Kris Eugene Lane (born April 7, 1967) is a Canadian–American Fulbright scholar, researcher, professor, and author. His areas of academic teaching and research focus on colonial Latin American history. He has written and edited several books and articles on slavery,

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have ...

headhunting Headhunting is the practice of hunting a human and collecting the severed head after killing the victim, although sometimes more portable body parts (such as ear, nose or scalp) are taken instead as trophies. Headhunting was practiced in h ...

, mining, human trafficking, and piracy in the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

. Lane is the Frances V. Scholes Chair of Colonial Latin American History at

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

. He previously taught

Latin American History The term ''Latin America'' primarily refers to the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries in the New World. Before the arrival of Europeans in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, the region was home to many indigenous peoples, a number of ...

at the

College of William and Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III ...

in Virginia, is the general editor of the ''Colonial Latin American Review'', and a member of the board of editors of the ''

Hispanic American Historical Review ''The Hispanic American Historical Review'' is a quarterly, peer-reviewed, scholarly journal of Latin American history, the official publication of the Conference on Latin American History, the professional organization of Latin American historia ...

''.

Early life

Lane was born in

Creston, British Columbia Creston is a town in the Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia, Canada. By road, Creston is roughly equidistant between Cranbrook ( to the east) and Castlegar ( to the west) along the Crowsnest Highway. The town is approximately nort ...

. He is the son of Rustin and Grace Fletcher. He was raised in

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, and

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. Lane is married with one daughter. He attended the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sy ...

, graduating in 1991 with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in History and Latin American Studies. In 1996, he earned his

Ph.D A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in History from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

Career

In 1997, Lane joined the teaching staff of the

in Virginia, where he taught history. During his employment, he was honored as one of the school's inaugural recipients of the Joseph Plumeri Award, which recognizes the university's faculty for excellence in teaching, research, and community service. He has also served as a visiting professor at the National University of Colombia and the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...

. Lane has traveled extensively in South- and Central America and has written, edited, and collaborated in presenting his research on piracy, slavery, gold mining, headhunting, and witchcraft in colonial Ecuador and Colombia. , he serves as the general editor of the interdisciplinary journal ''Colonial Latin American Review''. He has also edited Bernardo Vargas Machuca's work, ''Indian Militia and Description of the Indies'' and ''Defense and Discourse of the Western Conquests'', following their translations from Spanish. Published in Madrid, the two works were training manuals for conquistadors, written in 1599 by Vargas, as an extension of his military service in Italy and South America.

Awards

* 2005: Fulbright Lecture Research Fellowship * 2005: Edwin Lieuwen Memorial Prize for Teaching, awarded by the Rocky Mountain Council of Latin American Studies * 2009: Joseph Plumeri Award for Faculty Excellence

Published works

Books

* * * * * * Potosí: The Silver City That Changed the World. Oakland: University of California Press. 2019. .

Journals

* * * *

Footnotes

External links

Kris Lane
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lane, Kris 1967 births 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers College of William & Mary faculty Historians of Latin America Living people University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts alumni American male non-fiction writers