Biography

Derek Burdette completed his PhD in Art History and Latin American Studies from Tulane University in 2012.  He is a specialist in Latin American art history, with particular focus upon the arts of Mexico both before and after the conquest.  Prior to coming to UF, he taught at the University of Oregon, Swarthmore College and Pennsylvania State University.  

Burdette’s research focuses on the intersections of art, religion and colonialism in Latin America. He is especially interested in the history of miraculous imagery in colonial Mexico City (1521-1821).  He is currently at work on a book project, Miraculous Celebrity: The Señor de Ixmiquilpan and Colonial Politics in Mexico City, which recounts the often-overlooked history of one of the region’s most famous miraculous crucifixes. The book deploys the Señor de Ixmiquilpan’s biography, reconstructed from a remarkable array of visual, printed and archival sources, to connect the dots between the production and veneration of miraculous artworks and the politics of colonialism within Mexico City.