Staff Profile

Jose R. Deustua was born in Lima, Peru, where he pursued studies in History and Sociology at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru, 1972-1980.  He earned a "Diplome" in General Studies, Letters, in 1974, a Bachellor's of Arts in 1979, a Licenciatura in 1981, and another BA in History in 1980.  His Licenciatura Dissertation ( the equivalent of a Master's Thesis in the US) entitled, "Azucar, Complejos Agro Industriales and Trabajadores en Lambayeque", dealt with sugar production, haciendas and agricultural complexes, and workers and their organizations in the 1950s-1960s, before the nationalist reforms of President, General Juan Velasco Alvarado, 1968-1975.

Dr. Deustua started his career as a Researcher and University Professor in Lima, Cusco, Lambayeque, and Cerro de Pasco in Peru.  He taught at the Universidad de San Marcos where he became an Assistant and Associate Professor ("Profesor Auxiliar").  He also taught at the Universidad de Lima and "La Academia Diplomatica del Peru" (the Academy for Foreign Service) with colleagues such as Alberto Flores Galindo, Ernesto Yepez del Castillo, Nelson Manrique.  In terms of Research, he worked for many years at the Instituto de Estudios Peruanos (IEP), where he is still a Research Associate.  During these years Dr. Deustua edited Luis E. Valcarcel. Memorias (Lima, 1981) with Jose Matos Mar and Jose Luis Renique, and co-authored with Jose Luis Renique Intelectuales, Indigenismo y Descentralismo en el Peru, 1897-1931 (Cusco, 1984).

In 1983 he traveled to Paris, France, with a fellowship of the French Ministry of Foreign Relations, where he studied at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, obtained another MA in History (Diplome des Etudes Approfondies) and a Doctorate (Doctorat en Histoire, Nouveau Regime).  He worked under the supervision of Ruggiero Romano and Nathan Wachtel.  His doctoral dissertation, "Mines, Monnaie et Hommes dans les Andes.  Une Histoire Economique et Sociale de l'Activite Miniere dans le Perou du XIXe siecle" (EHESS, Paris, 1989; 2 volumes, 804 pages) obtained the distinction "Tres Honorable", the highest in the French university system.Still based in Peru, Dr. Deustua taught in the United States at Stanford University (Tinker Visiting Professorship), University of Miami, and Florida International University.  Once in this country, he has been at the University of Washington, University of Illinois at Chicago, and currently at Eastern Illinois University, where he is a professor in the Department of History, and currently the Chair of the Latino/Latin American Studies Committee.

In terms of publications, he wrote and published La Mineria Peruana y la Iniciacion de la Republica, 1820-1840 (Lima, 1986), The Bewitchment of Silver, The Social Economy of Mining in 19th-century Peru (Athens, OH, 2000), El Embrujo de la Plata. La Economia Social de la Mineria en el Peru del siglo XIX (Lima, 2009) and co-authored Historia Economica del Peru, 1820-1930 (Lima, forthcoming).  He has also published many articles in the United States, Europe, and Latin America, in journals such as Latin American Research Review,Hispanic American Historical Review, Revista Andina, HISLA: Revista Latinoamericana de Historia Economica y Social, Analisis, Historias, etc. He has also been a member of the Board of Editors at Revista Andina, and a member of the Advisory Board at HISLA.