Tomás Ignacio Pino Flores

Biography

I am a PhD student in History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. My research sits at the intersection of intellectual and environmental history in Latin America, especially focusing on how the concept of the Anthropocene has been received, used, and contested in the region. I am deeply interested in how historical narratives of time, crisis, and human agency intertwine with environmental thought and politics—how ideas about the earth, human impact, and temporal change shape, and are shaped by, Latin American intellectual traditions, social movements and ecological imaginaries.

My work explores how intellectuals, scholars, and activists in Latin America have helped to narrate—or re-narrate—the relationships between humans and the environment, especially through the lens of temporal crises: for example, how histories of colonialism, extraction, climate change, and political upheaval disrupt and reconfigure experiences of time. One project I am currently engaged with examines the social construction of time in Chile during the early twenty-first century, particularly how temporal frameworks (past, present, futures) are mobilized by environmental discourses. I aim not only to chart the genealogies of concepts such as the Anthropocene, but also to understand their effects: how they shape public imaginaries, cultural practices, policy debates, and struggles over temporal justice.

In teaching, I have worked as a Teaching Assistant for courses ranging from global migration histories to conceptual historiography, and I enjoy bringing questions of time, environment, and intellectual history into the classroom, encouraging students to think about how ideas emerge, circulate, and matter. My background in Chile—and my ongoing work in U.S. academic settings—gives me a perspective across contexts: comparative, transnational, attentive to both local experiences and global intellectual currents.

Beyond my academic work, I am committed to collaborative research, public engagement, and mentoring. I organize seminars on conceptual history, contribute to workshops, and seek opportunities to make environmental and intellectual history accessible beyond the academy. As I advance my doctoral studies, I aspire to contribute to scholarship that helps us understand how our pasts, presents, and possible futures are entwined with the environment—and to do so in dialogue with those most impacted by environmental change in Latin America.

Education

M.A., History, Universidad de Chile
B.A., History, Universidad de Chile

Field

• Latin American & Carribean History

MA Title

• “New Experience of Time: Uses and Meanings of the Anthropocene Concept”

Selected Publications

Book Chapters

• Pino, T. (2025). “Genealogía del Antropoceno: Contexto de Emergencia y Sentidos Originales (1857-2020).” In Intelectuales, Conceptos y Lenguajes Políticos: Nuevas aproximaciones desde la historiografía chilena (Siglos XVIII al XXI). Edited by Gabriel Páez and Francisco Castillo. Valparaíso: Ediciones PUCV. (Forthcoming)

Articles

• Pino, T. (2023). La agencia de los historiadores bajo el régimen de historicidad presentista. Breve reflexión a propósito de la asimilación crítica y el tiempo catastrófico. REVUELTAS. Revista Chilena de Historia Social Popular, (7), 148–152.

Reviews

• Pino, T. (2023). Pedro Acuña Rojas. Deportes, masculinidades y cultura de masas. Historia de las revistas deportivas chilenas, 1899–1958. Cuadernos de Historia (Santiago), (58), 391–393.

Selected Awards

•  2025 – Tinker-Nave Short-Term Field Research Grant, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• 2024 – Graduate School Fellowship, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• 2023 – Academic Collaboration Scholarship, Universidad de Chile
• 2022 – Academic Collaboration Scholarship, Universidad de Chile
• 2022 – National Master’s Fellowship, Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo (ANID), Government of Chile
• 2021 – Academic Collaboration Scholarship, Universidad de Chile
• 2020 – Academic Collaboration Scholarship, Universidad de Chile

Professional Affiliations

•  Red Iberconceptos (Temporality Group)
• Center for Culture, History and Environment (CHE)
• Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies Program (LACIS)
• Seminario Permanente de Historia Conceptual desde Chile
• Latin American Studies Association (LASA)

Courses Taught as TA

• 2025 – Teaching Assistant (TA), “History of Global Migrations,” University of Wisconsin-Madison
• 2024 – Teaching Assistant (TA), “Tendencias Historiográficas,” Universidad de Chile
• 2023 – Teaching Assistant (TA), “Tendencias Historiográficas,” Universidad de Chile
• 2022 – Teaching Assistant (TA), “Historia de América Contemporánea,” Universidad de Chile
• 2021 – Teaching Assistant (TA), “Historia de Chile Contemporáneo,” Universidad de Chile
• 2020 – Teaching Assistant (TA), “Historia de Chile: el Mundo Indígena y la Conquista (S. XVI),” Universidad de Chile
• 2020 – Teaching Assistant (TA), “Religión, conflicto y caos en la Sociedad contemporánea,” Universidad de Chile
• 2018 – Language and Communication Tutor, ‘Preuniversitario Preu FEN,’ Facultad de Economía y Negocios, Universidad de Chile