Welcome!
My name is Gregory Valdespino, a historian specializing in the history of modern Europe and Africa, with a particular interest in urbanization, migration and governance. Trained as a social and cultural historian, my research explains the changing way people and societies have defined and accessed their basic needs. I I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of History at the University of Iowa.
I am currently completing my book project, The Politics of Dwelling: Making Home Between France and Senegal, 1914-1974. In this book I argue that Senegalese urbanites and migrants made new framework for making political demands based on the French state’s increasing efforts to manage their domestic lives and spaces. I am also beginning a new project on the relationship between food infrastructure, sovereignty, and decolonization.
I received my PhD in History from the University of Chicago and my BA in History from Stanford University.
