
Michael Brescia: Head of Research and Curator of Ethnology, Arizona State Museum; Professor of history, University of Arizona
Monday, April 21, 2025,
2:30pm – 4:30pm (with break),
ASA Koffler Great Room and Zoom
In his first presentation, Dr. Brescia introduced the major themes of his 5-part series on “Biographies of Power & Culture in Colonial Mexico” and established the nature and scope of biography as a tool to uncover the historical experiences of Indigenous peoples and Spaniards in the early days of cross-cultural contact and exchange.

In the second session of the series, Dr. Brescia will explore the establishment of the colonial Mexican Church via the first bishop of Mexico City and so-called defender of the Indians, who had to broker competing political and economic interests among the Spanish population while promoting the spread of Christianity among the Indigenous peoples. Former Aztec nobles and Aztec commoners go beyond the role of foil and show us the many ways in which Spanish colonialism simultaneously transformed Indigenous society and was transformed by it.
You can connect to Zoom either by using the following URL: https://zoom.us/j/95456511620?pwd=OC9GcnJRNmJpMTdXdXFhaUpCUkx4QT09 or by opening a browser to zoom.com/join and typing in Meeting ID: 954 5651 1620 and Passcode: 85747