John Lear
Professor Emeritus, History
John Lear's research and teaching interests include Mexico, Cuba, post-independence Latin America, comparative labor and urban history, cultural politics, and gender and social movements. His newest book, Picturing the Proletariat: Artists and Labor in Post-Revolutionary Mexico, 1908-1940 (2017) considers relations between artists, the state and organized labor during this period. His first book, Chiles Free-Market Miracle: A Second Look (1995), examined neo-liberal policies in Chile. His second book, Workers, Neighbors and Citizens: The Revolution in Mexico City (2001), explored urban mobilization in the Mexican Revolution. He is currently working on a political biography of Diego Rivera, to be published by Verso. He has written a variety of editorials on contemporary Latin America for local newspapers. Lear taught a first-year seminar on Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. Other courses included Modern Latin America, Modern Mexico, History and Film, Art and Revolution in Latin American, and a travel seminar to Latin America. He speaks Spanish, French, and some Portuguese.