Current Projects
The Anthropology Laboratory at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College
Student training and mentoring take place in the anthropology laboratory. Here, we house a growing collection of fossil hominid skeletons, disarticulated skeletons, stone tools, ceramics, and replica artifacts. Of unique value, the laboratory houses a collection of ceramics created by local Indigenous artists, which are utilized in teaching archaeology and modern craftwork. In addition, the lab has a growing collection of scholarly books and articles devoted to the study of ancient Olmec culture and archaeology. Hands-on practicums in the anthropology laboratory involve creating pottery, stone tools, clothing, ArcGIS Maps, educational materials, and healing and medical tools. All hands-on work is meant to improve the health and well-being of students and society.
Proyecto Arqueologías Lago de Chapala, Jalisco Mexico
In the early stages, I am working with Claudia Itzel Márquez to investigate unprovenanced pottery from the north shore region of El Lago de Chapala in Jalisco, Mexico. This project is a life-long convivio involving small community museums, educators, and local residents. We have three goals: 1) establish a chronology for the ancient pottery of Lake Chapala, 2) situate the Lake Chapala region in the broader social, ritual, and ceremonial context of West Mexico, near and far, and 3) support ongoing efforts to enrich the lives of Lake Chapala's Indigenous peoples and pueblos.
Sustaining Public Engagement through the Mesoamerican Clay-Figurine Project
In 2021, the Mesoamerican Clay-Figurine Project received a generous ACLS/NEH grant to support pandemic recovery efforts. My colleague Lucha Arevalo (Chicanx Studies, Rio Hondo College) and I organized 6 public town hall-style meetings on Mesoamerican medicine and community health over 12 months. Although the project was ultimately exhausted, the work produced a nine-part equity-minded teaching and "Encuentro" YouTube series, uplifted financially weakened partners and organizations, and forged new relationships with local Gabrielino and Tongva tribal members.
The Mesoamerican Clay-Figurine Project of Rio Hondo Community College
In the summer of 2014, students in Humanities 125: Introduction to Mexican Culture at Rio Hondo College began to excavate and materialize the human body and ideology on a small scale through the sculpting of Mesoamerican clay figurines and reflective writing. Drawing from a series of Indigenous Xicana/o teaching strategies and philosophies, mainly Gloria Anzaldúa’s Coatlicue State, students gave birth to their own forms of being and becoming as a means to contest ongoing trauma and violence. Collectively, students developed a strong sense of agency and empowerment while meeting student learning outcomes in a humanities classroom. The project continues today in many formats and diverse learning spaces of the greater LA area.
Archaeologies of the Heart: From the Land of the Olmec to LA Trade-Tech College
In 2026, a new CSU and UC-approved course, Anthropology 152, The Olmec, Maya, and Aztec of Mesoamerica, was approved at LA Trade-Tech College. Anthro 152 runs parallel to the creation of an Olmec library that houses limited-edition Olmec books, non-US volumes, and articles accessible to all students and faculty. The Olmec library offers opportunities to study rare maps, magazines, photographs, and posters. To expand Olmec-centered projects at LA Trade-Tech, a collaboration with the Universidad Veracruzana (Xalapa, Mexico) and Olmec archaeologists is underway to acquire broken pottery sherds from the sites of San Lorenzo and Los Soldados for educational and archaeological training.
