Pilar Maria Herr, PhD

  • Associate Professor of History

Pilar M. Herr, PhD, is an Associate Professor of History and the coordinator for the Vira I. Heinz Program in Women in Global Leadership at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg (Pitt-Greensburg). She teaches Latin American History courses as well as the History and Culture of Spain. Besides taking and teaching students abroad in both Spain and Cuba, Dr. Herr has also taken students to conferences. As Vira I. Heinz coordinator, she oversees and mentors Vira I. Heinz recipients (up to 3 yearly) in their one-year program. Her research interests are in nineteenth-century state formation and ethnohistory in the Southern Cone, as well as digital humanities. Dr. Herr is the author of Contested Nation: The Mapuche, Bandits, and State Formation in Nineteenth-Century Chile, and she frequently presents at conferences and attends digital humanities workshops and courses. Her new project is a collaborative team project that consists of a digital edition of Mapuche Parlamento treaties in both Spanish and English with contextual essays and teaching materials. Additionally, she developed a "home away" component to her History of Mexico course that will incorporate a one week stay in el Paso over Spring Break 2022 for students to experience first-hand what it means to be on the actual Mexican-American border.