As we enter a promising new academic year and warmly welcome our students, I’d like to reflect on our active 2016-2017 academic year; it was a very rewarding one for The Mesoamerica Center, filled with exciting activities and new endeavors. These ranged from new directions for our regular events and research to new opportunities for expanding our reach.

Dr. Astrid Runggaldier became our assistant director after several years of working with The Mesoamerica Center and Casa Herrera programs. Astrid brings with her an incredible amount of experience in Maya archaeology and teaching, and a firm dedication to The Mesoamerica Center’s mission. She’s been planning a number of new initiatives, and we are really thrilled to have Astrid in her new role. 

The annual Maya Meetings in January saw the beginning of their transition into The Mesoamerica Meetings, with a theme exploring the relationships between the Maya and their contemporaries.  Eminent scholars from around the globe joined us in Austin for the conference, titled “Tlillan Tlapallan: The Maya as Neighbors in Ancient Mesoamerica.” The conference featured scholarship and workshops examining the ancient Maya through the lens of other Mesoamerican cultures and traditions. Moving forward, our 2018 Mesoamerica Meetings will continue that broader trajectory as the conference begins its 41st year, or, as the ancient Maya would say, its third k’atun. The Mesoamerica Meetings will always focus on cutting-edge research on the ancient Maya and other cultures of the region. 

Our students and volunteers worked enthusiastically on research and various projects at the center and around the world. Ranging from studying Mayan languages and conducting dissertation research in Mexico to helping digitize portions of the Art and Art History Collection, the corresponding newsletter article details many (not all) of the exciting things our students have been up to in the last year. 

This year, The Mesoamerica Center will be developing a new study space on campus, where students can work directly with artwork and artifacts in the department’s collection. We also will be organizing our archives, including our newly-acquired collection of drawings of Palenque sculpture by Merle Greene Robertson, a legendary Mayanist. And we continue to operate the Casa Herrera in Antigua, Guatemala, where UT students and visiting scholars from all over the world learn about and discuss aspects of Central American archaeology, history, and even current events.  As always, both The Mesoamerica Center and Casa Herrera will be hosting regular talks and lectures throughout the year.

Please help us keep all of these exciting programs going by making a gift to UT’s Mesoamerica Center. It’s no exaggeration to say that our programs and educational events represent the forefront of interdisciplinary research and work in ancient Mesoamerica. We’re always in need of financial support to help our students and to make our ambitious plans come to fruition.

Sincerely,

David Stuart

Support the Mission

The Mesoamerica Center’s wide breadth of research, teaching, and programming would not be possible without the ongoing and generous support of our patrons.

This year, we’ll continue to grow, with Casa Herrera programming, a new Art  & Art History Collection study room, ongoing digitizing projects, exciting new outreach and educational endeavors, and more.

The Mesoamerica Center depends on philanthropic support. The University of Texas at Austin offers interested patrons a wide range of opportunities to make gifts that support the groundbreaking interdisciplinary research at the Mesoamerica Center. Your gift will be used to fund programs and work at the forefront of research in ancient Mesoamerica.