About the Scholar...
The author received her doctorate in Social Sciences with a specialization in Anthropology. She is a titular researcher at CIESAS, an institute that she directed from 1990 to 1996. She received the Francisco Javier Clavijero price in History and Ethnohistory given by INAH for the best doctoral thesis in 1985, and in 1987 she received the Social Sciences Prize from the Academia Mexicana de Ciencias. More recently she was accorded the Manuel Rodríguez Lapuente medal recognizing her contributions to social science, granted in 1003 by the Universidad de Guadalajara. Dr. Rojas’ research specialties are the ethnohistory of agriculture, irrigation and Mesoamerican technology, and their transformation during the Spanish colonial period. She directs the collection Historia de los Pueblos Indígenas de México (20 volumes), the four volume study, Bienes y vidas olvidados: Testamentos indígenas novohispanos, and a 6 CD-Rom publication, Fotografía histórica de indígenas mexicanos; catalogación y análysis. She is also the author of many books and articles, guides research projects, organizes conferences, and participates in various commissions.