Revisioning the Maya World: New Directions in Scholarship and Teaching

FAIN: EH-50229-10

Community College Humanities Association (Baltimore, MD 21237-3899)
George L. Scheper (Project Director: March 2010 to April 2016)
Laraine Anne Fletcher (Co Project Director: March 2010 to April 2016)

A five-week summer institute for twenty-four college and university faculty, to be held on-site in southern Mexico, northern Guatemala, and Belize, exploring the history and culture of the Maya.

CCHA requests funding for an NEH Summer Institute for faculty from community and four-year colleges and universities on the topic of how recent scholarship has brought about a revisioning and re-understanding of Maya civilization and culture. Maya studies have advanced dramatically in the past decade, with new archaeological discoveries in the regions visited by the Institute, continued advances in the decipherment of Maya glyph writing, and the contributions of contemporary Maya artists,writers and other intellectuals comprising what Victor Montejo has called the "Maya Intellectual Renaissance." Our institute will incorporate the latest scholarship in Maya studies, balancing seminars with on-site field study guided by twelve eminent visiting faculty. Emphasis is on archaeological insights into ancient Maya culture, but other sessions focus on colonial era and contemporary Maya culture, and issues involving tourism, ecology and sustainability.