INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS
Luís Martínez Fernández
Born in Havana, Cuba (1960), Luis Martínez-Fernández grew up in Lima, Peru, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. He holds B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Puerto Rico and a Ph.D. in History from Duke University.
Training and Professional experience
Dr. Martínez-Fernández is Professor of History at the University of Central Florida, where he also directed the Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies Program (2004-2006). Previously, he taught at Rutgers University (1994-2004). While at Rutgers, he chaired the Department of Puerto Rican and Hispanic Caribbean Studies (1997-2004). He has also taught at Colgate University, Augusta State University, the Graduate History Program of the University of Puerto Rico, and the Lauder Program of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
He has served on the editorial boards of Cuban Studies and The Latin Americanist. He was also Trustee of the College Board and Chair of its Academic Advisory Council. Dr. Martínez-Fernández is active in various cultural and artistic organizations in Central Florida. In 2005 he founded the annual Latin American Cultural Festival of Orlando.
Dr. Martínez-Fernández has pursued diverse lines of research, all pertaining to the Hispanic Caribbean. Among these we find the comparative study of nineteenth-century Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic, the region’s political history during the twentieth Century. His works touch upon multiple aspects, including politics, religion, economy, gender, culture, and slavery. He has also researched and published on Latinos/Hispanics in the United States.
His most recent books are Key to the New World: A History of Early Cuba (2018) and Revolutionary Cuba: A History (2014, 2016). He is currently working on a collection of non-fiction stories on individual slaves who led extraordinary lives.
Selected Publications