Jeremy Mikecz is an Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Digital Humanities at the University of Southern California. Jeremy is a historian doing research at the intersection of geography and ethno-, social, and digital history. His current research combines old-fashioned archival research and 'close reading' with digital text analysis and mapping to reconstruct indigenous activity and its role in shaping the events of conquest-era Peru. More broadly, his research experiments with the use of digital tools to reconstruct the history of marginalized people. In other words, this work proposes an agenda and a methodology for a 'digital history from below.'Jeremy's work was most recently published in the International Journal of Humanities and Arts Computing (Edinburgh University Press, March 2017): "Peering beyond the Imperial Gaze: Using Digital Tools to Construct a Spatial History of Conquest." Supervisors: Charles F. Walker, Andrés Reséndez, Anne K. Knowles, David Garrett, Myron Gutmann, and Peter Mancall
An English version of a book review of mine published in Spanish in the Peruvian journal, Revista... more An English version of a book review of mine published in Spanish in the Peruvian journal, Revista Andina (2015).
The Spanish conquistadores' capture of the Inka emperor, Atawallpa, and massacre of many of his p... more The Spanish conquistadores' capture of the Inka emperor, Atawallpa, and massacre of many of his people in Cajamarca on November 16, 1532, was a tremendously consequential event. How does our view of such an event change, however, when viewed at a distance and from different places? Relying on Indigenous testimony, this article threads together the stories and actions of provincial folk, Andean lords, female intermediaries, fugitive Inka royalty, runner-messengers, porters, and slaves maneuvering beyond Cajamarca during this chaotic and confusing time. Reconstructing and mapping their activity demonstrates how Andean diplomacy, mobility, politics, and history made the conquistadores' survival in Cajamarca-and subsequent advance to Cuzco-possible. It also presents glimpses into how and why Andeans made the decisions they did and serves as a useful reminder that, to these actors in 1532 and 1533, nothing was inevitable.
International Journal of Humanities and Arts Computing, 2017
Ethnohistorians and other scholars have long noted how European colonial texts often concealed th... more Ethnohistorians and other scholars have long noted how European colonial texts often concealed the presence and participation of indigenous peoples in New World conquests. This scholarship has examined how European sources (both texts and maps) have denied indigenous history, omitted indigenous presence, elided indigenous agency, and ignored indigenous spaces all while exaggerating their own power and importance. These works provide examples of colonial authors performing these erasures, often as a means to dispossess. What they lack, however, is a systematic means of identifying, locating, and measuring these silences in space and time. This article proposes a spatial history methodology which can make visible, as well as measurable and quantifiable the ways in which indigenous people and spaces have been erased by colonial narratives. It presents two methods for doing this. First, narrative analysis and geovisualization are used to deconstruct the imperial histories found in colonial European sources. Second it combines text with maps to tell a new (spatial) narrative of conquest. This new narrative reconstructs indigenous activity through a variety of digital maps, including 'mood maps', indigenous activity maps, and maps of indigenous aid. The resulting spatial narrative shows the Spanish conquest of Peru was never inevitable and was dependent on the constant aid of immense numbers of indigenous people.
An English version of a book review of mine published in Spanish in the Peruvian journal, Revista... more An English version of a book review of mine published in Spanish in the Peruvian journal, Revista Andina (2015).
The Spanish conquistadores' capture of the Inka emperor, Atawallpa, and massacre of many of his p... more The Spanish conquistadores' capture of the Inka emperor, Atawallpa, and massacre of many of his people in Cajamarca on November 16, 1532, was a tremendously consequential event. How does our view of such an event change, however, when viewed at a distance and from different places? Relying on Indigenous testimony, this article threads together the stories and actions of provincial folk, Andean lords, female intermediaries, fugitive Inka royalty, runner-messengers, porters, and slaves maneuvering beyond Cajamarca during this chaotic and confusing time. Reconstructing and mapping their activity demonstrates how Andean diplomacy, mobility, politics, and history made the conquistadores' survival in Cajamarca-and subsequent advance to Cuzco-possible. It also presents glimpses into how and why Andeans made the decisions they did and serves as a useful reminder that, to these actors in 1532 and 1533, nothing was inevitable.
International Journal of Humanities and Arts Computing, 2017
Ethnohistorians and other scholars have long noted how European colonial texts often concealed th... more Ethnohistorians and other scholars have long noted how European colonial texts often concealed the presence and participation of indigenous peoples in New World conquests. This scholarship has examined how European sources (both texts and maps) have denied indigenous history, omitted indigenous presence, elided indigenous agency, and ignored indigenous spaces all while exaggerating their own power and importance. These works provide examples of colonial authors performing these erasures, often as a means to dispossess. What they lack, however, is a systematic means of identifying, locating, and measuring these silences in space and time. This article proposes a spatial history methodology which can make visible, as well as measurable and quantifiable the ways in which indigenous people and spaces have been erased by colonial narratives. It presents two methods for doing this. First, narrative analysis and geovisualization are used to deconstruct the imperial histories found in colonial European sources. Second it combines text with maps to tell a new (spatial) narrative of conquest. This new narrative reconstructs indigenous activity through a variety of digital maps, including 'mood maps', indigenous activity maps, and maps of indigenous aid. The resulting spatial narrative shows the Spanish conquest of Peru was never inevitable and was dependent on the constant aid of immense numbers of indigenous people.
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