Experts

ANTONIA I. CASTAÑEDA, a Chicana feminist historian, teaches in the Department of History at St. Mary's University. Her research and teaching interests focus on gender, sexuality, and women of color in California and the Borderlands from the 16th century to the present. Her current projects include a cultural history of Mestizas in colonial Alta California, a bilingual critical edition of 19th century Californiana narratives, and a cultural history of Tejana farm workers. She has previously held academic appointments at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the University of Texas at Austin.

WILLIAM A. DePALO, JR. is currently a visiting scholar at the University of New Mexico's Latin American Institute. He retired from the U.S. Army with the rank of Colonel in 1991. During 28 years of active federal service, Col. DePalo commanded infantry units at all levels through brigade to include two tours of duty in Vietnam during which he was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star for Valor and two Purple Hearts. He also served as one of the Army's Foreign Area Officers specializing in Latin America, with postings in Colombia and Panama. He holds a BS from New Mexico State University, an MA from the University of Oklahoma and a PhD from the University of New Mexico. Additionally, he is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, the Inter-American Defense College and the Rutgers University Advanced Management Program.

R. DAVID EDMUNDS is the Anne Stark Watson and Chester Watson Professor of American History at the University of Texas at Dallas. He is the author of The Fox Wars: The Mesquakie Challenge to New France; Kinsmen Through Time: An Annotated Bibliography of Potawatomi History; Tecumseh and the Quest for Indian Leadership; The Shawnee Prophet; American Indian Leaders: Studies in Diversity and The Potawatomis: Keepers of the Fire (Frances Parkman Prize in American History.)

DEENA J. GONZÁLEZ is associate professor of history at Pomona College and chair of Chicano studies at Claremont Colleges. Her publications include Refusing the Favor: The Spanish-Mexican Women of Santa Fe; Dictionary of Latinas in the United States (editor); and Lupe’s Song: Chicana Reinscriptions (manuscript in progress).

SAM W. HAYNES is assistant professor of history at the University of Texas at Arlington. He is the author of James K. Polk and the Expansionist Impulse; and Soldiers of Misfortune: The Somervell and Mier Expeditions. He is co-editor of the forthcoming book, Manifest Destiny and Empire and is also the associate editor for the publication, The United States and Mexico at War: Nineteenth Century Expansion and Conflict.

ROBERT W. JOHANNSEN is the J.G. Randall Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is the author of To the Halls of the Montezumas: The Mexican War in the American Imagination. His other books include Stephen A. Douglas (Francis Parkman Prize for Literary Distinction in the Writing of History); The Frontier, the Union, and Stephen A. Douglas; and Lincoln, the South and Slavery: The Political Dimension. His work-in-progress is a biography of James K. Polk.

ROBERT RYAL MILLER is Professor Emeritus of History at California State University, Hayward. He is the author of two textbooks: Mexico: A History and Latin America. Among his other books, four focus on international events in Latin America in the mid-19th century: For Science and National Glory: The Spanish Scientific Expedition to America, 1862-1866; Arms Across the Border: United States Aid to Juárez During the French Intervention in Mexico; Shamrock and the Sword: The Saint Patrick’s Battalion in the U.S.-Mexican War; and The Mexican War Journal and Letters of Ralph W. Kirkham.

DAVID M. PLETCHER is Professor Emeritus of History at Indiana University. His books include The Diplomacy of Annexation: Texas, Oregon, and the Mexican War; Rails, Mines, and Progress: Seven American Promoters in Mexico 1867-1911 and The Awkward Years: American Foreign Relations under Garfield and Arthur. Dr. Pletcher’s most recent work is titled The Diplomacy of Trade and Investment. His articles include "Manifest Destiny," "Presidential Power in Foreign Affairs," and "United States Relations with Latin America: Neighborliness and Exploitation."

MIGUEL SOTO is professor of history of the School of Philosophy and Letters at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. His courses cover 19th century Mexico, Mexican historiography and Colonial Anglo America. His publications include De agiotistas, políticos y conspiradores; La conspiración monárquica en México 1845-1846; and Los intereses particulares en la conquista de California. Among his accomplishments are a research project on "Land Speculation and Mexican Politics in the Texas Revolution" and a Fulbright Scholarship for Research.

JOSEFINA ZORAIDA VÁZQUEZ is professor of history and chair of the Center of Historical Studies at El Colegio de México. Her books include The United States and Mexico; Historia Moderna y Contemporánea de México; Mexicanos y Norteamericanos ante la guerra del 47 and México y el Mundo: Historia de las Relaciones Exteriores. Among the many fellowships she has received are a Rockefeller Fellowship, National Research Fellowship, Fulbright Fellowship and Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. She has also served as a member of the Executive Council of the Mexican Committee of the International Committee of Historical Sciences.

JESÚS VELASCO-MÁRQUEZ is professor of international studies at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México. His books include La Guerra con Estados Unidos, La Cultura en México (1821-1850) and La Guerra del 47 la Opinión Publica en México (1845-1848). Articles by Dr. Velasco include "John C. Calhoun y el Expansionsimo Norteamericano," "Mexican and North American Cultures during the First Half of the 19th Century," "Perspectivas de la Relación México-Estados Unidos" and "Visión de México en la Prensa de Estados Unidos."

MIGUEL ÁNGEL GONZÁLEZ QUIROGA is a state representative from the State of Nuevo León, México and a former professor of history at the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León. His recent publications include Texas y el norte de México (1848-1880) Comercio, capitales y trabajadores en una economía de frontera, co-authored with Mario Cerutti; "Nuevo León" in The United States and Mexico at War: Nineteenth-Century Expansionism and Conflict; "Nuevo León Ocupado: Pueblo y Gobierno durante la guerra entre Estados Unidos y México" in México al tiempo de su guerra con Estados Unidos; and Frontera e historia económica, Texas y el norte de México, co-edited with Mario Cerutti.

DAVID J. WEBER is professor of history at Southern Methodist University, where he holds the Robert and Nancy Dedman Chair in History. Weber has authored and edited more than three dozen scholarly articles and 15 books, including Foreigners in Their Native Land: Historical Roots of the Mexican Americans; The Mexican Frontier, 1821-1846: The American Southwest Under Mexico; Myth and History of the Hispanic Southwest and The Spanish Frontier in North America. He is a member of the Mexican Academy of History and the Society of American Historians, and is past president of the Western History Association and the Conference of U.S.-Mexico Historians.

DR. RICHARD BRUCE WINDERS earned his doctorate from Texas Christian University in 1994. A specialist in the areas of the early American military and the Southwest, Winders has published several articles on the topic of the Mexican War. His book entitled Mr. Polk's Army: The American Military Experience in the Mexican War won the Jerry Coffey Memorial Book Prize for the best work in the filed of military history for 1997. He served as assistant editor on The United States and Mexico at War: Nineteenth Century Expansionism and Conflict, an encyclopedia project for Macmillan. Dr. Winders is currently Historian and Curator at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas.