Lowell W. Gudmundson

Professor of Latin American Studies and History

Specialization
Central America; Afro-Latin America; coffee and rural history

Lowell Gudmundson is a member of the Latin American Studies Program and the History Department. A promoter and product of the dramatic developments within social science research and the historical profession in Costa Rica during the 1970s, Gudmundson teaches the introductions to the field of Latin American studies as well a variety of courses in the social and economic history of the Americas. His comparative and interdisciplinary interests have led to such courses as Slavery in the Americas; Agrarian America: Sugar, Coffee, Cotton, Wheat, Bananas; Afro-Latin America; Postmodernism and Latin America; and Literature and Revolution in Central America. Prior to coming to Mount Holyoke, he taught for seven years at the Universidad Nacional and the Universidad de Costa Rica, followed by appointments at Florida International University and the University of Oklahoma.

A leading figure in the fields of agrarian and social history in Latin America in general, and in Central America in particular, Gudmundson has held editorial board appointments with major journals in the field, such as the The Americas, the Revista de Historia, and the Hispanic American Historical Review, for whose annual best article prize he has twice received honorable mention. Elected to the General Committee of the Conference on Latin American History (CLAH) of the American Historical Association, he has also chaired the annual program committees for both CLAH and the Latin American Studies Association. In 2004 Gudmundson was named a Corresponding Member of the Academia de Geografía e Historia de Guatemala. His research and training have won support from the Ford and Tinker Foundations, the Social Science Research Council, the Howard Heinz Endowment, and (three times) from the Fulbright Program. Gudmundson's books, in both Spanish and English editions, include: (as coeditor and contributor) Coffee, Society, and Power in Latin America (1995, 2001); (with Hector Lindo-Fuentes) Central America, 1821–1871 (1992, 1995); Costa Rica before Coffee (1986, 1990); and three edited collections on social history topics published in Costa Rica in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Gudmundson is currently pursuing research in Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.

News Links:

"MHC's Gudmundson in American Historical Review,"  November 15, 2007

"Gudmundson on History and Hero Worship," La Nacion, July 22, 2007

"Choosing a Color for the Cosmic Race: African Americans and National Identities in Central America"

"Gudmundson to Explore Ethnic Identity Constructs in Central America with $115,000 NEH Grant," College Street Journal, May 4, 2001

"Coffee Proves Intellectual Stimulant for MHC Scholar," College Street Journal, March 22, 1996