Grad student, Phillip Ninomiya, has recently been awarded a 2015 UC MEXUS dissertation research grant for his dissertation, "Colonial Cosmopolitanism: Local Merchants and the Trade in Pacific Goods in Mexico, 1620-1670."
In regards to the recent award and the progres it will allow him to make on his dissertation, Ninomiya says:
My project examines the trade in silks, ceramics, lacquerware and other imports from Asia in communities within colonial Mexico. I follow the actions of small-scale merchants who brought these goods to understand how this commercial contact linked local consumers with distant manufacturers. In other words, I am interested in how colonial Mexicans became cosmopolitan through participation in this trade.
I spent the fall quarter conducting research in Europe. I was mostly in Seville at the Archivo General de Indias, though I did spend one week at the British Library in London as well. Starting from the end of January, I will go to Mexico for six months to continue my investigations there. My work concentrates on four locations: Mexico City, Puebla, Toluca and Acapulco. I will visit the first three cities on this trip.
I will employ the UC MEXUS funding to return to Mexico during the 2016-2017 school year to continue my work over there. I will be able to extend my work further into archives that I would not be able to see on this upcoming trip, and I will also be able to reach Acapulco for more research, as it was the gateway for all this commerce.
In regards to the recent award and the progres it will allow him to make on his dissertation, Ninomiya says:
My project examines the trade in silks, ceramics, lacquerware and other imports from Asia in communities within colonial Mexico. I follow the actions of small-scale merchants who brought these goods to understand how this commercial contact linked local consumers with distant manufacturers. In other words, I am interested in how colonial Mexicans became cosmopolitan through participation in this trade.
I spent the fall quarter conducting research in Europe. I was mostly in Seville at the Archivo General de Indias, though I did spend one week at the British Library in London as well. Starting from the end of January, I will go to Mexico for six months to continue my investigations there. My work concentrates on four locations: Mexico City, Puebla, Toluca and Acapulco. I will visit the first three cities on this trip.
I will employ the UC MEXUS funding to return to Mexico during the 2016-2017 school year to continue my work over there. I will be able to extend my work further into archives that I would not be able to see on this upcoming trip, and I will also be able to reach Acapulco for more research, as it was the gateway for all this commerce.