Nicholas Robins

Bio

Nicholas Robins holds a Ph.D. in Latin American Studies from Tulane University, with concentrations in History, Political Science and Community Development. His research and publications concern Andean environmental and social history, legacy mining contamination, and indigenous rebellions. Dr. Robins is the founding president of the Bolivian Studies Association, and founding director of the Cuban Studies Institute at Tulane University. He also serves as director of NCSU’s Summer in Cuba Program and as president of the Environmental Health Council (www.ehcouncil.org), a non-profit 501 c 3 organization focusing on heavy metal contamination issues in the Andean region. Dr. Robins has been awarded three Fulbright research awards, an ORISE Fellowship with the EPA, and an honorary doctorate from the National University of Huancavelica, Peru.

Extension and Community Engagement

Co-Founder, La Casa Ancestral Archaeological and Cultural Museum, 2013, Visigsa, Bolivia 

This is a community-run archeological museum based in Visigsa, a community of 700 people in the department of Potosí, Bolivia. Led and largely financed the project from inception to completion, between 2009-13. See www.bolivianfieldschool.org.

Founding President (9/2000-Present), Environmental Health Council

The Environmental Health Council is an international, interdisciplinary, non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to identifying, evaluating and remediating the effects of environmental contaminants in affected communities, with a focus on mercury contamination in the Andean region. Responsibilities include administration, fundraising, strategic direction and coordination with scientific collaborators in research development, implementation and analysis. The url is www.ehcouncil.org, see also www.mercurycleanup.org for work concerning Huancavelica, Peru.

Founding President (2000-01) and  Board member (2015-19), Bolivian Studies Association.

The mission of the Bolivian Studies Association, a 501 c 3 organization, is to advance and promote research and knowledge of Bolivia through providing an interdisciplinary forum and resource for collaboration, research, publication, study, funding and employment opportunities. The association has over 250 members and recently held its seventh international congress, hosted by the National Archive and Library of Bolivia, in July 2013. The url is www.bolivianstudies.org.

Founding Board Member, Asociación Nuevavelica, (8/2010 to 12/2020)

Advisory Board Member, Asociación Nuevavelica  (12/20-Present)

The Asociación Nuevavelica is an environmentally oriented non-governmental organization based in Huancavelica, Peru.

Office Hours

• Mon: 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. by appointment
• Wed: 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. by appointment
• Other times also available by appointment by Zoom

Research Publications

BOOKS

The Shining Path in Huancavelica: Conflict and the Legacy of Exclusion. (Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2024). Published in Spanish as Sendero Luminoso en Huancavelica, Perú: La Herencia de Conflicto y Exclusión (Huancavelica, Peru: Universidad Nacional de Huancavelica, 2024).

Santa Bárbara’s Legacy: An Environmental History of Huancavelica, Peru (Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2017). Published in Spanish as La herencia de Santa Bárbara: Una historia ambiental de Huancavelica, Perú (Huancavelica, Peru: Universidad Nacional de Huancavelica, 2017).

Of Love and Loathing: Marital LIfe, Strife and Intimacy in the Colonial Andes, 1750-1825 (Lincoln:University of Nebraska Press, 2015).

Mercury, Mining and Empire: The Human and Ecological Cost of Colonial Silver Mining in the Andes (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2011). Published in Spanish as Mercurio, Minerίa y Imperio: El costo humano y ecológico de la minerίa de plata colonial en los Andes (Huancavelica: Universidad Nacional de Huancavelica, 2011).

Priest-Indian Conflict in Upper Peru: The Generation of Rebellion, 1750-1780 (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2007). Published in Spanish as Communidad, clero y conflicto: Las relaciones entre la curia y los indios en Alto Perú, 1750-1780. (La Paz: Editorial Plural, 2009).

Native Insurgencies and the Genocidal Impulse in the Americas (Bloomington:Indiana University Press, 2005).

The Culture of Conflict in Modern Cuba (Jefferson,N.C.: McFarland Publishers, 2003).

Genocide and Millennialism in Upper Peru: The Great Rebellion of 1780-1782 (Westport: Praeger Publishers, 2002).

Mesianismo y Semiótica Indígena en el Alto Perú: La Gran Rebelión de 1780- 1782 (La Paz: Editorial Hisbol, 1998).

El mesianismo y la rebelión indígena: La rebelión de Oruro en 1781 (La Paz: Editorial Hisbol, 1997).

EDITED WORKS:

Landscapes of Inequity: Environmental Justice in the Andes/Amazon Region. Co-edited with Barbara Fraser. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2020)

Mitos Expuestos: Leyendas Falsas de Bolivia. Vol. II. With Rosario Barahona, collaborator. (Sucre, Bolivia: Ciencia Editores, 2016).

Mitos Expuestos: Leyendas Falsas de Bolivia. Vol. I. Co-edited with Rosario Barahona. (Cochabamba, Bolivia: Editorial Kipus, 2014).

Genocide Studies and Prevention. Vol. 5, Issue 3 (December, 2010). (Volume editor)

Genocides By the Oppressed: Subaltern Genocide in Theory and Practice. Co-edited with Adam Jones (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2009).

Conflictos políticos y movimientos sociales en Bolivia (La Paz: Plural Editores, 2006).

Cambio y continuidad en Bolivia: etnicidad, cultura e identidad (La Paz: Plural Editores, 2005).

​​​​​​​SCHOLARLY, SCIENTIFIC AND PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS

Robins, Nicholas. “A Toxic Reckoning: Legacy Contamination in Huancavelica, Peru.” In Landscapes of Inequity: Environmental Justice in the Andes/Amazon Region. Nicholas Robins and Barbara Fraser, Eds. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2020).

Fraser, Barbara and Nicholas Robins. “Introduction.” In Landscapes of Inequity:Environmental Justice in the Andes/Amazon Region. Nicholas Robins and Barbara Fraser, Eds. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2020).

Fraser, Barbara and Nicholas Robins. “Epilogue: Environmental Justice in the Andes/Amazon Region: Illusive, Elusive or Within Reach?” In Landscapes of Inequity: Environmental Justice in the Andes/Amazon Region. Nicholas Robins and Barbara Fraser, Eds. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2020).

Casanovas, Claudia, Grobert Huanca Apaza, Leslie Fernández Vera, Ian Beggen, Nicholas Robins, David Pereira Herrera. “Investigaciones arqueológicas en torno al Museo Comunitario Visigza, Potosí: historia, alcances y proyecciones.” In Expresiones,  Boletín del Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas y Arqueológicas de la Universdiad Mayor de San Andrés. Vol. 3, No.4, (2018), 27-42.

Robins, Nicholas. “Huancavelica, Peru: From Sacred Shrine to Contaminated Capital.” Genocide Studies International. Vol 11, No. 2, (Fall, 2017), 240-249.

Robins, Nicholas. “Sebastián Pagador y la rebelión de Oruro de 1781: Del mito a la realidad histórica.” In Mitos Expuestos: Leyendas Falsas de Bolivia. (Vol. II).With Rosario Barahona, collaborator. (Sucre, Bolivia: Ciencia Editores, 2016).

McEwen, Abigail,  Heileen Hsu-Kim, Nicholas A. Robins, Nicole A. Hagan, Susan Halabi, Olivo Barras, Daniel deB. Richter, John J. Vandenberg. “Residential metal contamination and potential health risks of exposure in adobe brick houses in Potosí, Bolivia.” Science of the Total Environment Vol. 562 (2016): 237-246.

Amos, Helen; Sonke, Jeroen; Obrist, Daniel; Robins, Nicholas; Hagan, Nicole; Horowitz, Hannah; Mason, Robert; Witt, Melanie; Corbitt, Elizabeth; Sunderland, Elsie. “Global anthropogenic enrichment of mercury and implications for future environmental concentrations.” Environmental Science and Technology. Vol. 49, No. 7 (March, 2015), 4036–4047. DOI: 10.1021/es5058665

Hagan N, Robins N, Hsu-Kim H, Halabi S, Espinoza Gonzales RD, Ecos E, et al. “Mercury hair levels and factors that influence exposure for residents of Huancavelica, Peru.” Environmental Geochemistry and Health. Vol. 36, No. 6 (December, 2014). doi: 10.1007/s10653-014-9665-9

Hagan N, Robins N, Espinoza Gonzales RD, Hsu-Kim H. “Speciation and bioaccessibility of mercury in adobe bricks and dirt floors in Huancavelica, Peru.” Environmental Geochemistry and Health Vol. 36, No. 4 (August, 2014). DOI 10.1007/s10653-014-9644-1

Robins, Nicholas. “La leyenda negra: esclavos negros en las minas de Potosí.” In Mitos Expuestos: Leyendas Falsas de Bolivia. Nicholas Robins and Rosario Barahona, eds. (Cochabamba, Bolivia: Editorial Kipus, 2014).

Hagan N, Robins N, Hsu-Kim H, Halabi S, Espinoza Gonzales RD, et al. (2013) “Residential Mercury Contamination in Adobe Brick Homes in Huancavelica, Peru.” PLoS ONE Vol. 8 No. 9. (September, 2013) doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0075179.

“Mercurio, minería y Potosí: Una aproximación de salud ambiental colonial.” Anuario del Archivo y Biblioteca Nacionales de Bolivia (Sucre, Bolivia: Archivo y Biblioteca Nacionales de Bolivia, 2012).

Robins, N.A., N. Hagan, S. Halabi, H. Hsu-Kim, R.D. Espinoza Gonzales, M. Morris, G. Woodall, D. Richter, P. Heine, T. Zhang, A. Bacon, and J. Vandenberg. “Estimations of Historical Atmospheric Mercury Concentrations from Mercury Refining and Present-Day Soil Concentrations of Total Mercury in Huancavelica Peru.” Science of the Total Environment. Vol. 426, No. 11 (June, 2012):146-154. 2012. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.03.082

Robins, N.A., and N.A. Hagan. “Mercury Production and Use in Colonial Andean Silver Production: Emissions and Health Implications.” Environmental Health Perspectives. Vol. 120, No. 5 (May, 2012): 627-631. doi: 10.1289/ehp.1104192.

Hagan, N, N.A. Robins, H. Hsu-Kim, T. Zhang, M. Morris, G. Woodall, S. Halabi, A. Bacon,  D. Richter and J. Vandenberg. “Estimating Historical Atmospheric Mercury Concentrations from Silver Mining and their Legacies in Present-Day Soils in Potosí, Bolivia.” Atmospheric Environment. Volume 45, No. 40 (December, 2010), 7619-7626.

“Colonial Latin America,” in Handbook of Genocide, Donald Bloxham and Dirk Moses, Eds. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010).

“Symbolism and Subalternity: The 1680 Pueblo Revolt of New Mexico and the 1780-1782 Andean Great Rebellion.” In Genocides By the Oppressed: Subaltern Genocide in Theory and Practice, Nicholas Robins and Adam Jones, Eds. (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2009).

“Comunidad, Cura y Conflicto: El Padre Gregorio Josef de Merlos antes de la rebelión de Tomás Catari de 1780.” Anuario del Archivo y Biblioteca Nacionales de Bolivia (Sucre, Bolivia: Archivo y Biblioteca Nacionales de Bolivia, 2006).

“Introducción,” in Conflictos políticos y movimientos sociales en Bolivia.  Nicholas A. Robins, editor. (La Paz: Plural Editores, 2006).

“Genocide and the Great Rebellion of 1780-1782 in Peru and Upper Peru.” Journal of Genocide Research. vol. 7, no. 3 (September, 2005): 351-375.

“The Limits of Charisma: Leadership and the Great Rebellion of Peru and Upper Peru, 1780-1782.” Anuario del Archivo y Biblioteca Nacionales de Bolivia (Sucre, Bolivia: Archivo y Biblioteca Nacionales de Bolivia, 2005).

“Introducción” in Cambio y continuidad en Bolivia: etnicidad, cultura e identidad. Nicholas A. Robins, editor (La Paz: Plural Editores, 2005).

“La dimensión exterminadora de la Gran Rebelión de 1780-1782,” in Cambio y continuidad en Boliva: etnicidad, cultura e identidad. Nicholas A. Robins, editor (La Paz: Plural Editores, 2005).

“Reformismo y Rebelión: La visión de Tomás Catari,” in Cambio y continuidad en Boliva: etnicidad, cultura e identidad. Nicholas A. Robins, editor (La Paz: Plural Editores, 2005).

For the Diccionario Histórico de Bolivia, Ed. Josep Barnadas (Sucre: Editorial Túpac Katari, 2002):

“El levantimiento de Oruro de 1781.”

“Los levantimientos de 1780-1781.”

“Perfil de Sebastian Pagador.”

“Perfiles de los hermanos Juan y Jacinto Rodríguez de Herrera.”

“Perfil de Túpac Catari.”

“El levantimiento de Túpac Amaru.”

“El levantimiento de Andrés Túpac Amaru”

“Ambivilencias y contradicciones en la Gran Rebelión de 1780-1782. Anuario del Archivo y Biblioteca Nacionales de Bolivia (Sucre, Bolivia: Archivo y Biblioteca Nacionales de Bolivia, 2000).

“Building Bridges Over Troubled Waters: Developing Academic Relations with Cuban Institutions.” International Educator, Vol. IX, No. 3, (Summer, 2000): 6-11.

“Normalized Trade Relations Between the United States and Cuba: Economic Impact on New Orleans and Louisiana. Co-authored with Maria Trujillo. . Cuba in Transition. Vol. 9, Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy (Washington, DC: 1999).

“Genocidio y exterminio cultural en la rebelión del Alto Peru, 1780-1782.” Anuario del Archivo y Biblioteca Nacionales de Bolivia (Sucre, Bolivia: Archivo y Biblioteca Nacionales de Bolivia, 1998).

“La rebelión de Oruro de 1781: Un movimiento mesiánico indígena.” Anuario del Archivo y Biblioteca Nacionales de Bolivia (Sucre, Bolivia: Archivo y Biblioteca Nacionales de Bolivia, 1997).