PhD student, Department of History. The University of Texas at Austin
Fall 2022 - Present
MA, History, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Santiago, Chile
2019
BA, History, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Santiago, Chile

Hola/Hello, I am Yohad Zacarías S., a PhD graduate student in History at the University of Texas at Austin. I earned my B.A. and M.A. in History from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC) in Santiago, Chile.

As a Fulbright doctoral scholar, my research interests converge on the rural, urban, environmental, and technological impacts of electrification in Chile and Latin America between the late 19th and 20th centuries. My doctoral project delves into the history of rural electrification and the environment in Chile during the Latin American Cold War. In particular, I examine the influence of Southern Chilean cooperatives on the state’s electrification policies and the technological relationships between Chile and the United States.

Before my graduate studies, I worked as a teaching and research assistant at universities in Chile. Additionally, between 2014 and 2022, I served as the Outbound International Mobility Coordinator at the International Relations Office of the University of Chile. As a first-generation student, I worked and am interested in creating opportunities and scholarships for low-income students at the university level.

My research has been recognized and supported by grants from organizations such as the American Society for Environmental History (ASEH), the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT), the Conference on Latin American History (CLAH), the Tinker Foundation, the Erasmus Program, the Society for Latin American and Caribbean Environmental History (SOLCHA), the Red de Estudios de Ciencias y Saberes en Latinoamérica y el Caribe (RECSLAC), the College of Liberal Arts (The University of Texas at Austin), and the Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice (School of Law, the University of Texas at Austin).

If you have any questions, feel free to email me. You can also find me on Bluesky and Twitter. 

– SELECTED PUBLICATIONS – 

PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLES

2023. “Los inicios del alumbrado eléctrico en Santiago de Chile. Visiones Municipales, centralidad y tecnología en el espacio urbano en el cambio de siglo”. Revista Historia Y Patrimonio 2 (2023), pp. 1-25. https://doi.org/10.5354/2810-6245.2023.70625

2021. English version: “The Electric Fluid and the Search for Materiality: Visions of Energy and Technology in the Advertising of the First Electric Lights. Santiago, Chile. 1900-1920”. Diseña, (18), Article 3, pp. 1-18 https://doi.org/10.7764/disena.18.Article.3

Spanish version: “El fluido eléctrico y la búsqueda de materialidad: tecnología y visiones de la energía en la publicidad de los primeros alumbrados eléctricos. Santiago de Chile. 1900-1920. Diseña, (18), Article 3, pp. 1-18 https://revistadisena.uc.cl/index.php/Disena/article/view/14002/22665

PEER-REVIEWED BOOK CHAPTERS

2021. “La construcción de una ciudad cableada y la extensión del tranvía eléctrico: Electrificación, desarrollo técnico y nuevas configuraciones del espacio urbano. Santiago de Chile, 1890 – 1920,” La ciudad en movimiento: estudios históricos sobre transporte colectivo y movilidad en Santiago de Chile, siglos XIX y XX. Simón Castillo y Marcelo Mardones (eds). Ediciones Universidad Alberto Hurtado, pp. 127-171: https://ediciones.uahurtado.cl/libro/la-ciudad-en-movimiento

BOOK REVIEWS

2024: Daniela Serra, De la naturaleza a la vitrina. Claudio Gay y el Gabinete de Historia Natural de Santiago, 2023, Historia Crítica, https://bit.ly/3VrftMv

2024: Jenny Leigh Robertson, Thomas B., eds, Transplanting Modernity? The Environmental Legacy of International Development, 2023, H-Sci-Med-Tech, H-Net Reviews, https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=60204 

2024: Xaq Frohlich, From Label to Table: Regulating Food in America in the Information Age, 2023, Not Even Past, https://rb.gy/53cgpx