Dr Molly Avery

BA (Cambridge), MSc, PhD (London School of Economics)

School of History, Philosophy and Digital Humanities

Lecturer in the History of the Americas

Lecturer in the History of the Americas, Dr Molly Avery
Profile picture of Lecturer in the History of the Americas, Dr Molly Avery
m.avery@sheffield.ac.uk

Full contact details

Dr Molly Avery
School of History, Philosophy and Digital Humanities
Jessop West
1 Upper Hanover Street
91Ö±²¥
S3 7RA
Profile

My teaching and research focus on the history of Latin America in the second half of the twentieth century. In particular, I am interested in Latin America’s Cold War, anticommunist internationalism and the history of dictatorship and violence in both the Southern Cone and Central America. While my current research addresses multiple countries in the region, I have a particular interest in the international history of the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile (1973-1990). Both my teaching and research seek to highlight the agency and influence of Latin American actors in the international history of the Americas during the twentieth century.

I am currently working on my first book, Building an Anitcommunist International, which argues that the Chilean and Argentine military dictatorships played a vital – and understudied – role in the conflicts in Guatemala and El Salvador between 1977 and 1984. This book seeks to change prevailing understandings of the Cold War conflagration in Central America, challenging US-centric perspectives and revealing the interconnected nature of histories of anticommunist internationalism, violence and dictatorship in Latin America during the Cold War.

My research has been supported by the Society for Latin American Studies, the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations and the Royal Historical Society, among others.

Prior to joining 91Ö±²¥ in 2023 I taught at Queen Mary, University of London. I completed my PhD in International History at the London School of Economics in 2022.

Research interests

I am a historian of modern Latin America, with a focus on Latin America’s Cold War, anticommunist internationalism and the history of dictatorship and violence in both the Southern Cone and Central America. While my current research addresses multiple countries in the region, I have a particular interest in the international history of the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile (1973-1990).

My current book project draws on sources from the United States, Central and South America to tell the story of Chilean and Argentine involvement in the civil wars in Guatemala and El Salvador between 1977 and 1984. I have published two articles related to this research in the Journal of Latin American Studies and The Americas. This book seeks to challenge US-centric interpretations of the international history of Central America and to draw connections between Southern Cone and Central American experiences of violence and dictatorship during the Cold War. This project also connects to my interest in in the history of inter-American relations and the ways in which Latin Americans sought to shape US policy in the hemisphere.

My second major research project will address the international history of the Pinochet dictatorship in the 1980s, particularly in the years leading up to democratisation.

Teaching activities

Undergraduate:

  • HST2114 - From Democracy to Dictatorship: the 1973 coup in Chile
  • HST3206 - Revolution, Dictatorship and Democracy in Latin America, 1944-1990
  • HST3306 - A Comparative History of Revolutions

Postgraduate:

  • HST401 - The Global Cold War
  • HST425 - Thinking Hemispherically: the Americas in the twentieth century