Larry Larrichio

Dr. Larry Larrichio earned the PhD at The University of New Mexico in Latin American Studies, and currently teaches undergraduate classes in Southwest Studies, New Mexico History, and Latin American Studies at UNM. His classes have a strong interdisciplinary focus, utilizing the disciplines of archaeology, linguistics, environmental studies, gender studies, and ethnography. As a specialist on the Northern Andean region, he has published one book on the regional history of the Middle Cauca Valley of Colombia, and numerous articles on environmental and transportation studies of the region. His research has included extensive work in archives in Sevilla, Spain, Colombia, and Mexico. As a result of this research, he has developed strong Spanish paleographical skills that he has utilized in his work as an expert legal witness on a number of Land Grant cases in New Mexico.

 His current research focuses on a comparative study of two regions on the margins of the Spanish Empire: New Mexico and the Northern Andes. Both regions share a similar Native American prehistory where indigenous communities were culturally organized as “chiefdoms”, and were not integrated into the Aztec, nor Inca imperial domains. Likewise, during the Spanish colonial era both regions (New Mexico and the Northern Andes) were considered to be on the periphery of the core regions of Mexico and South America. Consequently, Spanish political hegemony and the dynamic cultural changes that ensued differed substantially in these regions from what emerged in Central Mexico and Peru well into the nineteenth century. Dr. Larrichio’s research will highlight the unique cultural differences that evolved in the two regions, and how cultural mestizaje changed the face of Spain in the hinterland of Latin America. Dr. Larrichio has strong ties to Colombia, having previously served as a Peace Corps Volunteer there with many years of residence in that country afterwards. Currently he is a Visiting Professor at the Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira.