Eben Levey

Education

• PhD, History, University of Maryland - College Park, 2021
• MA, Latin American Studies, Georgetown University, 2013
• BA, Urban Studies, Vassar College, 2008

Biography

Eben Levey, Assistant Professor of History at Alfred University, is a scholar of religion, social movements, and indigeneity in twentieth-century Mexico. His book project examines the connections between Liberation Theology and the rise of Indigenous rights movements in Mexico in the 1970s and 80s. Through community case studies, oral histories, and archival research, he shows how liberationist Catholic activists (clergy and laypeople) increasingly adopted the specific rights-based, cultural, and linguistic demands of Indigenous activism, and he argues that Liberation Theology itself indigenized through long-term collaboration with Indigenous communities and movements. Research for his project was generously funded by a Fulbright Fellowship. He has published on this topic in journals and in an edited volume, is active in his field through professional organizations and review work, and has presented his work and research at the American Historical Association Annual Conference, the Latin American Studies Association Annual Congress, and a variety of other venues.

Dr. Levey, prior to Alfred University, received his doctorate at the University of Maryland – College Park in 2021. He taught at the University of Maryland and American University in the Washington, DC region, and held Visiting Assistant Professorships at Western Washington University and Boise State University. He has a passion for innovative and engaging pedagogy, from creative writing based on historical study to student contributions to Wikipedia. His courses range from the introductory level -  Colonial and Modern Latin American History, the Modern Western World, and a new course on the global history of Soccer and Politics – to upper level History courses on Modern Mexico, Liberation Theology, Latin America’s Age of Revolutions, Indigenous Latin America, Religion and Colonial Latin America, to a graduate course on Indigenous Latin America.

Courses Taught

• HIST/SPAN/GLBS 300 - Modern Mexico (Spring 2024)
• HIST 300 - Indigenous Latin America (Fall 2024)
• HIST 360 - The Age of Revolutions: Dreams of Freedom in the Americas(Fall 2023)
• HIST/RLGS 300 - Liberation Theology: Religion and Revolution in Cold War Latin America (Spring 2025)
• UPCOMING COURSE! HIST 100/200 - Soccer! A Global History of Sport and Politics (Spring 2025)
• HIST 153 - Introduction to Modern Latin American History (Spring 2024)
• HIST 130 - Aztecs, Incas, and Conquistadors: Colonial Latin America, 1492-1820 (Fall 2024)
• HIST 111 - Modern Western History (Fall 2023, Fall 2024)

Research, Publications, & Presentations

Research & Publications

• Indigenizing Liberation Theology: The Catholic Church and Indigenous Rights in Mexico, 1954- 1994 (Manuscript in progress)
• “One year ago, Pope Francis disavowed the ‘Doctrine of Discovery’ – but Indigenous Catholics’ work for respect and recognition goes back decades” The Conversation March 28, 2024
• "Making Liberation Theology Indigenous: The Seminario Regional del Sureste (SERESURE) and Indigenous Mexico, 1969-1990" In Christian Bueschges, Andrea Müller and Noah Oehrieds, eds., Liberation Theology and the Other(s): Contextualizing Latin American Catholic Activism in the Second Half of the 20th Century Lexington Books 2021