Luis A. Figueroa–Martínez is an Associate Professor in the Department of History and core faculty in the Urban Studies Program and the Cities first-year gateway program at Trinity's Center for Urban and Global Studies. 

His scholarly interests range widely. His initial research focused on slavery, post-slavery and race in Puerto Rico. It resulted in the book Sugar, Slavery and Freedom in Nineteenth-Century Puerto Rico, co-published in 2005 by The University of North Carolina Press and Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico. Recipient of an essay award in 2006 from the Puerto Rico Chapter of the PEN Club International, this book examines the transition from slavery to post-emancipation on the island by looking closely at the southeastern Guayama region, the sugar plantation zone most dependent on African slave labor in Puerto Rico in the 1800s.

Figueroa-Martínez's work in the field of documentary film production includes serving as scholar and script consultant for "Puerto Rican Passages" (1995), on the Puerto Rican migration to Connecticut; and as scholarly consultant and co-producer (uncredited) for "Ritmo de Pueblo" (2001), a film exploring the role of music in Puerto Rican culture on the island and the diaspora. Both films premiered on Connecticut Public Television and were later broadcast on other PBS affiliates. In addition, he directed and produced two short films on issues of race, gender and sexuality at Trinity College: "Umoja House: Coming to Grips with Diversity" (2003) and "Halloween on Vernon Street" (2006). A third, related short film is currently in its pre-production phase.

Beginning in the 2000s, Figueroa-Martínez's research shifted to urban history and urban studies, initially as a member of Trinity's Hartford Studies Project, led at the time by Susan Pennybacker, who was then the Borden W. Painter, Jr., '58/H'95 Professor of European History at Trinity, and is currently the Chalmers W. Poston Distinguished Professor of European History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This project was funded principally with grants from the Rockefeller and Kellogg foundations.

Figueroa-Martínez is currently completing a manuscript on urbanism, suburbanization, and colonial modernity in San Juan, Puerto Rico since the 1930s, centered on Avenida Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Hato Rey.

His new research centers on urban politics, race, class and dance music culture in Hartford and New York City since the late 1980s.

Prior to joining Trinity College, Figueroa–Martínez was an Assistant Professor in the Department of History and Associate Director of the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, as well as co-founder of UConn's Institute for Puerto Rican and Latino Studies, which were merged in 2012 to become El Instituto: Institute of Latina/o, Caribbean, and Latin American Studies.

Born in Ponce, and raised in Coamo, Puerto Rico, Figueroa-Martínez earned his Ph.D. and M.A. in Latin American History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison under Steve J. Stern, Florencia E. Mallon, Thomas E. Skidmore, and Francisco Scarano; and his B.A. in General (Interdisciplinary) Studies at the Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras.

Publications:

• Figueroa, Luis A. Sugar, Slavery and Freedom in Nineteenth-Century Puerto Rico. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press and Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, 2005.

Creative Work:

• Figueroa-Martínez, Luis A. "The Halloween Scandal: Minstrelism, Facebook and Racial Politics at Trinity College" (2006) -- documentary film (director, producer, editor).
• Figueroa-Martínez, Luis A. “Umoja House: April 30, 2003” (2003) -- documentary film on prejudice and discrimination at Trinity College (director, producer, editor).
• Orkin, Glenn; Delano, Pablo; and Figueroa, Luis A. “Ritmo de Pueblo” (2001) -- documentary film about Puerto Rican music and identity in the diaspora (co-producer.

Presentations since 2001:

• Figueroa–Martínez, Luis A. "Back to the Future? The GOP Congressional Proposal for an 'Oversight Board' in the Context of Evolving U.S. Colonial Policies since 1898." – Part of a Scholarly Panel at the Annual Meeting of the Connecticut Hispanic Democratic Caucus; Hartford, Connecticut; April 16, 2016.
• Figueroa–Martínez, Luis A. "What's in a Name? Atlantic Migrations and Hybrid Cultures in the World of 'Latin House' Music" – Inaugural Lecture, "Café con Leche" Lecture Series; La Voz Latina Cultural House; Trinity College; Hartford, Connecticut; April 1, 2016.
• Figueroa–Martínez, Luis A. "Puerto Rico's Economic Collapse in Historical Context." – Part of a Scholarly Panel at the fall quarterly meeting of the Connecticut State Legislature's Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission; Danbury, Connecticut; September 12, 2015.
• Figueroa–Martínez, Luis A. "Diaspora, Race and Nationalism in Puerto Rican Basketball, 1959–1979." Sports and Society Conference, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 16-17, 2014.
• Figueroa–Martínez, Luis A. "Diaspora, Race and Nationalism in Puerto Rican Basketball, 1959–1979." Puerto Rican Studies Association Conference, State University of New York at Albany, October 2012.
• Figueroa–Martínez, Luis A. "The Jumping Body-Rican: Diaspora, Race and Nationalism in the Rise of Puerto Rican Basketball, 1959–1979." Puerto Rican Studies Conference, Hartford, Connecticut, October 2010.
• Figueroa–Martínez, Luis A. "Barriadas and Suburbs: American Colonial Haussmannization in San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1942 to 1956." Conference "Rethinking Cities and Communities: Urban Transition Before and During the Era of Globalization." Center for Urban and Global Studies, Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, November 14–15, 2008.
• Figueroa–Martínez, Luis A. "Haussmann in the Tropics? The Transformation of Urban Space and the Construction of Colonial Modernity in San Juan, Puerto Rico." Invited Lecture, Latin American Studies Program, Williams College, Williamstown, Mass., November 11, 2008.
• Figueroa–Martínez, Luis A. "De Joyinglé a la Roosevelt, un paso es: La construcción de los espacios urbanos de la modernidad puertorriqueña, siglos XIX y XX." Keynote Speech delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Association of Puerto Rican Historians, Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Guayama; Guayama, Puerto Rico, November 7, 2008.
• Figueroa–Martínez, Luis A. "La sed de paradigmas en la interpretación de la Avenida Franklin Delano Roosevelt como emblema de la modernidad colonial en San Juan de Puerto Rico." Puerto Rican Studies Association Conference, San Juan, Puerto Rico, October 1–4, 2008.
• Figueroa–Martínez, Luis A. "Tropical Flânerie in an Off-White City: Suburban 'Whiteness,' the FDR Boulevard, and Colonial Modernity in San Juan, Puerto Rico." Invited Lecture, Department of History, University of California at Santa Barbara, April 4, 2008.
• Figueroa–Martínez, Luis A. "Tropical Flânerie in an Off-White City: Suburban 'Whiteness,' the FDR Boulevard, and Colonial Modernity in San Juan, Puerto Rico." Distinguished Latin American History Lecture, Department of History, University of Texas at Austin, February 12, 2008.
• Figueroa–Martínez, Luis A. “¿Y tú, blanco, dónde estas? Whiteness as a Racial Project in Puerto Rican History.” Puerto Rican Studies Association Conference, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, October 2006.
• Figueroa–Martínez, Luis A. “Intertextuality and the Melodrama of Historical Representation in Sonia Fritz’s ‘El beso que me diste’ (2000) and Tomás Gutiérrez Alea’s ‘Memorias del subdesarrollo’ (1968)." Latin American Studies Association Conference, San Juan, Puerto Rico, March 2006.
• Figueroa–Martínez, Luis A. “Hartford, 1969: A Documentary Film Project.” Panel presentation and screening. American Studies Association Conference, Hartford, Connecticut, November 2003.
• Figueroa–Martínez, Luis A. “El documental urbano en el Caribe y el film ‘Puerto Príncipe Mío’ de Rigoberto López.” Paper presented along with the screening of the film at the Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, San Juan, Puerto Rico, March 21, 2001.

• 2006 - Pen Award, Puerto Rico Pen Club Chapter: Third Place in the Non-Fiction Category, for "Sugar, Slavery, and Freedom in Nineteenth-Century Puerto Rico" (co-published by the University of North Carolina Press and the University of Puerto Rico Press, 2005.
• 2005 - Co-Winner of the Arthur H. Hughes Award for Teaching Achievement. Trinity College.
• 2003 - Rockefeller Foundation, Creativity and Culture Division, Partnership Affirming Community Transformation (PACT) Program Grant for the production of a historical documentary film on Hartford in the 1960s. Hartford Studies Project, Trinity College, 2003-2006.
• 2000-2002 - Kellogg College-Community Innovation Fund Grant, and 1634 Fund Grant, Trinity College, for the production of a historical documentary film on Hartford in the 1960s.
• 1994 - Provost’s Research Fellowship (Leave). University of Connecticut Research Foundation.
• 1994 - Faculty Research Grant. University of Connecticut Research Foundation.
• 1987-1988 - Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship. National Research Council, Washington, D.C., for "Facing Freedom: Slavery and Post-Emancipation in Guayama, Puerto Rico, 1850-1898."
• 1984-1987 - Advanced Opportunity Fellowship. University of Wisconsin-Madison.
• 1982-1986 - CIC Minority Fellowship. Committee on Institutional Cooperation, Bloomington, Indiana.
• 1981 - B.A. Magna Cum Laude, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Rio Piedras.
• 1981 - "Medalla Banco Popular de Puerto Rico," for the Valedictorian, Class of 1981, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Rio Piedras
• 1981 - "Medalla First Federal Savings and Loan Association," for the Best Undergraduate Research Thesis, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras.