Dr. Nadia Cervantes Pérez

Biography

Nadia Cervantes Pérez is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Princeton University, where she teaches courses on Spanish language, Latin American literature, and colonial cultural history. She earned her Ph.D. in Spanish from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her research focuses on Indigenous languages of the Americas, ritual performance, and the representation of Aztec sacrifice in colonial Mexican historiography. She is currently working on a book project titled 'El archivo expiatorio: El sacrificio azteca y la historia del México Colonial,' which examines how narratives of sacrifice have shaped understandings of Indigenous cultures in the Early Modern World. At Princeton, Cervantes Pérez is committed to innovative teaching and engages in collaborative projects that connect her research with the classroom. She directs 'Translating Mesoamerica,' a digital initiative that engages students with public Nahuatl manuscripts from colonial Mexico and Central America. Her work has received multiple grants to support language pedagogy, curriculum development, and community engagement, with a particular interest in creating opportunities for students to encounter and learn from Indigenous voices and traditions.

Research Interests