Department of History

Manuel Osvaldo Robles

  • Graduate Student

Dissertation working title: “Black Inclusion: Afro-Mexicans and International Struggle for Recognition, 1974-2020

My dissertation examines how Mexico went from largely ignoring its Afrodescendant population to recognizing them as an integral part of the nation. In reading archival documents and conducting oral histories, I reveal how individuals’ and institutions’ combined efforts at the local, national, and international levels brought about this change.  

As a Humanities Engage Immersive Dissertation Research Fellow, I am collaborating with Asociación de Mujeres de la Costa de Oaxaca (AMCO), a local women’s organization, to produce a short documentary film that illuminates the role and experiences of Afro-Mexican women in the Afro-Mexican movement. In addition to the documentary, AMCO and I will develop educational infographics on Afro-Mexican history that will be distributed to local schools.

COMMITTEE: 

Dr. George Reid Andrews (Advisor), Dr. Lara Putnam (Advisor), Dr. Michel Gobat, and Dr. Michele Reid-Vazquez

FIELDS

Latin American History
Power and Inequality
Race and Gender

AWARDED FELLOWSHIPS AND GRANTS

Humanities Engage: Immersive Dissertation Research Fellowship 2021-2022
Social Science Doctoral Dissertation Research Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh, 2020-2021
History Department Summer Research Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh, 2019
CLAS Tinker Summer Field Research Grant, University of Pittsburgh, 2017 (Declined)
Arts and Sciences Graduate Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh, 2015-2016

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

HIST-0100-Western Civilization 1, Spring 2020
     Led by Bernard Hagerty

HIST-1109-France, Spain, and Italy in the 20th Century, Fall 2019
     Led by Bernard Hagerty

HIST-0187-World War II Europe, Spring 2017
     Led by Leslie Hammond

HIST-0187-World War II Europe, Fall 2016
     Led by Leslie Hammond