About

I am a historian of colonial Latin America, an Honorary Fellow at the University of Edinburgh (2026–29), and a research collaborator on the Hidden in Plain Sight Project with Queen Mary University of London and Cambridge University Library. I specialise in Indigenous-Colonial Latin American History and Mexican cultural heritage materials in museums and video games.

My first book, An Unholy Pedagogy: Visions of Learning from Mesoamerica, 1300 to 1650 (Cambridge University Press, 2026), explores place-based pedagogy and immersive learning among Nahua (commonly "Aztec") communities under Spanish education regimes in Mexico. I am currently a research affiliate for the Hidden in Plain Sight Project with Cambridge University Library and Queen Mary University of London, offering the first study of a recently rediscovered Nahuatl-Latin lectionary in the British and Foreign Bible Society's collection at the Cambridge University Library.

I work in archives and collections throughout the U.K., U.S. and Mexico relating to Mexico's material and visual culture. My publications have focused on Indigenous foodways, warrior women, art and architecture, and the art of Mexican board games and video games about Mexico.

I am based in the United Kingdom, where I hold the right to work indefinitely, and I am open to relocating internationally for the right role — in research, teaching, curation, collections, or consulting.

Career

2026-29
Honorary Fellow
University of Edinburgh. Concurrently a research collaborator on the Hidden in Plain Sight Project with Queen Mary University of London and Cambridge University Library.
2025-26
Teaching and Research Fellow in Latin American History
University of Edinburgh, School of History, Classics and Archaeology. Lecturer teaching courses on colonial Latin American resistance, resilience, and rebellion, as well as historical methods seminars.
2024-25
Munby Fellow in Bibliography
Cambridge University Library. Project: "Recovering the Painted-Over Lessons of Colonial Mexico: Material Histories of the Enigmatic Epistolae... linguam mexicanam at Cambridge (BFBS MS 375)." Simultaneously held a Visiting Fellowship at St John's College and affiliation with the VIEWS Project (Classics).
2024
Short Term Kluge Fellow
U.S. Library of Congress. Research on Indigenous-colonial modes of keeping memories in Mexico, 1300 to 1650.
2020-24
Jeffrey Rubinoff Junior Research Fellow
Churchill College, University of Cambridge. Fellowship in "Art as a Source of Knowledge" in Mesoamerica and colonial Mexico. Also served as Affiliated Lecturer in the Faculty of History, Centre for Latin American Studies, and researcher at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.
2019-20
Getty Graduate Fellow
Getty Research Institute, Director's Office. Text-encoding and content specialist for the pathfinding Digital Florentine Codex Initiative.
2017-18
Julie and Rocky Dixon Graduate Innovation Award Fellow
University of Oregon. Project manager for Mesoamerican mapas exhibit; contributed to the "Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs" under the Wired Humanities Projects.
2019
PhD in History
University of Oregon. Dissertation: "Unholy Pedagogy: Local Knowledge, Indigenous Intermediaries, and the Lessons from Spanish Colonial Learningscapes, 1400 to 1650."
2012
MA in History
University of Oregon. Thesis on sixteenth-century Franciscan architecture and Nahua educational spaces.
2010
BA in History
University of Utah. Cum laude, minor in Archaeology. Took immersive Nahuatl language courses supported by IDIEZ.

Research Supported By

My research and fellowships have been funded and hosted by institutions including:

  • Getty Research Institute & Getty Foundation
  • U.S. Library of Congress (Kluge Fellowship; UKRI AHRC International Postdoctoral Scholar)
  • British Academy / Leverhulme Trust
  • UKRI — Research England, Enhancing Research Culture Fund
  • Cambridge University Library (Munby Fellowship in Bibliography)
  • Churchill College, University of Cambridge (Rubinoff Junior Research Fellowship)
  • John Carter Brown Library (Bromsen Memorial Fellowship)
  • U.S. Department of Education (Foreign Language and Area Studies)

Memberships and Affiliations

  • Associate Fellow, Royal Historical Society
  • American Historical Association
  • American Society for Ethnohistory
  • European Association of Archaeologists
  • Museum Ethnographers Group
  • Association of Nahuatl Scholars

Languages

  • English: Native
  • Spanish: Fluent
  • Classical Nahuatl: Proficient, advanced translation
  • Modern Nahuatl (Huastecan): Intermediate
  • Latin: Reading and translation knowledge

Funding

Research has been funded by the UKRI AHRC, British Academy/Leverhulme, Research England, Getty Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, U.S. Department of Education, Rubinoff Foundation, Julie and Rocky Dixon Foundation, Spalding Memorial Educational Trust, Cambridge Creative Encounters, UCAM SHAPE Hub, CRASSH, Cambridge Language Sciences Centre, and the John Carter Brown Library.

Personal

Josh with his family

My family is central to my free time. My kids and I like to nuzzle into hours of board games, video gaming or movie nights. Dungeons & Dragons campaigns have become fairly popular in the flat, and, personally, I enjoy (poorly) painting my kids' intricate D&D figurines or piecing together jigsaw puzzles. Otherwise, we like touring the U.K. and make time for new museum exhibitions in Cambridge and London.