Christian Gonzales is the Andrew W. Mellon postdoctoral fellow in American Studies at Wesleyan University. His research investigates Native American and Euro-American relations, American empire, and Native American slave systems. He focuses on the colonial period and the early nineteenth century. In 2010, Professor Gonzales earned a Ph.D. in United States History from the University of California, San Diego. He completed a M.A. in United States History from UC San Diego in 2003, and a B.A. magna cum laude in Cultural Anthropology and Classical Archaeology from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1995.

Gonzales has contributed book reviews to the Journal of San Diego History. His work has also appeared in David Goldfield, ed. Encyclopedia of American Urban History.