MacArthur Lecture Series Draws Distinguished Maya Scholars

UC Merced Professor Arturo Arias, recently named one of the campus’s first John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Chairs, has established a new lecture series to further critical race issues and ethnic knowledge of Mesoamerican and Latin American peoples.

The MacArthur Lecture Series, an element of the MacArthur Chair position, began last week and continues April 19 with a talk by scholar and activist Irma Alicia Velasquez Nimatuj at noon in the California Room. She will also hold a workshop with students from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 18 in the Half Dome conference room, Room 317 in the Social Sciences and Management Building.

Nimatuj’s talk will examine efforts by Guatemala to seek justice for human rights abuses committed during the country’s 36-year armed conflict. While some recent cases have provided hope for those seeking justice, the political, military and economic sectors are waging a strong campaign against such proceedings.

The series' first installment, on April 8, featured Maya studies scholar Ruud van Akkeren, who spoke on the Maya practice of setting three hearthstones at the center of the house where food is prepared. The stones are meant to represent the three throne-stones set by the Maya gods when they created the universe.

All lectures in the series are free and open to the public. Arias is already working on scheduling speakers for the fall semester, and he hopes the series will continue to build on UC Merced’s strengths in socially engaged scholarship while broadening its reach on issues related to Mesoamerican histories, cultures and languages — particularly those of indigenous peoples.

“These speakers are special because they are both global authorities in their fields,” Arias said. “This series should help to cultivate an environment for our scholars to explore the fundamental questions of the human experience, and to ensure that the humanities continue to thrive for the benefit of all.”