Heider Tun Tun Ph.D.

Heider Tun Tun (Firm Rock, in Yucatec Maya) is an assistant professor of History. He is a first-generation Mayan scholar from Tahmek (place of the big hug), Mexico. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota, Twin-Cities, and his postdoctoral studies at the University of California, Irvine. Over the years, Heider has advocated for diversity and inclusion in higher education, and was awarded a 2021-2022 ACLS Emerging Voices Fellowship. His research focuses on Indigenous and women's activism in Central America and their collaborations with the Catholic Church. He is currently working on a testimonios project with the first human rights organization from El Salvador called Co-Madres which captures the voices of activism, faith, hope, love, and resistance of the Salvadoran women that responded to the violence of the armed conflict in their country (1980-1992). In addition, his doctoral thesis and scholarship address how Mayan people and Catholic missionaries worked together in Guatemala to promote equality and dignity for marginalized communities.