Michael Brescia

Michael M. Brescia, Ph.D., Curator of Ethnohistory, Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona

Monday, June 12, 2023,

2:30-4:15 pm,

ASA Koffler Great Room, and Zoom

 

Historian Michael Brescia will examine and discuss the intersection of U.S. and Mexican history and culture in the vast Borderlands region of North America, where the diverse peoples, environments, cultures, and trade come together, often in contested ways.

While the migration of people has characterized North America for millennia, the establishment of political borders to control people, goods, and ideas took off and hardened with the rise of the nation-state in the late 18th and 19 centuries. Dr. Brescia seeks to identify and explain the multiple historical features of the U.S. – Mexico borderlands and the cultural hybridity that has emerged since the late 20th century.  He will also provide a critical appraisal of U.S.-Mexico relations since the expansion of drug violence and political populism over the last few years.

Dr. Brescia has many cross-department faculty affiliations at the University of Arizona and teaches a wide range of courses, such as Mexican History, Comparative History of North America, World History, and historical research methods. He is the co-author of two books that examine the broader historical forces that have shaped our continent from Pre-Columbian times to the present:  Mexico and the United States:  Ambivalent Vistas, (2010, now in its 4th edition), and America: An Introduction (2009). His research and scholarship have attracted recognition and support over the years from various international, national, and state organizations, including the Fulbright Scholars Program (Canada and Mexico), the American Association for State and Local History, and the Southwestern Mission Research Center (Tucson), among many others. Dr. Brescia will spend the fall semester 2023 as Visiting Research Scholar and Professor at Princeton University.

Compiled and Edited by Nelson Hubbell, Academy Village volunteer

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 

June 12:  “Finding ‘Mexamerica’ in North American History”