Charles Pigott

Dr

  • United Kingdom

Accepting PhD Students

PhD projects

Projects that relate broadly to my areas of expertise, as detailed on this webpage.

Personal profile

Personal Statement

My research and teaching focus on literature produced in Spanish and four indigenous languages of Latin America: Yucatec Maya, Nahuatl and both Central and Southern Quechua, spoken in Mexico, Peru and Bolivia, respectively. I combine Literary Studies, Linguistics, Anthropology and Philosophy to explore how indigenous literatures engage with questions of cultural memory and biocultural heritage. I use methods and theories from the Environmental Humanities (particularly ecocriticism) to forge links between the Humanities and Sciences.

I am Lecturer in Hispanic Studies at University of Strathclyde, Quondam Fellow of Hughes Hall (University of Cambridge) and Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy.

Before joining University of Strathclyde, I was Associate Professor of Literature and Humanities at Universidad de las Américas Puebla (UDLAP) in Mexico, where I founded a new series of bilingual indigenous literature published by UDLAP. I now co-edit the series with Martín Tonalmeyotl and Martín Sánchez Camargo: http://blog.udlap.mx/blog/2020/09/udlap-presento-los-primeros-libros-de-la-serie-bilingue-literatura-en-lenguas-originarias/

Previously, I held a three-year Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship at Centre of Latin American Studies, University of Cambridge, and a Research Fellowship at Hughes Hall, during which time I spoke with over thirty Maya authors in Mexico as part of the research for my monograph, Writing the Land, Writing Humanity: The Maya Literary Renaissance https://www.routledge.com/Writing-the-Land-Writing-Humanity-The-Maya-Literary-Renaissance/Pigott/p/book/9780367473525#. During the Fellowship, I spent two months learning the Southern Quechua language in Cuzco, Peru, and another two months learning Nahuatl in Puebla, Mexico. These were the official languages of the Incan and Aztec Empires, and are spoken by millions today.

Prior to my position in Cambridge, I spent a year learning Yucatec Maya at the Autonomous University of Yucatán, funded by a Mexican Government Postdoctoral Fellowship, and held a concurrent Research Associateship at the Zoology Department, University of Oxford. My PhD (University of London, 2013), funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council (UK), involved spending a year in the Peruvian Andes, during which time I learned the Central Quechua language and documented bilingual folksongs composed in Spanish and Quechua. My thesis engaged the folksongs in dialogue with the philosophical perspectives of Derrida, Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty, to explore the extent to which the concept of “identity” is applicable in the Andean cultural context.

Research Interests

Indigenous Studies (particularly in Mexico, Peru and Bolivia)

Cultural memory (especially biocultural heritage)

Environmental Humanities (particularly ecocriticism)

Intercultural Philosophy

Interface between Literary Studies, Linguistics and Anthropology

Expertise & Capabilities

Indigenous languages and literatures of Mexico, Peru and Bolivia

Cultural memory and biocultural heritage in indigenous cultures of Mexico, Peru and Bolivia

Indigenous philosophies of Latin America

Languages: Spanish; French; German; Portuguese; Yucatec Maya; Nahuatl; Central Quechua; Southern Quechua; some Catalan and Italian

Teaching Interests

I am the class coordinator for the Honours classes "Shaping Spain: Ideas, Belief and Identity" (R4449), "Political and Social Crisis in Contemporary Hispanic Cinema" (R4402), and the second-year course "Independence and Isolation in Spain and Latin America" (R4200). I have also introduced a new undergraduate course, "Latin America through Indigenous Eyes".

I am delighted to accept PhD students in any of my areas of expertise. 

Academic / Professional qualifications

Fellow of Higher Education Academy

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
  • SDG 4 - Quality Education
  • SDG 5 - Gender Equality
  • SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
  • SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities
  • SDG 14 - Life Below Water
  • SDG 15 - Life on Land
  • SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
  • SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals

Education/Academic qualification

Doctor of Philosophy, Voices of the Mountains: Language and Identity in Andean Songs, SOAS - University of London

1 Oct 200930 Sept 2013

Award Date: 30 Sept 2013

Master of Arts, Language Documentation and Description, SOAS - University of London

1 Oct 200830 Sept 2009

Award Date: 1 Dec 2009

Bachelor of Arts, Anthropology and Hispanic Studies, University of Glasgow

31 Oct 200228 Jun 2007

Award Date: 28 Jun 2007

External positions

Research Associate, University of Cambridge, Centre of Latin American Studies

12 Nov 2020 → …

Quondam Fellow, Hughes Hall (University of Cambridge)

27 Jun 2018 → …

Keywords

  • Latin America
  • Indigenous Studies
  • Ecocriticism
  • Mexico
  • Peru
  • Intercultural Philosophy
  • Multilingualism
  • Comparative Literature
  • Environmental Humanities
  • Biocultural Heritage
  • Cultural Memory

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