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Adolfo Polo y La Borda
Assistant Professor of Early Modern History, Faculty of Arts
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Biography
I am a historian of the Spanish Empire and early modern globalisation. I was born a raised in Cusco, in the heart of the Peruvian Andes, and received my BA and MA in history from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. I got my PhD in History from the University of Maryland, College Park (USA). Before coming to Nottingham in 2023, I taught at the Universidad de los Andes (Bogota, Colombia) from 2019-2022 and at the University of T眉bingen (Germany).
Expertise Summary
My academic interest centres on the, often hidden and underestimated, early modern global exchanges and interconnections and the bumpy developments of empires. My research has focused on the political culture of the global Spanish Empire during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. My first book, Global Servants of the Spanish King. Mobility and Cosmopolitanism in the Early Modern Spanish Empire (Cambridge University Express, 2025), studies the worldwide mobility of the lower echelon of Spanish imperial officialdom and the development and limits of cosmopolitan ideas and practices.
Teaching Summary
I am convinced of the liberating power of education. One of the most effective ways to promote inclusion is to diversify our understanding and study of History. My personal trajectory of teaching… read more
Research Summary
- Global Spanish Empire
- Science and Archives
- Linguistic encounters
- Global history of Cusco
Selected Publications
POLO Y LA BORDA, ADOLFO, 2025. Global Servants of the Spanish King: Mobility and Cosmopolitanism in the Early Modern Spanish Empire Cambridge University Press.
POLO Y LA BORDA, ADOLFO, 2021. Between America and the Maghrib: The Marquis of Varinas and the Weapons of the Exile. In: ZWIERLEIN, CORNEL, ed., The Power of the Dispersed. Early Modern Global Travelers beyond Integration Brill. 333-361
POLO Y LA BORDA, ADOLFO, 2019. Don Mauro's Letters: The Marquis of Villagarcia and the Imperial Networks of Patronage in Spain AMERICAS. 76(4), 555-583
POLO Y LA BORDA, ADOLFO, 2019. La experiencia del imperio. M茅ritos y saber de los oficiales imperiales espa帽oles Historia Cr铆tica. 65-93
I am convinced of the liberating power of education. One of the most effective ways to promote inclusion is to diversify our understanding and study of History. My personal trajectory of teaching across borders has reinforced my conviction in the importance of thinking beyond frontiers and looking at the bigger picture, while attending to diversity and the peculiar contexts in which social actors appeared and performed.
In addition to convening the first-year module "Themes in Early Modern History", I will teach the second-year option "The Early Modern Global Spanish Empire (1450-1850).
POLO Y LA BORDA, ADOLFO, 2025. Global Servants of the Spanish King: Mobility and Cosmopolitanism in the Early Modern Spanish Empire Cambridge University Press.
POLO Y LA BORDA, ADOLFO, 2023. 惭补驳补濒濒谩苍颈肠补. 10(19), 20-47
POLO Y LA BORDA, ADOLFO, 2022. Los or铆genes del corrregidor del Cusco y el establecimiento de la soberan铆a del Rey. Una perspectiva atl谩ntica. In: MORONG, GERM脕N and GLO脣L, MATTHIAS, eds., Gobernar el virreinato del Per煤, S. XVI-XVII praxis pol铆tico-jurisdiccional, redes de poder y usos de la informaci贸n oficial Sind茅resis ; CEH-UBO ediciones. 305-331
POLO Y LA BORDA, ADOLFO, 2021. Between America and the Maghrib: The Marquis of Varinas and the Weapons of the Exile. In: ZWIERLEIN, CORNEL, ed., The Power of the Dispersed. Early Modern Global Travelers beyond Integration Brill. 333-361
POLO Y LA BORDA, ADOLFO, 2021. Los Pa铆ses Bajos, la Monarqu铆a Hisp谩nica y Europa en los siglos XVI y XVII. In: LAURENT, MURIEL, ed., El sello de Amberes: libros flamencos en Santaf茅, siglos XVI y XVII Universidad del Rosario, Universidad de los Andes. 1-15
POLO Y LA BORDA, ADOLFO, 2020. Anuario de Historia de Am茅rica Latina. 57, 52-86
POLO Y LA BORDA, ADOLFO, 2019. Don Mauro's Letters: The Marquis of Villagarcia and the Imperial Networks of Patronage in Spain AMERICAS. 76(4), 555-583
POLO Y LA BORDA, ADOLFO, 2019. La experiencia del imperio. M茅ritos y saber de los oficiales imperiales espa帽oles Historia Cr铆tica. 65-93
POLO Y LA BORDA, ADOLFO, 2016. Rethinking the Spanish Imperial Archives: Dissertation Reviews Dissertation Reviews.
POLO Y LA BORDA, ADOLFO, 2007. Identidad y poder en los conflictos por las preeminencias en el siglo XVII: Hist贸rica 贬颈蝉迟贸谤颈肠补. 31(2), 7-42