"The Cradle of Words: Language and Knowledge Making in Early Latin America” - Book talk by Valeria López Fadul (Wesleyan University).

Valeria López Fadul is Associate Professor of History and Latin American Studies at Wesleyan University. She researches the intellectual and cultural history of colonial Latin America and early modern Spain, focusing on the philosophy of language and the history of science. 

López Fadul’s recent book, The Cradle of Words: Language and Knowledge in the Spanish Empire (2025, Johns Hopkins University Press), explores how language in 16th century Americas was a resource of local knowledge and history for the Spanish empire during colonization. For more information, visit Dr. López Fadul’s institutional website here.

Hosted by Marcy Norton, Professor of History.