Antonio Sotomayor is Assistant Professor and Librarian for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He obtained his Ph.D. in History from the University of Chicago. His forthcoming book explores the political process of Puerto Rico’s entry into the Olympic movement, a story immersed in local and international politics. Olympic participation for Puerto Ricans became the ideal scenario to perform growing notions of national identity and a platform to engage in international diplomacy. His work also includes two forthcoming articles that analyze the politics behind mid-twentieth century sport and recreational programs in Puerto Rico and how these programs aided the local government in its hegemonic aspirations, given popular claims for sport development.

He is currently working on a study of religion, sport, and imperialism through the YMCA in turn of the twentieth century Puerto Rico, and a comparative study of Olympic and Pan-American participation in Jamaica and Puerto Rico as it relates to national identity and colonialism. He has taught Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the University of Chicago, and at Knox College in IL, and has presented his work at the Conference on Latin American History, the Latin American Studies Association, the Society for Caribbean Studies, and the Puerto Rican Studies Association, among others.