Contact Information

 

Education

  • Ph.D., History, University of Illinois, 1998
  • M.A., History, University of Illinois, 1991
  • B.A., History and Political Science, Rutgers University, 1987

Research Interests or Expertise

Dwyer's book The Agrarian Dispute: The Expropriation of American-Owned Rural Land in Postrevolutionary Mexico (2008, Duke University Press) was awarded the Alfred B. Thomas Book Award by the Southeastern Council of Latin America Studies and was the runner-up for the Thomas McGann Book Prize awarded by the Rocky Mountain Council for Latin American Studies. It focuses on the expropriation of millions of acres of land by the Mexican goverment from hundreds of U.S. property owners as part of President Lázaro Cárdenas's land redistribution program in the mid-1930s. Because no compensation was provided to the Americans a serious diplomatic crisis ensued between the two countries. Dwyer argues that the agrarian dispute inaugurated a new and improved era in bilateral relations because Mexican officials were able to negotiate a favorable settlement, and the United States, constrained economically and politically by the Great Depression, reacted to the crisis with unaccustomed restraint. 

Dwyer's latest research project examines the impact of Mexico's maquiladora industries on the U.S.-Mexican-Californian border region, and addresses environmental degradation, industrialization, urbanization, popular agency, international commerce, and bilateral affairs.

School

  • History 151: Shaping of the Modern World
  • History 161: Latin American Civilization
  • History 169: Reform and Revolution
  • History 270: Colonial Latin America
  • History 271: Modern Latin America
  • History 277: History of Mexico
  • History 376: Revolution in Modern Latin America
  • History 382: Latin American History thru Film
  • History 482W/582: Inter-American Relations
  • History 483W/583: U.S.-Mexican Relations
  • History 601: Introduction to Graduate History

Book

  • The Agrarian Dispute: The Expropriation of American-Owned Rural Land in Postrevolutionary Mexico.  Durham, NC and London: Duke University Press, 2008.           
  • 387 Pages, 26 Illustrations, 2 Maps, 6 Tables, Notes, Bibliography, Index.
  •  Winner of the 2009 Alfred B. Thomas Book Prize awarded by the Southeastern Council on Latin American Studies (SECOLAS).
  • "Honorable Mention" (2nd place) for the 2009 Thomas McGann Book Prize awarded by the Rocky Mountain Council for Latin American Studies (RMCLAS).

 
Articles and Book Chapters

  • "It's About Time: The Restitution of Yaqui Indian Land and the Idea of Time."  Journal of the West 48, no. 3 (2009): 26-34.
  •  -Mexicanizing Baja California in the Postrevolutionary Era: The Role of Race, Class, Culture, Social Engineering, and Nationalism.'  In Antonio Medina-Rivera and Diana Orendi, eds., Crossing Over: Redefining the Scope of Border Studies (New Castle, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2007).
  •  -Diplomatic Weapons of the Weak: Mexican Policymaking during the U.S.-Mexican Agrarian Dispute, 1934-1941.'  Diplomatic History 26, no. 3 (2002): 375-395.
  •  -The End of U.S. Intervention in Mexico: Franklin Roosevelt and the Expropriation of American-Owned Agricultural Property.'  Presidential Studies Quarterly 28, no. 3 (1998): 496-509.
  • Winner of the 2009 Alfred B. Thomas Book Prize awarded by the Southeastern Council on Latin American Studies (SECOLAS)."Honorable Mention" (2nd place) for the 2009 Thomas McGann Book Prize awarded by the Rocky Mountain Council for Latin American Studies (RMCLAS)
  • Faculty Development Award, Duquesne University, 2010
  • Wimmer Family Foundation, Faculty Development Award, Duquesne Univ., 2009
  • Wimmer Family Foundation, New Thematic Core Award, Duquesne Univ., 2007
  • Presidential Scholarship Award, Duquesne University, 2006
  • NEH Faculty Endowment Grant, Duquesne University, 2004
  • Wimmer Family Foundation, Learning Community Award, Duquesne Univ., 2004
  • NEH Faculty Endowment Grant, Duquesne University, 2003
  • Russo Family Foundation, Faculty Development Award, Duquesne Univ., 2003
  • Wimmer Family Foundation, Faculty Development Award, Duquesne Univ., 2002