Francis Xavier Luca, Ph.D., is chief librarian at The Wolfsonian–FIU and adjunct professor in the Department of History at Florida International University.
Professor Luca is an ethnohistorian specializing in colonial North and Latin America, and U.S. history in the era of the New Deal and Good Neighbor policy initiatives. He regularly teaches a film and history course at FIU exploring the relationship among Hollywood, popular culture, and historical reality. Several of those classes have explored diplomatic and cultural relations between Cuba and the United States in the twentieth century.
As chief librarian at The Wolfsonian–FIU, Dr. Luca has served as the lead curator of numerous Cuba-related exhibitions and installations, including Turn the Beat Around (2022–23); Caricaturas (2020); Cuban Caricature and Culture: The Art of Massaguer (2019–20); Promising Paradise: Cuban Allure, American Seduction (2016); Boxeo y Béisbol: The Cuba–U.S. Sports Exchange (2016); and Cuba: From Gunboat Diplomacy to Good Neighbor Policy (2016). As a public historian, Dr. Luca has also been active in the community, serving as the principal investigator for the Miami Beach Historical Archive Project, organizing three installations at The Wolfsonian–FIU, and participating in the selection of historical photographs exhibited at City Hall as part of the city's centennial celebrations in 2015.
Dr. Luca coauthored two essays on U.S.-Cuba tourism and cultural exchange in Promising Paradise: Cuban Allure, American Seduction (2019). He also served as assistant to the editor for the Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts during the publication of the Cuba theme issue (1996).
Professor Luca earned his Ph.D. in ethnohistory of colonial Latin America at Florida International University. He also holds a M.A. in ethnohistory of colonial North America from The College of William and Mary, and a B.A. in history and English from Colby College.