Indigenous rights amid late 20th-century socioeconomic shifts.

Teaching specializations include Mexican history, Latin American history, environmental history, and urban studies. His work bridges material ecologies with political economies, analyzing how urban environments shape and are shaped by power structures.