Curriculum Vitae

Robinson A Herrera

April 01, 2026

General Information

University address:	History
College of Arts and Sciences
Bellamy Building 0401
Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida 32306-2200

E-mail address:	rherrera@fsu.edu

Professional Preparation

1997	Doctor of Philosophy, University Of California, Los Angeles. Major: Latin American History. Colonial Latin American History. Supervisor: James Lockhart. 

1993	C. Phil., University of California, Los Angeles. Major: Latin American History. Colonial Latin American History. Supervisor: James Lockhart. 

1990	M.A. Latin American, University of California, Los Angeles. Major: Latin American History. Colonial Latin American History. Supervisor: James Lockhart. 

1988	BA, California State University, Los Angeles. Major: History. 

Professional Experience

2003–present	Associate Professor, History, Florida State University. 

1997–2003	Assistant Professor, History, Florida State University. 

Language Proficiency

Portuguese - intermediate in speaking and writing; advanced in reading.
Spanish - native in speaking, reading, and writing.

Honors, Awards, and Prizes

Nominated for Inclusive Teaching and Mentoring (graduate and undergraduate), The University Teaching and Advising Awards Committee (2024). 
Nominated for Inclusive Teaching and Mentoring (graduate and undergraduate), The University Teaching and Advising Awards Committee (2023). 
Inclusive Teaching and Mentoring (Nominated) (2021). 
Latinx Distinguished Faculty Award 2020 (2020). 
Transformation Through Teaching, FSU Spiritual Life Project (2016). 
University Undergraduate Teaching Award, Florida State University (2015). 

Current Membership in Professional Organizations

American Historical Association 
Latin American Studies Association 
Southeastern Council of Latin American Studies 

Teaching

Courses Taught

Latin America: A Cross-Cultural History (LAH1093)
Latin American History Through Film (LAH3734)
Senior Seminar (HIS4935)
Studies in Latin American History (LAH3930)
History of Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean (LAH3411)
Race and Class in Colonial Latin America (LAH4723)
Global Hist Through Mod Cinema (WOH3930)
Honors Work (HIS4936)
Special Topics in History (HIS5935)
Honors Work (INR4937)
Directed Individual Study (HIS6909)
Historical Methods (HIS 6059)
Latin America: A Cross-Cultural History Honors (LAH 1093)
Directed Individual Study (HIS4906)
GLOBAL CAPITALISM (HIS4935)
History of Amazonia (HIS4906)
Methodological Fieldwork (HIS4906)
Honors (LAH1093)
LATIN AMERICA & ATLANTIC WORLD (HIS6909)
Studies in World History (WOH3930)
LATIN AM ECONOMIC HISTORY (HIS6909)
Special Topics in History (HIS4930)
Directed Individual Study (HIS5909)
Special Topics in History (HIS6934)
Teaching History at the College Level (HIS6941)
Race and Class in Colonial Latin America (LAH5727)

New Course Development

HIS 4930: History of Firearms (2025)
HIS 4935: History of Firearms (2024)

Doctoral Committee Chair

Churchill, L. B., graduate. (2010).

Doctoral Committee Member

Peacock, K. W., graduate. (2020).
Shipe, J. L., graduate. (2016).
Kokomoor, K. D., graduate. (2013).

Doctoral Committee University Representative

Germana Roquez, G., graduate. (2021).
Mendez, J. M., graduate. (2021).
Wolff, L. A., graduate. (2018). ¡Guerra Al Metate!: The Visuality of Foodways in Postrevolutionary Mexico City (1920 1960).  Retrieved from http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/2018_Su_Wolff_fsu_0071E_14737
Alarcon, C. A., graduate. (2018).
Wilson, C. M., graduate. (2017). Recovering Narratives: Issues of Gender Violence, Trauma, and Shame in Contemporary Latin American Texts.  Retrieved from http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_2017SP_Wilson_fsu_0071E_13695
Delehanty, C., graduate. (2016).
Pizzurro, H. L., graduate. (2016).
Lopez Martin, A., graduate. (2016).
Bartlett, J., graduate. (2012).
Litka, S. J., graduate. (2012).
Bellacero, C. M., graduate. (2010).
Balmori, F., graduate. (2008).
Mora, L., graduate. (2008).
Torres-Calderon, A. M., graduate. (2006).
Nalbone, L. J., graduate. (2006).
Gonzalez, J. A., graduate. (2005).
Scoville, S. L., doctoral candidate. 

Master's Committee Chair

Talavera, E., graduate. (2024). Student submitted two professional papers. 
Ringstad, H., graduate. (2012).
Gilliland, C. B., graduate. (2010).

Master's Committee Member

Thomas, T. J., graduate. (2019).
Cable, J. H., graduate. (2016).
Johnson, W. O., graduate. (2016).
Mojena, H. S., graduate. (2016).
Arce-Trigatti, A. L., graduate. (2012).
Bertram, R. L., graduate. (2011).
Fuller, B. G., student. 

Bachelor's Committee Chair

Larralde, E., graduate. (2020). Melodies of Mirages: Exoticism, Folklore, and "Preforming" Santeria.  Retrieved from http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_libsubv1_scholarship_submission_1606600945_b1a81cc4
Boose, W., graduate. (2018). Modernity Meets Mythology: How Capitalism and the Anaconda Intertwined in the Peruvian Amazon.  Retrieved from http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_libsubv1_scholarship_submission_1524691623_78ae8250
Forehand, K., graduate. (2015). Cool but Correct: Humanitarian Discourse and the US Justification for Intervention in Chile.  Retrieved from http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_migr_uhm-0556
Sauceda, L., student. 
Kimelman, T., student.  "Depictions of Hypermasculinity and Gang Violence among Latinx Men in US Cinema, 1970s1990s". 

Research and Original Creative Work

Publications

Refereed Journal Articles

Herrera, R. A. (2014). "'Las cadenas Traqueteando:' Control social y transgresiones sexuales en la Guatemala colonial". Katatay: Revista Critica de Literatura Latinoamericana, Vol. IX, No. 11/12, 109-116.

Herrera, R. A. (2012). "The Ambulatory Archive: Santa Muerte Tattoos as Historical Sources". The Appendix: Journal of Narrative and Experimental History, Vol. 1, No. 1, 6-12.

Herrera, R. A. (2000). "'Por que no sabemos firmar:' Black Slaves in Early Guatemala". The Americas, Vol. 57, No. 2, pp. 247-267.

Herrera, R. A. (2000). "Los esclavos negros en el Reino de Guatemala en los inicios de la época colonial". Anales de a Academia de Geografía e Historia de Guatemala, Vol.75, pp. 53-79.

Herrera, R. A. (1998). "The African Population of Early Santiago". Urban History Workshop Reivew, 4, 6-12.

Refereed Books

Herrera, R. A. (2003). Natives, Europeans, and Africans in Sixteenth-Century Santiago de Guatemala. University of Texas Press. 

Edited Books

Herrera, R. A., & Webre, S. (Eds.). (2013). La época colonial en Guatemala: estudios de historia cultural y social. Editorial Universitaria de Universidad de San Carlos. 

Refereed Book Chapters

Herrera, R. A. (2012). "Surviving the Colonial City: Native Peoples in Early Santiago de Guatemala,". In Dana Velasco Murillo, Mark Lentz, & Margarita R. Ochoa (Eds.), City Indians in Spain's American Empire: Urban Indigenous Society in Colonial Mesoamerica and Andean South America, 1600–1830 (pp. 48-62). Sussex Academic Press. 

Herrera, R. A. (2007). "Concubines and Wives: Re-Interpreting Native-Spanish Intimate Unions in Sixteenth-Century Guatemala". In Michel Oudijk, & Laura Matthew (Eds.), Indian Conquistadors: Native Militaries in the Conquest of Mesoamerica (pp. pp. 127-144). University of Oklahoma Press. 

Refereed Encyclopedia Entries

Herrera, R. A. (2020). The African Presence in Central American History. In William Beezley, Editor in Chief, & Stephen Webre, Area Editor (Eds.), Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History (1st ed., p. 1-19). Oxford University Press. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199366439.013.600

Refereed Reviews

Herrera, R. (submitted). Dana Velasco Murillo, Urban Indians in a Silver City: Zacatecas, Mexico, 1546-1810. Manuscript submitted for publication, 3 pages.

Herrera, R. A. (2022). Strike Fear in the Land: Pedro de Alvarado and the Conquest of Guatemala, 1520–1541. By W. George Lovell, Christopher H. Lutz, and Wendy Kramer. Hispanic American Historia Review, 102, 331-333.

Herrera, R. (2016). Wendy Kramer, W. George Lovell, and Christopher Lutz, Saqueo en el archivo: El paradero de los tesoros documentales Guatemaltecos. Ethnohistory, 63, 450-451.

Herrera, R. (2015). Robert W. Patch, Indians and the Political Economy of Colonial Central America, 1670-1810. The Historian, 77, 803-805.

Herrera, R. (2015). W. George Lovell, Christopher Lutz, Wendy Kramer and William R. Sweezey, Strange Lands and Different Peoples": Spaniards and Indians in Colonial Guatemala". The Americas, 72, 156-157.

Herrera, R. (2011). William F. Hanks, Converting Words: Maya in the Age of the Cross. The Historian, 73, 564-565.

Herrera, R. (2008). Gabriel Alonso de Herrera, Ancient Agriculture: Roots and Application of Sustainable Farming. Agricultural History, 82, 413-415.

Herrera, R. A. (2007). Matthew Restall, Beyond Black and Red: African-Native Relations in Colonial Latin America. The Americas, Vol. 63, No. 4, 661-663.

Herrera, R. A. (2005). Federico Garza Carvajal, Butterflies Will Burn: Prosecuting Sodomites in Early Modern Spain and Mexico. Hispanic American Historical Review, 505-507.

Herrera, R. A. (2005). Pete Sigal, editor, Infamous Desire: Male Homosexuality in Colonial Latin America. Hispanic American Historical Review, 122-123.

Herrera, R. A. (2004). Sherry Johnson, The Social Transformation of Eighteenth-Century Cuba. Florida Historical Quarterly, 82:3.

Herrera, R. A. (2004). Thomas M. Whitmore and B. L. Turner II, Cultivated Landscapes of Middle America on the Eve of Conquest. Agricultural History.

Herrera, R. A. (2003). Lawrence H. Feldman, editor and translator, Lost Shores, Forgotten Peoples: Spanish Exploration of the South East Maya Lowlands. Ethnohistory, 50, No. 2, 405-407.

Herrera, R. A. (2002). Ignacio Bizarro Ujpán, edited and translated by James D. Sexton, Joseño: Another Maya Voice Speaks from Guatemala. Estudios Interdisciplinarios de America Latina y El Caribe, 13, No. 2, 214-216.

Herrera, R. A. (2002). Maureen E. Shea, Culture and Customs of Guatemala. The Historian, 64, No. 4, 779-780.

Herrera, R. A. (2000). Noble David Cook, Born to Die, Disease and New World Conquest, 1492-1650. Ethnohistory, 47, No. 2, 506-508.

Presentations

Refereed Papers at Conferences

Herrera, R. A. (presented 2024, August). "Africanos e indígenas en tiempos de la conquista militar de Centroamérica". Paper presented at El otro bicentenario: la abolición de la esclavitud en Centroamérica, conexiones atlánticas y trayectorias afrodescendientes, Universidad de Costa Rica, Zoom. (International)

Herrera, R. A. (presented 2022, February). "'I Don't Even Speak Spanish:' Helping Latinx Students Navigate Dangerous Times". Paper presented at National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language, National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language, Florida State University. (International)

Herrera, R. (presented 2016, August). "'El cúmulo de ruinas': La violencia estatal contra el progreso". Paper presented at Congreso Latinoamericano y Caribeño de Ciencias Sociales, FLASCO Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador. (International)

Herrera, R. A. (presented 2013, May). "'The Infinite Lie:' Expropriation of Indigenous Resistance Heroes in Modern Guatemala". Paper presented at Latin American Studies Association, Latin American Studies Association, Washington, DC. (International)

Herrera, R. A. (presented 2013, January). "'The Clattering Chains:' Social Control and Sexual Transgressions and in Colonial Guatemala". Paper presented at American Historical Association, American Historical Association. (International)

Herrera, R. A. (presented 2012). "'Ashes and Dead Feathers:' Indigenous Resistance Heroes and Counterinsurgency Terror in Modern Guatemala". Paper presented at Conference of Latin American Historians, American Historical Association, Chicago, IL. (International)

Herrera, R. A. (presented 2012). "'She's All I Have:' The Cult of Santa Muerte in Modern Mexico". Paper presented at Latin American Studies Association Annual Conference, Latin American Studies Association, San Francisco, CA. (International)

Herrera, R. A. (presented 2008, October). "At the Crossroads of Empire: Native Slavery and Agricultural Settlements in Early Spanish Guatemala". Paper presented at the meeting of Southern Historical Association. (International)

Herrera, R. A. (presented 2007, September). "'La Maldad:' Incest and Other Sexual Crimes against Children in Colonial Guatemala". Paper presented at Latin American Studies Association, Latin American Studies Association, Montreal. (International)

Herrera, R. A. (presented 2007, January). "Farming the Conquest: The Formation of Haciendas in Sixteenth-Century Guatemala". Paper presented at Conference of Latin American Historians, American Historical Association. (International)

Herrera, R. A. (presented 2005, January). "The Color of Desire: African Males and Spanish Female Sexual Fantasies in Early Spanish Guatemala". Paper presented at Conference of Latin American Historians, American Historical Association. (International)

Herrera, R. A. (presented 2003, November). "Unseating Santiago: Interspecies Intercourse in Late Colonial Guatemala". Paper presented at Conference of the American Society for Ethnohistory, Conference of the American Society for Ethnohistory. (International)

Herrera, R. A. (presented 2003, October). "Africans in Sixteenth-Century Guatemala". Paper presented at African Studies Association Conference, African Studies Association Conference. (International)

Herrera, R. A. (presented 2003, March). "'He Tried to Touch Him:' Sexual Transgressions in Late Eighteenth-Century Santiago de Guatemala". Paper presented at Latin American Studies Association Conference, Latin American Studies Association Conference. (International)

Herrera, R. A. (presented 2002, November). "Native European Unions in Sixteenth-Century Santiago de Guatemala". Paper presented at Southern Historical Association Conference, Southern Historical Association. (International)

Herrera, R. A. (presented 2002, October). "Sources on Indigenous People in Santiago de Guatemala, 16th Century". Paper presented at Mesoamerican Ethnohistory and Philology Conference, Mesoamerican Ethnohistory and Philology Conference. (International)

Herrera, R. A. (presented 2002, March). "Enslaved and Freed: Blacks in Sixteenth-Century Santiago de Guatemala". Paper presented at Joint Conference of The Southwestern Historical Association and Southwestern Social Science Association Conference, Joint Conference of The Southwestern Historical Association and Southwestern Social Science Association Conference. (International)

Herrera, R. A. (presented 2001, September). "'Con ayuda de los indios:' the Foundation and Growth of Early Santiago de Guatemala". Paper presented at Latin American Studies Association Conference, Latin American Studies Association Conference. (International)

Herrera, R. A. (presented 2001, April). "Strangers in 'Exotic' Lands: Teaching Ethnicity in Latin America". Paper presented at Organization of American Historians Conference, Organization of American Historians Conference. (International)

Herrera, R. A. (presented 2001, January). "'They Were Never Married,' Spanish-Native Conjugal Unions in Early Guatemala". Paper presented at Conference of Latin American Historians, American Historical Association. (International)

Herrera, R. A. (presented 2000, March). "In the Absence of Money, Reciprocal Social Ties and Credit in Early Guatemala". Paper presented at Latin American Studies Association Conference, Latin American Studies Association. (International)

Herrera, R. A. (presented 2000, January). "Trade and Society in Post Conquest Southern Mesoamerica". Paper presented at Latin American Studies Conference, Rocky Mountain Council. (International)

Herrera, R. A. (presented 1997, November). "Silver and Debt: Credit as a Vehicle for Social Interaction in Early Guatemala". Paper presented at International Conference of American Society for Ethnohistory, International Conference of American Society for Ethnohistory, Mexico City. (International)

Refereed Papers at Symposia

Herrera, R. (presented 2013, July). "'Santa Muerte's Power and Prestige: Methodological and Theoretical Approaches to Study Popular Religiosity in Modern Latin America". In Dr Maria L. Olin Munoz and (Chair), Oaxaca Summer Institute XV: Field School for Graduate Studies. Symposium conducted at the meeting of University of Arizona and University of British Columbia, Oaxaca, Mexico. (International)

Invited Lectures and Readings of Original Work

Herrera, R. A. (2013, July). Santa Muerte's Power and Prestige: Methodological and Theoretical Approaches to Study Popular Religiosity in Modern Latin America. Delivered at Oaxaca Summer Institute XV: Field School for Graduate Studies, Oaxaca, Mexico. (International)

Herrera, R. A. (2010, April). "'She's All I Have:' The Cult of Santa Muerte in Modern Latin America". Delivered at St. Michael College. (International)

Additional Research or Original Creative Work Not Reported Elsewhere

Herrera, R. A. (2025). "Parque de la Concordia: Resisting Erasure in an Unsettled Space". Lidia Klein, editor. 

Herrera, R. A. (2024–2025). "Africanos e indígenas en tiempos de la conquista militar de Centroamérica". Rina Caceres, editor, Experiencias de esclavitud, libertad y abolición en América Central y el Mundo Atlántico. 

Herrera, R. A. (2024). "Parque de la Concordia: Resisting Obliteration in an Unsettled Space". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 

Service

Florida State University

FSU University Service

Faculty Advisor, Hispanic Honor Society (2020–present).

Member, Graduate Policy Committee-Art History (2024–2025).

Faculty Advisor, Central American Latinx Organization (2023–2025).

Member, Hispanic Serving Institution Workgroup (2022–2024).

Treasurer, Latinx Faculty Staff Network (2022–2023).

Chair, Latinx Studies Center / Institute Ad Hoc Committee (2022–2023).

Chair, Native American and Indigenous Studies Planning Committee (2021–2023).

Faculty Co-Chair, Latinx Faculty Staff Network (2021–2022).

Member, Latinx Distinguished Service Award Committee (2021–2022).

Member, President's Task Force on Anti-Racism, Equity & Inclusion (2020–2022).

Member, Recruitment, Retention, and Diversity Training Subcommittee (2020–2022).

Mentor, Connections Mentoring Network (2017–2022).

Member, Provost-FOC Mentoring Network Writing Collective (2017–2022).

Member, Ralph Stair Prize Review Committee (2021).

Member, Latinx Cultural Celebration Committee (2020–2021).

Member, Rosalina Gonzales Award Committee (2020–2021).

Co-Chair, Latinx Faculty and Staff Group (2015–2017).

Chair, Art History, GPC Sub-Committee (2010).

Member, Grievance Committee (2006–2007).

FSU Department Service

Member, Graduate Fellowships Committee (2024–2025).

Member, Undergraduate Scholarships Committee (2024–2025).

Member, Ausley Undergraduate Honors Scholarship Committee (2023–2024).

Member, Faculty Peer Evaluation (2023–2024).

Chair, Native American History Search (2023–2024).

Member, Undergraduate Scholarships Committee (2023–2024).

Chair, Latin American Search Committee (2023).

Member, Ausley Undergrad Honors Scholarship Committee (2022–2023).

Chair, Latin American Search Committee (2022–2023).

Mentor, Mentor, Holley-Kline (2019–2023).

Chair, Hicks 3rd Year Review (2021–2022).

Chair, Anasa Hicks 4th Year Review Committee (2021–2022).

Mentor, Mentor, Holley-Kline (2020–2021).

Member, Salary Committee (2020–2021).

Member, Graduate Committee (2019–2020).

Chair, Anasa Hicks 2nd Year Review Committee (2019–2020).

Chair, Maximilian Scholz 2nd Year Review Committee (2019–2020).

Chair, Nilay Özok-Gündoğan 2nd Year Review Committee (2019–2020).

Member, Graduate Committee (2017–2018).

Member, Salary Committee (2017–2018).

Member, Works in Progress Committee (2017–2018).

Chair, Caribbean Search Committee (2016–2017).

Chair, Computer Committee (2016–2017).

Member, Graduate Committee (2016–2017).

Chair, Hispanic / Iberian Caribbean History Search (2016–2017).

Chair, Early Modern Atlantic History (2013–2014).

Chair, Walbolt Dissertation Fellowship Committee (2012–2014).

Chair, Alex Aviña Third Year Review Committee (2011–2012).

Member, Salary (2011–2012).

Chair, Target of Opportunity Hire (2011–2012).

Member, Walbolt Dissertation Fellowship Committee (2011–2012).

Member, Graduate Committee (2010–2011).

Member, Rick Mizelle Third Year Review Committee (2010–2011).

Member, Walbolt Dissertation Fellowship Committee (2010–2011).

Chair, Search Modern Mexico History (2008–2009).

Chair, Computer Committee, Chair (2003–2009).

Chair, Search US Native American History (2006–2007).

Chair, Search US Latino/a (2005–2006).

The Profession

Guest Reviewer for Refereed Journals

Histories (Nov 2024–present).

Religions (2016–present).

Arts (2025).

Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos (2016–23).

Humanities (2021).

Reviewer for Textbooks

Latin America in a Modern World (2015–2017).

The Routledge History of Latin America Culture (2014–2017).

Reviewer or Panelist for Grant Applications

American Academy in Berlin (2014–2022).

Service to Professional Associations

Ralph Lee Woodward Jr. Prize Committee, Chair, Latin American and Caribbean Section of the Southern Historical Association (2018).

Ralph Lee Woodward Jr. Prize Committee, Latin American and Caribbean Section of the Southern Historical Association (2017).

The Community

Expert Witness, Expert witness testimony for Public Interest Law Center, Public Interest Law Center, College of Law, Florida State University (2019–2023).