Robert B. Caldwell

Robert B. Caldwell is an Assistant Professor of Indigenous Studies and Graduate Director of Indigenous Studies at the University at Buffalo (SUNY), part of the College of Arts and Sciences. He has held academic appointments at Hampshire College, Brown University, McNeese State University, and SOWELA Technical Community College. He earned his PhD in Transatlantic History from the University of Texas at Arlington in 2018.

His research centers on Native American and Indigenous Studies, with a focus on ethnohistory, the history of cartography, foodways, colonialism, and migration. He critically examines how ethnographic and linguistic maps of Indigenous peoples have been historically constructed, particularly under the influence of German geographic thought.

His recent work includes a 2017 AHA poster presentation titled Mapping Indian Country: Culture Areas, Linguistic Stocks, and the Genealogy of a Map, which analyzes the intellectual lineage and cultural assumptions embedded in foundational anthropological maps of Native America. This research draws on archival work from the American Philosophical Society, Library of Congress, and Smithsonian Institution.

Dr. Caldwell has received numerous fellowships, including from the American Philosophical Society, the American Antiquarian Society, the School for Advanced Research, and several university-based programs in ethics, humanities, and Indigenous studies.

• William S. Willis, Jr. Fellow, American Philosophical Society (2024–2025)
• Katrin L. Lamon Resident Fellow, School for Advanced Research (2020–2021)
• Jay and Deborah Last Fellow, American Antiquarian Society
• Fellow, Humanities Institute (2023–2024)
• Fellow, Ethics and the Common Good Program (2022–2023)
• Fellow, Institute for Holocaust, Genocide, and Memory Studies (2021–2022)

He authored the book Choctaw-Apache Foodways, which explores the cultural and historical significance of food in the Choctaw-Apache Community of Ebarb, Louisiana. He has also engaged in public scholarship through podcasts, media appearances, museum curation at the Williamson Museum, and educational outreach at historic sites like Los Adaes. His interdisciplinary work bridges academic research with community-based knowledge, oral history, and cultural preservation.

Dr. Caldwell has contributed to archaeological documentation, digitization projects, and historic preservation, including a Level IV HABS report for the Library of Congress. He is active in professional development, having presented at the American Historical Association and participated in pedagogical workshops on syllabus design and primary source instruction.