Juan José Ponce Vázquez
@jjponcevazquez
Followers
6,226
Following
2,621
Media
1,562
Statuses
39,060
Historian, sevillano & USian. Spain, LatAm, Caribe, Atlantic. Opinions, my own. Author of Islanders and Empire. He/Him/Él. Also @ Threads & Blu3Sky.
Tuscaloosa, AL
Joined October 2014
Don't wanna be here?
Send us removal request.
Explore trending content on Musk Viewer
#FNS歌謡祭夏
• 355184 Tweets
My Way
• 199470 Tweets
Bozkurt
• 160984 Tweets
UEFA
• 101081 Tweets
Lagos
• 86062 Tweets
#KREVA_Number_i_FNS
• 51926 Tweets
フジファブリック
• 28803 Tweets
スパーキングレディーカップ
• 24659 Tweets
#DefTech
• 19026 Tweets
紫耀くん
• 18685 Tweets
SEUNGMIN AT CHANEL COCO CRUSH
• 18093 Tweets
#FNSでDa_iCE超特急
• 16675 Tweets
ロコローション
• 16458 Tweets
Türklüğün
• 15603 Tweets
コラボ最高
• 14947 Tweets
#ゼンゼロ生放送
• 14236 Tweets
BELLE FOR SANICARE
• 12981 Tweets
MIROTIC
• 12489 Tweets
Stand by U
• 12202 Tweets
花子さん
• 11789 Tweets
花火大会
• 11731 Tweets
Pinned Tweet
My latest article is titled "Smugglers, Pirates, Diplomacy, and the Spanish Caribbean in the Late Seventeenth-century. If you are at a university and have free access to this article, you can find it here:
7
17
100
So do you guys know that The University of Alabama, is trying to get a general education core approved that eliminates the need for students to take a single history course, a single literature course, and also eliminates foreign languages. Madness.
553
2K
9K
It's official. Starting in 2025, students at
@UofAlabama
will be able to graduate without a single college course I literature, history, or a foreign language. The gutting of the liberal arts continues.
521
3K
7K
Best opening day of my life. I got tenure!!
104
7
2K
Ph.D. comps are the academic equivalent of fraternity/sorority hazing.
They are mostly a waste of time.
Sorry/not sorry.
61
92
1K
I should add that they also reduced the need of students to take writing intensive courses from 2 to 1, because you know, student come to college with excellent writing skills that don’t need to develop. Who needs writing anyway?
13
124
1K
Congratulations to those university administrators who championed this new core.They will be able to write in their CV they conducted general education reform at UA, & will get promoted to Provost or President in some other university where they will continue destroying Higher ed
27
83
931
You can thank the Dean of Arts and Sciences, the Provost, and 60% of my colleagues who believe this was totally ok.
10
89
930
I just found a way to scan a 377 page book in about 10 minutes or less and I think my life will never be the same.
17
75
906
Actually, correction: 60% of the people who voted. Only 66% of the faculty voted. Those who didn't did not care enough to push a button in their computer, I guess.
12
79
881
Honest question: if grad students in history KNOW (really know) the state of the job market, why are they still pursuing a Ph.D.? Apart from loving history, which is a given, but not sufficient explanation. There has to be more to this. Answers very much welcome.
220
36
814
Another beautiful example of how historians lose their eyesight
15
81
745
I take solace in the fact that Arts and Sciences voted no.
16
32
726
And one more thing. Please support public school teachers. They are miracle workers and they get paid very little and entrusted with a huge responsibility.
9
85
686
Every time I hear on NPR the term “moderate Islam” I cringe. I never hear the term “moderate Christianity,” even though we have just as many reasons to use it, and versions of radical Christianity are all around us.
18
98
622
By the way, if you guys want to see the old and new core, you can see it here: Take the narrative with a grain of salt though.
6
82
545
Dear developers at
@Office
: we want to be able to write comments in footnotes. It's about fraking time. Please get it done. Signed: every academic in the world.
18
53
532
The copies are finally here!! It exists!! And they are as pretty as one could imagine.
30
19
514
Reading Luis Martínez-Fernández "Key To the World: A History of Colonial Cuba", and I just learned that the Spanish word "ahorrar" (to save) comes from "horro", that is a free African. As in saving money to buy your freedom.
15
139
495
Today in my class I was trying to do my part in dismounting the myth of Cortés, so I showed my students this map of Cortés expedition from Veracruz to Tenochtitlán and asked them a question: does this look like the route of someone who is in complete control of anything? 🤣🤣
74
53
479
Now that it is officially in the website, I am really excited to be able to share the beautiful cover of my upcoming book with
@CambridgeUP
. Out in December, and available for preorder now! Please tell your librarian!
42
101
465
Honestly, I am really not into the whole “I was accepted in x schools” and “I went to y school.” Especially from people in privileged positions. It’s tiring, it’s false humility (if at all), and it doesn’t make you look good in any way.
17
24
448
And if you want to compare and contrast with the two models the General Education Task Force created after three years of research, the ones Faculty Senate approved (with Pathways being the most voted) you can see them here:
8
58
430
That "history tells us" is wrong. History doesn't tell you anything. Historians do. They interpret the messy past through the analysis of evidence and sources. Other historians debate, add, and modify these views. History is a process, never a finished product.
What‘s something that seems obvious within your profession, but the general public seems to misunderstand?
8K
1K
10K
2
142
411
This academic year, the
@UAHistoryDept
’s T-shirt for our majors is pulling no punches. And we all the better for it.
16
41
404
I really can’t process this. Many thanks to the committee!
Pleased to announce that
@jjponcevazquez
has won the Alfred B Thomas Book Award for his book entitled *Islanders and Empire: Smuggling and Political Defiance in Hispaniola, 1580-1690*
¡Congratulations Juanjo!
#secolas2021
6
13
90
76
9
400
#Penn
is asking me for money again, so I thought I should send them a little message, since postage is paid and all. 😂💪🏻
13
18
386
Then I used
@ScannerPro
, which takes pictures automatically, every time I turn the page. This program should be a must for every historian, and I can't recommend it enough. And that is it. 377 pages in 10 minutes or less. Incredible.
9
14
370
Some professors have completely forgotten what it is to be 20 years old and not to know a lot of things, and it shows in their tweets about students. Please be kinder.
5
34
366
I can’t keep up with this post, so I’m muting it. I am reachable though DM’s, but I reserve the right to answer. Thank you for reading. This is a serious issue. Maybe unstoppable, sadly, but worth making some noise about it. My colleagues and I care about students’ education.
5
26
334
@DisabilityStor1
The good old days when cyclists travelled around with gallons of blood in bags to change all the blood in their bodies before peeing in a tube so their doping was not detected. 🤣
1
1
303
Today I finished with the copy edits of the book manuscript! Next stop: proofs! (And maybe a cover before that?? 😱)
28
7
300
It took some back and forth, but here it is the final cover of my book in its full and gorgeous glory. Once again, thank you to
@CambridgeUP
designers for putting up with me, &
@Anita5446
, Jane Landers, Jorge Cañizares-Esguerra, and
@DrJesseCromwell
for their incredible blurbs.
32
28
288
Americans need a constant reminder of how to deal with Spanish names, so consider this my reminder (or let’s face it, probably the first time in your life that anyone has explained to you) how Spanish last names work.
22
53
291
I got my tenure notification on April's fools day. No joke!
32
1
290
Just added it to my syllabus. It’s truly magnificent
a Portrait of Tenochtitlan, my 3D reconstruction of the capital of the Aztec Empire is released!
I've been looking forward to this for a long time, and I am really curious what all of you think.
Take a look:
#tenochtitlan
716
7K
20K
9
51
285
It’s nice to see the New York Times catching up to something historians have been decrying for decades (and Haitians for much much longer). If it wasn’t disingenuous, the whole air of “we at the NYT are uncovering this secret truth” is rather comical.
“THE RANSOM
The Root of Haiti’s Misery: Reparations to Enslavers.”
1
5
16
4
53
282
We are reading this whole book for my 400 level class on cities in Colonial Latin America. Last time students loved it. The most important city most of them have never heard about.
12
12
271
My university has decided that the way to help mid career scholars is to create a bunch of events and talks for us to attend. Great, more things I can't go to due to my schedule. Wht about things that help, like course releases, sabbaticals, Research leaves, Teaching flexibility?
9
14
268
What can I do with a History degree? A lot.
9
98
252
My next monograph project is provisionally titled “Afrodescendants in the Spanish Caribbean Borderlands, 1580-1680.” In the last few hours I have come up with the entire table of contents for it. I’m excited. I think this could be a valuable work for the field
11
4
250
I understand that some non-history departments think they need to teach history-related courses themselves, but just like I would never teach an economics course because I understand it's not my expertise, I don't know why anyone would think they can do my job.
17
26
251
I could be teaching in a west coast institution as part of a spousal hire, but one Latin Americanist colleague with tenure decided they didn’t want to have to rethink their own teaching, so the whole thing was blocked.If you are in this situation, don’t be an asshole.
18
14
241
Muchos pensaréis que esto es una cuenta parodia de los neofacistas hispanos, pero no, es su cuenta oficial.
42
71
233
If you are curious about how to do it, I bought this for about $20:
1
9
223
Please encourage your grad students to take courses in other disciplines and in other historical regions. If they do not expand their sights when they are in grad school, they really won’t do it later. They will thank you for it. I’m thinking about Americanists in particular.
10
45
214
Aaaand it's officially out! Thank you
@ccancellaro
,
@RBlaifeder
(and of course
@DGershenowitz
) for trusting me and getting this book into the world. If any of you get a copy (even if it is a library copy!!) please post a picture! It will make me very happy.
Wishing a very happy publication day to
@jjponcevazquez
. We are very excited to be officially releasing his book Islanders and Empire today.
@cambUP_History
1
11
59
33
28
210
I guess I chose the perfect day to celebrate with friends and family (in our backyard, and socially distant) the publication of my book. And look at this cake!! Chocolate, by the way.
19
2
211
It was very special to see this painting at the
@metmuseum
today. Velazquez could bring out the soul of all his subjects, but this painting of his enslaved assistant Juan de Pareja is perhaps his best portrait, and one of the best portraits in the world.
7
16
208
For the first time since it came out, I have been able to spot my book in the wild at the
@CambridgeUP
booth at the
@AHAhistorians
4
11
210
Someone is basically confessing in a newspaper that they don’t know what universities actually do and they are surprised when they find out, to the point that they think it’s something new that universities did not do before. Baffling.
“Universities are shifting focus from simply imparting job-specific knowledge to nurturing critical thinking, communication and problem-solving abilities – skills that empower students to adapt” - Urbi Ghosh looks at how HE needs to evolve
#THECampus
28
11
30
8
30
205
I finally have a full corrected draft of the travel narrative of Gregorio de Robles who crisscrossed the Atlantic several times from 1688 to 1704. I also made a map. His travels are as crazy as they look. My intention is to publish an English critical edition of it.
14
15
197
I just finished going through my proofs!! Excited to be done, and a little nervous because I made A LOT of corrections (including all those pesky orphans and widows). I fear my production team might think I am nuts, and the fact I won’t be the manuscript again until it comes out
16
5
195
The School of Arts and Sciences has this wonderful tradition of framing the covers of faculty books to be hung in the corridors in and around each department. Mine came today! 🤩🤩
5
14
194
I just finished listening to the audiobook version of “On Savage Shores,” and what
@carolinepennock
has done here is a historical and narrative tour de force. There is something for everyone here, academics and non-academics alike. It is well worth your time.
2
32
186
@bethgrass
@jackiantonovich
@UofAlabama
High school education is not the same than a college education. And don’t think you will be saving much at all under the new system. This reform is not about cost.
5
3
183
LatAm historians have been so focused on assessing the wealth extracted from the Americas towards Europe that they have often forgotten to assess the incalculable wealth created in the Spanish colonies for local consumption. Wealth created by indigenous and black forced labor.
12
25
187
Today it would have been my father's birthday. He would have been 71 years young. He died almost 6 years ago (colon cancer), exactly the day after I found out I got my tt job. I never got to tell him. He never met his grandchildren either. I think about him every single day.
22
0
188
Today I officially went from the one on the left to the one on the right. Knowing how the whole thing started (new flash: not great), I am still having trouble believing it. It's going to take a lot of emails for it to sink in (no please, don't email me. 🤣)
22
1
187
I received a lot of help from you guys to put together this short syllabus (10 weeks) on Slavery and the Law, so I thought I should post it here, and hopefully someone will find it useful. There were so many wonderful options! Thank you all.
10
27
187
Yearly reminder that the English made a commemorative coin of the taking of Cartagena in 1690 BEFORE even attempting to take it. They actually lost. In the center, Blas de Lezo surrendering the city (even though he never did, because he won.
7
40
181
There is still a lot of work to do to put it all together and have it ready for submission. Possibly some light editing too
BUT
Friends: I think I have finished my book.
17
0
183
Guess whose book manuscript has got the greenlight for publication! The production stage starts!
Kudos to Kris Lane and Matthew Restall for their incredibly fast turnaround (10 days!) I could not be in better hands. And that includes
@ccancellaro
and
@RBlaifeder
17
1
184
I just spent over $400 just to go to the AHA this year, which is absolutely ridiculous. I think I am taking a break from the AHA for a few years and focusing my energies and limited money on regional conferences, which are much more pleasant anyway.
16
6
178
There is an exhibit in the Museo del Prado about colonial Spanish American art that ended up in Spain. It must be amazing. The website is great, and the catalog also looks impressive:
8
44
175
Is there a recent war in which student protests were actually wrong and the NYT opinion writers were right? I can’t think of any.
4
28
176
Academics complain about other academics sending emails on the weekend. Some people have to work on the weekend to catch up. Maybe the problem is that people need to stop notifications from their email accounts and let ppl get work done whenever they can.
9
7
174
I finally didi it. I finished a book chapter that I owed since before the pandemic. I am caught up, and can focus on new things for the first time in years. What a feeling of liberation!
11
0
174
Happy to report that my little one is already home. Apparently it was a viral infection. We are exhausted but well
Thank you guys for the good thoughts. I love this community.
Update: he has been transferred to the Birmingham Children’s Hospital. We’ll see where this is going...
24
0
92
14
0
172
Will I ever be able to read this? Time will tell.
17
3
167
Today it’s my 44th birthday, and later this year I will cross my personal Rubicon. I arrived in this country when I was 22 years old, 22 years ago (in August). I never thought I would be standing here today. Life has taken many turns, but all in all I have been really fortunate.
35
0
166
And it happened! I am now officially a US citizen. I am very happy to be fully enfranchised.
22
1
167
Folks, we have a solid publication date for Islanders and Empire. The magic will happen on October 29, and I even hear that certain author's (and reviewer's) copies are on their way!! Can't wait to have it in my hands.
10
18
164
Reminder that if you assign any or all of my book in any of your undergrad or grad classes, I’ll be happy to come up via Zoom to talk to students about it! It’s the least I can do.
1
32
166
I just printed my book manuscript for the first time for a final check before sending it to the press. A lot more reviewing and rewriting to do once it comes back from readers (hopefully they’ll like it!), but it’s really exciting seeing the whole thing together.
12
4
156
I just received this beauty in the mail, and I will be reviewing it once I finish all the other writing projects I have on my way. This review is for Perspectivas Afro, a journal edited by the Universidad de Cartagena (Colombia)
7
11
158
Clearly the answer is Toussaint.
With today's premiere of "Franklin" on
@AppleTV
starring Michael Douglas as Benjamin Franklin, we want to know: What other Revolutionary figure would you want to see depicted in a TV series or movie? 🤔
184
34
297
9
18
160
I saw this beautiful poster here in Twitter and I had to get it. It’s now in my living room. Possibly one of the prettiest maps of South American I have ever seen.
7
2
156
COLONIAL LATÍN AMERICANISTS: Please read this 🧵. I had an idea that might help us all, and particularly grad students and ppl in the tt needing to go to archives but unable to do so
8
44
156
Dear
@Netflix
, I want to join the chorus of people who demand a second season of Warrior Nun. That ending was bonkers, I have lots of questions, and I need to know what is happening in this show. Please open the purse strings and let the creators get to work!
12
51
151
Tenure file submitted. Phew!
Now, time to stew for a few months and see what happens!
12
0
151
Amateur historians in Spain claim that the Spanish monarchy never had colonies because the crown never used such a term to refer to its overseas possessions. It’s a perfect example of how ignoring the language of a period can lead to crass errors of interpretation.
16
28
151
This documentary is going to be gut-wrenching, but necessary.
0
45
146
Great news! “Smuggling In Hispaniola: Social and Political Defiance at the Edge of Empire, 1580-1690” has found a home! Many thanks to
@DGershenowitz
, Kris Lane, and Matthew Restall for believing in this project.
20
8
147
My father died six years ago today. I think about him all the time. So much has happened in 6 years. Job, marriage, two boys, a book. So much I can’t share with him. Time doesn’t make his loss any less painful, but one learns to live with it without being paralyzed by grief.
20
0
144
Archival finds: In 1580, a Spaniard was obsessed with a woman. She is referred to as a "mestiza" They had been "amancebados", and they had been separated and admonished. He had spent some time in prison because of it.
4
27
139
Una de esas viñetas de
@eljueves
que cruzan tus dos mundos y te tocan se cerca. Por cierto, que los “winners” americanos seguro que tienen también historias interesantes que esconder (o no, porque hoy en día muchos llevan las atrocidades en la solapa)
1
40
140
Some of you might like to read Pablo Miguel Sierra Silva’s article "Afro-Mexican Women in Saint-Domingue, " which was just awarded the James Alexander Robertson Prize by the Conference on Latin American History! You can read the article for free in the HAHR’s site. Link below.
3
24
137
Very true. At a time in academia in which everything has to be done quickly, who has the funds to travel around the world chasing archives? Who has time to learn languages, to study paleography?
5
11
138
Shameless plug: the 6-part documentary “Conquistadors: The Rise and Fall” is now available for free on the ABC website. It’s definitively worth your time. Just watched episode 1 and the quality is really high. They did a great job.
7
25
139
Yesterday we drove 16 hours with two small children (including one 18 month-old. They behaved like champs.) Today we woke up in lovely Madison, WI, where the weather is fair and summer is delightful. Tonight we eat brats and key lime pie to celebrate my 42nd birthday. 🎉🎊🎉
24
0
136
Reminder that if anyone needs transcription of challenging early modern Spanish documents, let me know! I know someone who is wonderful, available, and looking for more work.
Work in Spain is bad folks, & there are tons of people with fantastic knowledge looking for opportunities
6
39
133
This clip from SNL this past weekend with Bad Bunny is definitively going to be screened in my Colonial Latin America class tomorrow:
12
24
130