NEWS

Tech history professor discusses research at Mexico conference

Aug 16, 2012 | General News, Liberal Arts

Dr. Stephen Webre, head of Louisiana Tech’s history department, presented information at the 11th Central American Historical Congress convened in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, recently. Webre presented a paper titled “A Golden Age Poet on the Lacandón Frontier: Don Diego de Vera Ordóñez de Villaquirán, Alcalde Mayor of Chiapas and Adelantado of El Prospero, 1583-1648.” In collaboration with historian Coralia Gutiérrez Alvarez of Mexico’s University of Puebla, he also served as coordinator of the thematic section devoted to history of the Spanish colonial period. Held biennially since 1992, the Central American Historical Congress regularly attracts large numbers of teachers and scholars who specialize in the study of the region’s history.  Activities at the San Cristóbal event included some 500 scholarly paper presentations divided into 31 thematic sections, as well as other activities, such as round tables, master classes, book presentations and film screenings. A member of the Tech faculty since 1982, Webre is a graduate of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and received his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees at Tulane University.  He specializes in Latin American history and his publications include two books and numerous articles in scholarly journals. Webre also holds the W. Y. Thompson Endowed Professorship in History.