As a program of the UT-Austin Mesoamerica Center, this annual conference draws scholars from a wide spectrum of relevant fields, as well as interested non-professionals, to interact creatively and share the most recent insights on Maya and Mesoamerican research.
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Program
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Workshops:
March 23-25, 2011
Beginners Workshop on Hieroglyphs
San Jacinto Conference Room
Workshop Leader: Bruce Love
Non-Student registration fee: $250
Student registration fee: $125
Enrollment is limited to 30 participants
This three-day workshop introduces the beginning student to Maya hieroglyphic writing and the calendar in a hands-on, interactive forum. The workshop will explore how researchers cracked this enigmatic code over the last century, and will follow in their footsteps as they unravel the mysteries of Maya writing, piece by piece. Workshop will focus on the painted books, of which only 3 or 4 have survived and discover how the calendar works and see the true meaning of 2012. Finally, the participants will study the contemporary use of the calendar by the living Maya of today.
Advanced Workshop on Hieroglyphs
San Jacinto Conference Room
Workshop leader: Daniel Law, Ph. D candidate
Non-Student registration fee: $250
Student registration fee: $125
Enrollment is limited to 30 participants
The objective of this workshop is to provide a forum for intensive advanced level investigation of Maya hieroglyphs. Participants immerse in cutting-edge exchanges among leading scholars about hieroglyphic writing. The advanced workshop will complement the theme of the meetings by investigating the grammatical and discursive patterns used in hieroglyphic texts to express time. The focus of discussion will be on language-internal structural patterns, rather than comparative analogy with other Mayan languages. Workshop participants will examine a variety of texts, and attempt to describe 1) the distribution of time-related morphemes, 2) the organization of temporal phrases (such as dates) within the sentence, and 3) the organization of temporal reference within texts, both explicitly expressed and contextually inferred.
Previous familiarity with Maya hieroglyphics is required. Participants with previous or ongoing research on this topic are encouraged to contact the workshop leader to arrange for a brief presentation to share with other workshop participants.
The Popol Vuh and Sacred Mythology-The Twins in Xibalba
San Jacinto Conference Room
Workshop leader: Dr. Allen J. Christenson
Non-Student registration fee: $250
Student registration fee: $125
Enrollment is limited to 30 participants
This workshop will introduce participants to the Popol Vuh, the single most important source for ancient highland Maya myth and history to have survived the Spanish Conquest in the early sixteenth century. Through a combination of lectures, group discussion and directed research by the participants themselves, this workshop will attempt to unravel the mythic theology of the ancient Maya past, particularly as it relates to the descent of the Maya Hero Twins into Xibalba. This is a unique opportunity to learn about the Maya view of the universe through their own words. Such a study is essential in understanding not only the ancient Maya, but in understanding living Maya language, culture and ceremonialism as well. Lectures will include a general introduction to the history and decipherment of the text; modern Maya ritual and myth as it reflects the theology of the Popol Vuh; how this theology relates to the iconography of ancient Maya monuments, ceramics, and hieroglyphic codices; a study of the text’s poetic structure as a key to unlocking its myths’ fuller meaning; and a brief look at highland Maya linguistics in an effort to understand the original Maya concepts that may be hidden in modern translations.
Ancient Maya Conceptions of Space-Time, The Calendar, Creation, and Re-Creation. Did the Maya Expect the Long Court Calendar to “End” or “Start Over” in 2012? Maya Calendar Workshop
San Jacinto Conference Room
Workshop leader: Dr. Mark van Stone
Non-Student registration fee: $250
Student registration fee: $125
Enrollment is limited to 30 participants
Symposium:
March 26-27, 2011
The Blanton Museum Auditorium
Non-Student registration fee: $100
Student registration fee: $75
Confirmed speakers: Alfredo López Austin, Anthony Aveni, John Hoopes, Leonardo López Luján, Katheryn Reese-Taylor, David Stuart, Karl Taube, and Barbara Tedlock.
Program for the Symposium will be posted shortly.