John W. Sherman, Ph.D.
PHOTO: Sherman talking with Nicolai Tesla on the streets of Sarajevo, July 2019. I happened to run into Tesla, so I sat down and shared with him my own theories about electricity. You know, the strange thing is: he didn't say a word in response! Come to think of it, he didn't really even react.
Teaching
John W. Sherman teaches a range of courses on Latin American history, along with History Program service courses and the HST 1200 West and the World survey. Upcoming courses:
FALL 2023
HST 1200 - This version will focus primarily on the West's interaction and involvement in the Middle East
HST 2110 - The standard survey of United States History from beginnings to 1877.
HST 3500 - Modern Latin America. This survey of Latin America since independence focuses on select countries--primariliy Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Venezuela--and emphasizes political, and to a lesser extent economic history. Readings deal primarily with guerrilla movements and counterrevolutionary violence.
SPRING 2024
HST 1200 - This version will tentatively focus primarily on the West's (especially the United States') involvement with the Far East, especially Korea.
HST 3500 - Latin American Society, Film, Culture. NEW COURSE! A sweeping survey of Latin society, film, and culture, timewise mainly rooted in the late twentieth century. Subtopics include lifestyles, sports (baseball!), music, mass media, literature--including poetry, and (popular) religion, in addition to film. We'll watch and discuss several films--from Brazilian Cinema Novo to more obscure Peruvian works. There will definitely be an overall bias towards Peru in this course (the primary focus of my research).
Education History
Ph.D., University of Arizona, M.A. University of Toledo, B.A. Baylor University
Research Statement
I study political processes in twentieth-century Latin America. My primary focus is Peru.
Publications
In July 2023 I will be publishing my fifth solo-authored book, Peru Since Independence, on Rowman and Littlefield. Peru has a remarkable political history, from its dramatic break with Spain through the late twentieth-century Sendero War, and continues to experience political turmoil in the present-day.
I continue to self-publish more populat-topic mini-books on the side, the most recent being a short study of the Jair Bolsonaro administration in Brazil [see the link below].
