MATTHEW G. LOOPER
Department of Art and
Art History
California State
University,
Chico, CA
Phone: (530) 898-5117;
FAX: (530) 898-4171
e-mail:
mlooper@csuchico.edu
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EDUCATION |
Ph.D. 1995 Art History, University of Texas at
Dissertation: "The Sculpture Programs of
Butz'-Tiliw, an Eighth-Century Maya King of Quirigua, Guatemala" M.A. 1991 Art History, University of Texas at B.S. 1988 Botany, Duke University (Phi Beta Kappa and departmental honors) Areas of Specialization: Ancient Mesoamerican
art and writing; contemporary Maya textiles and performance |
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PROFESSIONAL
EXPERIENCE |
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2008 -
present 2003 -
2008 1998 -
2003 |
Professor, California State University, Associate Professor Assistant Professor |
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1996 -
Present |
Research Associate, San Diego Museum of Man, Developed exhibit on Maya sculpture by
conducting workshops for museum staff. Prepared materials for museum website
(URL: http://www.museumofman.org/html/exhibits_maya.html). |
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1997 -
Present |
Co-editor, Glyph
Dwellers series, published on the WWW (URL: http://nas.ucdavis.edu/NALC/glyphdwellers.html)
(ISSN: 1097-3737). |
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1998 -
2005 |
Visiting Scholar, |
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1996 -
1998 |
Post-Doctoral Researcher, Maya Hieroglyphic
Database Project. Department of Native American Studies, University of
California, |
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1998,
Spring |
Visiting Lecturer, Department of Art,
University of California, |
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1995,
Spring |
Assistant Instructor (instructor of record) |
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1991 -
1993 |
Teaching Assistant, University of Texas at |
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EXTENDED
FIELD EXPERIENCE 2005 -
2006 (6 mos.) 1996 -
1997 1993 -
1996 |
Ethnographic study of Maya dance in western
Guatemala Ethnographic study of Maya textiles, San
Martin Sacatepequez and environs, Guatemala Director, Quirigua Sculpture
Project, |
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RECENT
GRANTS, FELLOWSHIPS, AND AWARDS |
2008 National Endowment for the Humanities
Summer Institute, Peru 2007 CSU, Chico Research Grant 2006 Summer Fellowship, Dumbarton Oaks,
Trustees for 2005-06 AY Sabbatical 2005 Association for
Latin American Art (College Art Association) Book Award, Honorable Mention
(for Lightning Warrior) 2004 National Endowment for the Humanities
Fellowship (FB-51444-05) 2004 Exemplary Online Instruction Award,
Honorable Mention 2003 Professional Achievement Honors, CSU, 2002 Nominated for Professor of the Year 2002 National Endowment for the Humanities
Summer Stipend 2003, 2002 CSU, Chico
Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching Grants for Course Redesign (2) 2002, 2000 CSU, Chico Summer Scholars Grants
(2) 1999 National Endowment for the Humanities
Summer Institute, Hawai'i 1999-2003 CSU, Chico Center for Excellence in
Learning and Teaching Grants (9) 1995 Foundation for
the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies Research Grant (http://www.famsi.org/reports/95015/index.html) 1993 Fulbright Scholarship (Institute of
International Education) 1993 University Fellowship (University of
Texas at Austin) 1993 National Science Foundation Research
Grant (DBS 9307752) |
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PUBLICATIONS |
Books: To Be Like Gods: Dance
Ancient Maya Civilization. (Austin: University of Texas Press, in press
2009). Quirigua: A Guide to
an Ancient Maya City. (Guatemala City: Editorial Antigua, 2007). Birds and Thorns: Textile
Design in San Martin Sacatepequez. (Guatemala City: Editorial Antigua, 2004). Lightning Warrior:
Maya Art and Kingship at Quirigua. (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2003). The New Catalog of
Maya Hieroglyphs, Volume One: The Classic Period Inscriptions. (Norman: University
of Oklahoma Press, 2003) (with Martha J. Macri). Gifts of the Moon:
Huipil Designs of the Ancient Maya. San Diego Museum Papers 38. (San Diego: San
Diego Museum of Man, 2000). Workbook: Workbook for the XXth
Maya Hieroglyphic Forum. (Austin: Department of Art and Art History, College of
Fine Arts, and Institute of Latin American Studies, University of Texas at
Austin, 1996) (with Linda Schele). |
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Articles: "Fabric Structures in Classic Maya Art
and Ritual." Ancient America Special
Publication 1 (2006), 91-115. "From Cosmology to History: The Changing
Meaning of Radial Pyramids at Quirigua." Journal of Latin American Lore 22, no. 2 (2004), 141-166. "Nahua in Ancient Mesoamerica: Evidence
from Maya Inscriptions." Ancient
Mesoamerica 14 (2003), 285-297 (with Martha J. Macri). "From Inscribed Bodies to Distributed
Persons: Contextualizing Tairona Figural Images in Performance." Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 13,
no. 1 (2003), 25-40. "Traditional Attire in San Miguelito,
Quetzaltenango, Guatemala." The
Textile Museum Journal (2001/2002), 83-97. "The Cosmic Umbilicus in Mesoamerica: A
Floral Metaphor for the Source of Life," Journal of Latin American Lore, 21, no. 1, (2001), 3-53 (with
Julia Guernsey Kappelman). "New Perspectives on the Late Classic
Political History of Quirigua, Guatemala," Ancient Mesoamerica, 10, no. 2, (1999), 263-280. "The Iconography and Social Context of
Tairona Gold Pectorals," Journal
of Latin American Lore, 19, (1996), 101-128. "The Three Stones of Maya Creation
Mythology at Quirigua," Mexicon, 17,
no. 2 (1995), 24-30. "The Pathology of Painting: Tuberculosis
as a Metaphor in the Art and Theory of Kazimir Malevich," Configurations, 1, (1995), 27-46. "Political Messages in the Medici Palace
Garden," Journal of Garden
History, 12, no. 4, (1992), 255-268. Book Chapters: "Lightning is Born: Using Ch'orti' Ritual
to Interpret Ancient Maya Art," In: The Ch'orti' Maya Past and
Present, ed. Brent Metz and Cameron McNeil (Gainesville: University Press
of Florida, in press 2009). "Seats of Power at Copan," In: Copan: The Rise and Fall of a Classic Maya
Kingdom, ed. William L. Fash and E. Wyllys Andrews, V (Santa Fe: School
of American Research, 2005), 345-372 (with Linda Schele). "Wind, Rain, and Stone: Ancient and
Contemporary Maya Meteorology," In: Shamanism,
Mesas, and Cosmologies in Middle America, San Diego Museum Papers 42, ed.
Douglas Sharon (San Diego: San Diego Museum of Man, 2003), 119-130. "Quirigua Zoomorph P: A Water-Throne and
Mountain of Creation," In: Heart
of Creation: the Mesoamerican World and the Legacy of Linda Schele, ed.
Andrea Stone (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama, 2002), 185-200. "Women-Men (and Men-Women): Classic Maya
Rulers and the Third Gender," In: Ancient
Maya Women, ed. Traci Ardren (Walnut Creek, Calif.: Alta Mira, 2002),
171-202. "Design Interpretation in Mam Textile
Histories," In: Maya Survivalism,
Acta Mesoamericana, vol. 12, ed. Ueli Hostettler and Matthew Restall (Markt
Schwaben, Germany: Verlag Anton Saurwein, 2001), 281-294. "Dance Performances at Quirigua."
In: Landscape and Power in Ancient
Mesoamerica, ed. Rex Koontz, Kathryn Reese-Taylor, and Annabeth Headrick
(Boulder: Westview, 2001), 113-135. Comment: Comment on "Plazas, Performers, and
Spectators: Political Theaters of the Ancient Maya" by Takeshi Inomata, Current
Anthropology, 47, no. 5
(2006): 826-827. Conference Proceedings: "La iconografia del
craneo de pecari de Copan en su contexto ritual," In: XIX Simposio de Investigaciones
Arqueologicas en Guatemala, 2005, ed. Juan Pedro Laporte, Barbara Arroyo,
and Hector E. Mejia (Guatemala City: Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes,
Instituto de Antropologia e Historia, Asociacion Tikal, 2006), 611-618. "Sculpture and Performance at
Quirigua," In: Proceedings of the
1995 and 1996 Latin American Symposia. San Diego Museum Papers 34, ed.
Alana Cordy-Collins and Grace Johnson (San Diego: San Diego Museum of Man,
1997), 35-48. "Un Titulo para
nobles en Quirigua," In: VIII
Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueologicas en Guatemala 1994, ed. Juan
Pedro Laporte and Hector L. Escobedo (Guatemala City: Ministerio de Cultura y
Deportes, Instituto de Antropologia e Historia, Asociacion Tikal, 1995),
425-429. Encyclopedia Essays: "Ancient Maya" and "Southern
Maya Dress of Southwestern Guatemala," In: Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion, vol. 2: Latin America,
ed. Margot Blum Schevill (London: Berg, in press). Research Notes: "Stylistic Analysis of Dancing Maize Gods
on Polychrome Ceramics," Glyph
Dwellers, no. 25, (2008) (URL: http://nas.ucdavis.edu/NALC/R25.pdf). "The History of Xkuy, an Unidentified
Southeastern Center," Glyph
Dwellers, no. 24, (2007) (URL: http://nas.ucdavis.edu/NALC/R24.pdf). "A 'Macaw Face Headband' Dance on Site R
Lintel 5," Glyph Dwellers, no.
18, (2004) (URL: http://nas.ucdavis.edu/NALC/R18.pdf). "The Meaning of the Maya Flapstaff Dance,"
Glyph Dwellers, no. 17, (2003)
(URL: http://nas.ucdavis.edu/NALC/R17.pdf). "The 'Manikin' Glyph Compound (T86:700)
as a Reference to Headdresses,"
Glyph Dwellers, no. 16, (2003) (URL: http://nas.ucdavis.edu/NALC/R16.pdf). "The 3-11-pih Title in Classic Maya
Inscriptions," Glyph Dwellers,
no. 15, (2002) (URL: http://nas.ucdavis.edu/NALC/R15.pdf). "The Inscription on Dumbarton Oaks Jade
B-157.MAJ," Glyph Dwellers,
no. 14, (2001) (URL: http://nas.ucdavis.edu/NALC/R14.pdf). "The Quatrefoil T510cd as 'Cave'," Glyph Dwellers, no. 7, (2000) (URL: http://nas.ucdavis.edu/NALC/R7.pdf). "A New Interpretation of the Ball
Compound," Glyph Dwellers, no.
6, (2000) (URL: http://nas.ucdavis.edu/NALC/R6.pdf)
(with Martha J. Macri). "A Note on the Carved Bone from Copan
Temple 11," Glyph Dwellers,
no. 4, (1998) (URL: http://nas.ucdavis.edu/NALC/R4.pdf). "T540 as WINIK," Glyph Dwellers, no. 5. (1998) (URL: http://nas.ucdavis.edu/NALC/R5.pdf). "A Venus God as Patron of Quirigua,"
Glyph Dwellers, no. 1, (1997) (URL:
http://nas.ucdavis.edu/NALC/R1.pdf). "Royal Portraits at Quirigua," Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute Newsletter, 24, no. 9 (1997). "A New k'a Syllable: T627a/T538/T583," Texas Notes on Precolumbian Art, Writing, and Culture, no. 77,
(1996) (with Erik Boot and Elisabeth Wagner). "The 9.17.0.0.0 Eclipse at Quirigua and
Copan," Copan Notes, no. 115,
(1994) (with Linda Schele). "The Founder of Quirigua,
Tutum-Yol-K'inich," Copan Notes,
no. 119, (1994) (with Linda Schele). "Observations on the Morphology of
Sprouts in Olmec Art," Texas Notes
on Precolumbian Art, Writing, and Culture, no. 58, (1993). "Creation Mythology at Naranjo," Texas Notes on Precolumbian Art, Writing,
and Culture, no. 30, (1992). "The 'Canoe Gods'," Texas Notes on Precolumbian Art, Writing,
and Culture, no. 31, (1992). "The Parentage of 'Smoking-Squirrel' of
Naranjo," Texas Notes on
Precolumbian Art, Writing, and Culture, no. 32, (1992). "The Name of Copan and of a Dance at
Yaxchilan," Copan Notes, no.
95, (1991). "Observations on the Glyph for
'Manikin'," Texas Notes on
Precolumbian Art, Writing, and Culture, no. 7, (1991). "The Peccaries Above and Below Us," Texas Notes on Precolumbian Art, Writing,
and Culture, no. 10, (1991). "A Reinterpretation of the Wooden Box
from Tortuguero," Texas Notes on
Precolumbian Art, Writing, and Culture, no. 11, (1991). "A War at Palenque During the Reign of
Ah-K'an," Texas Notes on
Precolumbian Art, Writing, and Culture, no. 25, (1991) (with Linda
Schele). |
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Book Reviews: "Review of Cycles of Time and Meaning
in the Mexican Books of Fate, by Elizabeth Hill Boone," The
Historian (in press). "Review of The Memory of Bones: Body,
Being, and Experience among the Classic Maya, by Stephen Houston, David
Stuart, Karl Taube," Mesoamerica (in press). "Review of Water and Ritual: The Rise
and Fall of Classic Maya Rulers, by Lisa J. Lucero," The
Historian, 69, no. 4,
(2007): 786-787. "Review of Trees of Paradise and Pillars of the World: The Serial Stela Cycle of
'18-Rabbit-God K', King of Copan, by Elizabeth A. Newsome," Latin American Antiquity, 13, no. 2,
(2002): 243-244. "Review of Continuum Encyclopedia of Native Art, edited by Hope
Werness," Ethnohistory, 49,
no. 4, (2002): 871-873. "Review of Art and Society in a Highland Maya Community: The Altarpiece of
Santiago Atitlan, by Allen J. Christenson," Mesoamerica, 44, (2002): 201-203. "Review of Venus, lluvia y maiz: Simbolismo y
astronomia en la cosmovision mesoamericana, by Ivan Sprajc," Latin American Antiquity, 11, no. 4,
(2000): 426-427. "Review of The Language of Maya Hieroglyphs, edited by Martha J. Macri and
Anabel Ford," Written Language and
Literacy, 2, no. 2, (1999): 267-270. |
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Internet: "Wahi Pana: An Exploration of Visual
Culture and the Hawaiian Land," (URL:
http://www.csuchico.edu/~mlooper/hawaiiweb/pages/hawaii1.html) |
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MANUSCRIPTS
IN PREPARATION |
A Grammar of Classical
Quirigua Mayan and
A Grammar of Classical Palenque Mayan
(books with Martha J. Macri). The Visual Cultures of
Africa, Oceania, and the Americas: An Introduction (CD-ROM). |
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EXHIBITIONS
CURATED |
"Due South: Latin American Surrealist
Prints," Janet Turner Print Gallery, California State University, Chico,
Fall 2005. "Wrapped in Beauty: Textile Reflections
of Maya Indian Lives in Guatemala," Museum of Anthropology, California
State University, Chico, December 2002-December 2003. "Native Peoples," [Native American
prints] Janet Turner Print Gallery, California State University, Chico,
August 27-September 21, 2001. "Textiles of San
Martin Sacatepequez (Chile Verde)," Centro de Textiles Traditionales Nim
Po't, La Antigua Guatemala, June-December 1997. |
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CONFERENCE
PRESENTATIONS |
2008 Society for American Archaeology 73nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC, Canada Paper: "Southeastern Maya Zoomorphic Sculptures as Politico-religious Symbols" American Anthropological Association 107th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California Papers: (1) "Dance and Ideology in Maya and Aztec Society," (2) "An Update on the Grammar of Palenque Mayan" (with Martha J. Macri) 2007 Society for American Archaeology 72nd Annual Meeting, Austin, Texas Paper: "The History of Xkuy, an Unidentified Southeastern Center" 2005 XIX
Simposio de Arqueologia Guatemalteca, Museo Nacional de Arqueologia y
Etnologia, Guatemala City Paper:
"La iconografia del craneo de pecari de Copan en su contexto
ritual" American Anthropological Association 104th
Annual Meeting, Paper: "Lightning is Born: Using Ch'orti' Ritual to Interpret Ancient Maya Art" 2004 Society for American Archaeology 69th Annual Meeting, Montreal, Canada Paper: "Integrating Politics and Cosmology: The History of Radial Pyramids at Quirigua" 2002 Society for American Archaeology 67th Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado Paper: "The Poetics of Gesture in Classic Maya Art" 20th Annual Maya Weekend, University of Pennsylvania Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Paper: "Meteorological Aspects of Ancient Maya Period Endings" 11th Latin American Symposium, San Diego Museum of Man, San Diego, California Paper: "Wind, Rain, and Stone: Ancient and Contemporary Maya Meteorology" 9th Annual Maya Weekend, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California Paper: "Small Steps and Giant Leaps: Reconstructing Ancient Maya Dance Movement" 2001 34th Annual Chacmool Conference, Session organizer: "Ancient Ritual Performances: Methodologies for Reconstruction" Paper: "The Creative Body: Engendering the Tairona Cosmos" 2000 American Anthropological Association 99th
Annual Meeting, Paper: "Linguistic and Visual Operations in the Formation of Maya Graphemes" 33rd Annual Chacmool Conference, Paper: "Weaving Memories in Mam Textiles" 50th International Congress of
Americanists, Warsaw, Poland Paper: "Design Interpretation in Mam
Textile Histories" 1999 American Anthropological Association 98th
Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois Session co-chair and co-organizer:
"Costume and Gender in Mesoamerican Art" Paper: "Maya Rulers and the Third Gender" 17th Annual Maya Weekend,
University of Pennsylvania Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Paper: "Text and Image in the Zoomorphs
at Quirigua" 1998 American Anthropological Association 97th
Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Paper: "Quirigua Zoomorph P: A
Water-throne and Mountain of Creation" 5th Annual Maya Weekend, University
of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California Paper: "Sculpture and Politics at Late
Classic Quirigua" Society for American Archaeology 63rd
Annual Meeting, Seattle, Washington Paper: "Textual Evidence for Warfare and
its Impact on Classic Maya Economy" Gender as Performance Conference, California
State University, Chico, Session co-chair: "Gender and Performance
in Latin America" 1996 Latin American Symposium, San Diego
Museum of Man, San Diego, California Paper: "Sculpture and Performance at
Quirigua, Guatemala" 1995 American Anthropological Association 94th
Annual Meeting, Paper: "Action, Not Words: Changing Narrative
Media in the Terminal Classic at Quirigua, Guatemala" 1994 American Anthropological Association 93rd
Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia Paper: "Astronomical Data in the
Inscriptions of Quirigua" VIII Simposio de
Arqueologia Guatemalteca, Museo Nacional de Arqueologia y Etnologia,
Guatemala City Paper: "Un Titulo
para nobles en Quirigua" Symposium, Maya Meetings at Texas, University
of Texas at Austin, Austin, Paper: "Mountains of Creation and Courts
of Sacrifice at Tikal" 1992 Eleanor Greenhill Graduate Art Symposium,
University of Texas at Austin, Paper: "The Iconography of Tairona Gold
Pectorals" 1991 American Anthropological Association 90th
Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois Paper: "Sublords and Sages at Tortuguero" |
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SELECTED
WORKSHOPS |
2008
"The Inscriptions of Quirigua," Linda Schele Hieroglyphic Workshop,
Southwest Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas; included preparation of
workbook 2005
"The Sculptures of the Great Plaza at Quirigua," Maya Society of
Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 1998
"Textiles in Maya Cosmology and History," K'inal Winik Maya
Weekend, Cleveland, Ohio; included preparation of workbook 1997 "Gramatica en la escritura
jeroglifica maya," Training Workshop, Oxlajuuj Keej Maya' Ajtz'iib', La
Antigua Guatemala "Workshop
on the History of Quirigua," San Diego Museum of Man, 1996
"20th Forum on Maya Hieroglyphic Writing: Quirigua and
Copan," University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas (with Linda
Schele); included preparation of workbook 1995
"Workshop on Quirigua Zoomorph P," San Diego Museum of Man. San Diego, California "Taller sobre la escritura jeroglifica maya,"
Coordinadora Cakchiquel de Desarrollo Integral, Chimaltenango, Guatemala. (with Linda Schele,
Nikolai Grube, and Federico Fahsen) |
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SELECTED
GUEST LECTURES |
2007
Lecture, University of Texas at Austin: "Ancient Maya Hunting
Dances" (also presented in 2006 to the Pre-Columbian Society of
Washington, D.C.) 2006
Lecture tour for Archaeological Institute of America,
Honduras-Guatemala-Mexico. 2005
Lecture tour for Archaeological Institute of America, Yucatan, Mexico. 2005 Lecture, Instituto Guatemalteco-Americano,
Guatemala City: "Diseņo y historia en los tejidos del area mam." 2003
Lecture, University of California, Davis: "Lightning is Born: Maya
Sculpture and Meteorology at Quirigua." Lecture,
University of California, Santa Cruz: "The Historical Roots of Maya
Attire." 2002
Lecture, Resources in International Studies Education of Northern California
Institute, California State University, Chico. Title: "History and
Identity in Maya Textiles of Guatemala" 2000
Keynote address, College of Humanities and Fine Arts Symposium, California
State University, Chico. Title: "Art as Life: Maya Textiles of
Guatemala" Lecture,
James Snidle Fine Arts Gallery, Chico, California. Title: "Guatemalan
Textiles: Weaving Techniques" 1999
Lectures (2), D-Q University, Davis, California. Title: "Contemporary
Maya Textiles" 1995
Lecture, San Diego Museum of Man. San Diego, California. Title: "New
Epigraphic Discoveries at Quirigua" Lecture, Maya: The Guatemalan Indian Centre, London, England. Title: "Introduction to Maya Hieroglyphic Writing" 1993 Lecture, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales de
Mesoamerica, La Antigua Guatemala. Title: "Iconography of Kingship at
Quirigua" |
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MANUSCRIPTS
REVIEWED FOR: |
Ancient America, Ancient Mesoamerica,
Cambridge Archaeological Journal, Current Anthropology, Journal of Latin American
Lore, University of Arizona Press, University Press of Colorado, University
of Oklahoma Press, University of Texas Press, Prentice Hall, Thames &
Hudson
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SERVICE |
2003-2005, 2006-present, Art History Area
Coordinator, Department of Art and Art History, CSU, Chico 2002-2005, 2006-present, Art History Graduate
Adviser, Department of Art and Art History, CSU, Chico 1999-2005, 2006-present, Steering Committee,
Latin American Studies Program, CSU, Chico 2001-2003, Organizer, Art Faculty Symposium, Department
of Art and Art History, CSU, Chico 1999-2001, Humanities Center Advisory Board,
College of Humanities and Fine Arts, CSU, Chico |
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COURSES
TAUGHT |
California State University, Chico: Art History Survey, Ancient-Medieval Art History Survey, Renaissance-Modern Survey of Arts of the Americas, Oceania, and
Africa Special Topics in Art History: Maya
Hieroglyphic Writing Precolumbian Mexican Art Maya Art Ancient Andean Art Mesoamerican/Colonial Art [Colonial and Modern
Mexican Art] American Indian Art African Art Graduate Seminar in Precolumbian Mexican Art Graduate Seminar in American Indian Art Art History Theory and Methods Native Arts in Colonial Spanish America
(through Latin American Studies) University of California, Davis: Arts of the Indians of the University of Texas at Austin: Introduction to the Visual Arts |
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PROFESSIONAL
AFFILIATIONS |
American Anthropological Association College Art Association Society for American Archaeology |
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LANGUAGES |
Spanish, Mam Mayan, Thai (read/speak) French, German (read) |