Lisa Covert

Professor

Lisa Covert earned her Ph.D. from Yale University. She specializes in Latin American history and is an affiliate of the Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Urban Studies, and the Women’s and Gender Studies programs.

Covert's book, San Miguel de Allende: Mexicans, Foreigners, and the Making of a World Heritage Site (University of Nebraska Press, 2017), examines how a once small, quiet Mexican town became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to one of Mexico's largest foreign populations. The study explores the intersections of economic development strategies and national identity formation, revealing new insights into how towns and cities grappled with change in the twentieth century.

Covert is currently working on two projects driven by the following questions: who gets to define cultural patrimony, who gets to benefit, and how does this help us understand changing power dynamics between international organizations, national governments, and local communities? The first project examines conflicting visions for rebuilding Cusco, Peru in the aftermath of the 1950 earthquake. The second project seeks to reimagine Charleston’s history and urban space from the “people’s” perspective.

Covert is currently serving as the President of the Southeastern Council of Latin American Studies.

Education

Ph.D. Yale University, 2010

M.Phil. History, Yale University, 2006

M.A. History, Yale Univeristy, 2006

B.A. History, California State University, Long Beach, 2003

Research Interests

Latin American History

Mexican History

U.S.-Latin American relations

Cold War

Tourism

Urban History

Economic Development

Cultural Heritage

Disasters

Courses Taught

Latin America since Independence

The Modern City

Revolutionary Lives

Latin American History through Film

Transnational Histories of the Americas

Tourism and Cultural Heritage in Latin America

Honors and Awards

Rockefeller Archive Center Research Grant, 2022

Fulbright Global Scholar Research Award (Peru, France), 2019

College of Charleston Faculty Research Grant, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2025

Leylan Dissertation Fellowship, Yale University, 2008-2009

Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Fellowship, 2007-2008

Andrew W. Mellon Dissertation Research Fellowship in Latin American History, 2006-2007

Myrna F. Bernath Dissertation Fellowship, Society of Historians of American Foreign Relations, 2007

Publications

San Miguel de Allende: Mexicans, Foreigners, and the Making of a World Heritage Site, The Mexican Experience Series, University of Nebraska Press, 2017

“Whose Revolution? Revisiting Historical Categories,” American Historical Review, “History Unclassified,” Vol. 130, no. 3, September 2025, 1116-1122

“The AIA and Public-Private Collaborations in Response to the 1950 Cusco Earthquake,” Rockefeller Archive Center Research Reports, March 2023

“Barriadas and Housing Policy in the Aftermath of the 1950 Cusco Earthquake,” Histórica, Vol. 46, No. 2, December 2022

“Reframing Guanajuato’s Indigenous Past: Archaeological Field Notes and Development Priorities,” The Latin Americanist, Vol. 65, No. 1, 2021

“Post-Disaster Urban Planning, Cultural Patrimony, and Cusco’s Templo de Santiago,” Turismo y Patrimonio, Vol. 13, 2019, doi: 10.24265/turpatrim.2019.n13.06

“The GI Bill Abroad: A Postwar Experiment in Foreign Relations,” Diplomatic History, January 2015, doi: 10.1093/dh/dhu074

"The Political Economy of Mexico's Independence Heroes: Sellling Public History in San Miguel de Allende," The Latin Americanist, Vol. 54, No. 4, December 2010 

"Colonial Outpost to Artists' Mecca: Conflict and Collaboration in the Development of San Miguel de Allende's Tourist Industry" in Holiday in Mexico: Critical Reflections on Tourism and Tourist Encounters. Edited by Dina Berger and Andrew G. Wood, Duke University Press, 2010

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