Pete Soland is a scholar of Latin American History, specializing in modern Mexico. He earned his doctorate in History from the University of Arizona in the summer of 2016 after successfully defending his dissertation “Mexican Icarus: Modernity, National Identity, and Aviation Development in Mexico, 1928–1958.” The study explores the spectacle of aviation in cultural events including film, airshows, goodwill flights, and state-sponsored funerals, connecting the history of aviation to oftentimes conflicting discourses of Revolutionary nationalism and modern cosmopolitanism espoused by both national and regional elites. His fascination with the connections between culture and technology continues to drive his research here at Fort Lewis, where he is examining issues related to uranium mining in the Southwest and Peru.