ARIA Spotlight: Ava Sonies - Department of History

I would like to begin by thanking Mr Mark W. Gallop for his generous support of my ARIA research internship through the Mark W. Gallop Undergraduate Research Internship Award. This funding enabled me to pursue an incredible research opportunity that will have a profound impact on my academic and professional future.

This summer, I undertook an ARIA research internship titled "Towards a Trans-Atlantic History of a Failed Stimulant: Coca Leaf in Early Modernity (c.1500-1700)" under the supervision of Professor Sebestian Kroupa. My project investigated why coca leaf, despite being “discovered” by the Spanish alongside cacao and tobacco, widely used by indigenous peoples, and economically vital in the Andes, did not become a trans-Atlantic commodity in the 16th and 17th centuries. Drawing on Marcy Norton’s “contexts of consumption” framework, I examined how indigenous uses of coca and Spanish colonial political, social, and infrastructural conditions confined it to a regional sphere, in contrast to other New World crops that entered global circulation.

I pursued an ARIA project because it offered the opportunity to immerse myself in sustained, independent research with dedicated faculty mentorship. I first became interested in coca leaf in a course on the history of drugs and colonialism taught by Professor Kroupa, where its absence from global commodity histories stood out as an anomaly. I wanted to understand the interplay of cultural perceptions, colonial governance, and material constraints that limited coca’s reach, and to do so through direct engagement with early modern sources.

My learning objectives were to develop a deeper familiarity with early modern Spanish-language texts, refine my ability to analyze and synthesize complex historiographies, and gain experience in structuring a long-form historical research project. I also aimed to strengthen my skills in working with rare archival materials (both physically and through digital collections) and to practice more rigorous, generative historical research, drawing my own conclusions from under-analyzed primary sources. This was a type of research I did not have ample opportunity to explore during my undergrad.

A particular highlight of the summer was working hands-on with rare and fragile texts in two major research libraries. At McGill’s Osler Library of the History of Medicine, I examined 19th century printed herbals containing some of the first European visual representations of coca leaf, alongside medical treatises describing its perceived effects. At the Morgan Library & Museum in New York City, I consulted a mid-16th century manuscript containing laws issued by the Viceroy of Peru. Reading this document — in the original hand, and in Spanish — provided a direct and immediate connection to the legal and administrative frameworks that structured coca’s production, circulation, and taxation in the colonial Andes. Holding these sources, with their marginalia, creases, and signs of centuries of handling, was an invaluable reminder of the materiality of the historical record and the persistence of voices and policies across time. It was eye opening to look at such primary sources with my own eyes and feel them with my own hands, rather than summarizing the archival source work of contemporary historians.

The main challenges I faced were linguistic and interpretive. Many primary sources were written in early modern Spanish, requiring both translation and contextualization of archaic or region-specific terminology. In addition, the absence of indigenous-authored accounts meant relying on Spanish colonial perspectives that often misrepresented or selectively reported coca use. I navigated these challenges by building a working glossary of key terms, consulting scholarly translations where possible, and triangulating multiple primary sources to reconstruct a fuller picture of coca’s role in both indigenous and colonial contexts. Additionally, Professor Kroupa’s guidance proved invaluable to my ability to work through these texts as we deciphered particularly difficult passages together.

The ARIA internship has significantly shaped my academic trajectory. It has deepened my interest in the history of commodities, colonial governance, and the intersections of science, medicine, and empire. Most importantly, ARIA taught me how to design and sustain a research project from conception to conclusion, an essential skill for any future scholarly work. It also gave me a real taste of graduate-level historical research.

The financial support I received through ARIA made it possible to dedicate my summer entirely to research without taking on additional employment. The award covered my living expenses in Montreal during the internship. This support allowed me to thoroughly pursue research opportunities that would have otherwise been inaccessible with the additional demands of a traditional summer job.

I am grateful to Mr. Mark W Gallop for his generous support of my ARIA internship through the Mr. Mark W. Gallop Undergraduate Research Internship Award. This award enabled me to undertake an intensive and formative research experience that will continue to shape my academic and professional path.