Faculty Profile: Ignacio Gallup-Diaz

As the Marjorie Walter Goodheart Professor of European History and chair of history, Ignacio Gallup-Díaz explores the European conquest and settlement of the Americas from the 1500s to the 1800s, with a particular focus on the experiences of enslaved people and Indigenous communities and societies. He joined the Bryn Mawr faculty in 1999.

CHOOSING HISTORY

“I had always wanted time to be contemplative and to think, write, teach, and be with smart young people talking about ideas.”

A BROADER VIEW

“It is the Americas that I’m talking about—not just colonial, British, or the precursor stage to the U.S. I’m trying to broaden a pretty familiar story of the process of colonization and show there are deeply embedded structures that outlive the colonial era.”

ALWAYS PUSHING

“Teaching is like nothing else in that I’m constantly being pushed. And I’m hopefully constantly, properly, pushing students. It feels like my mind is being engaged and worked through by really smart students.”

POPULAR PIRATES

“My course on Pirates, Travelers, and Natural Historians: 1492–1750 explores how pirates interacted with Indigenous people and peoples of African descent, and, on the flip side, examines the experiences of Indigenous and African American pirates. That has attracted more and more students.”

MENTOR & MODEL

“A Latinx student from Idaho wrote me this wonderful letter about how meaningful it was to her to have me as the person who did her teaching and advising. I still keep that in my desk."