The Department of Anthropology presents:

“Seminar on Yucatán, México”
with Steffan Igor Ayora-Diaz, Professor of Anthropology, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, México and Gabriela Vargas-Cetina, Professor of Anthropology, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, México

Tuesday, June 8, 2010
3:00-5:00 p.m.
Social and Behavioral Sciences Gateway, Room 3323

About the talk:
Yucatán, one of the 32 states of the federal republic of Mexico, has a long history of secessionism and regionalism that has endured into the twenty-first century. This seminar brings together two prominent Mexican anthropologists working on different aspects of regional culture in Yucatán. Dr. Steffan Igor Ayora-Diaz examines the mechanisms that allowed the formation of a regional culinary ‘tradition’, its dissemination throughout the peninsula of Yucatán, and the institution and limits of its co-extensiveness with the
territory. Dr. Gabriela Vargas-Cetina explores the effects of politics change on the musical form known as “trova,” which is often described as revealing the soul of Yucatán. Together, these papers call into question the continuity and ‘naturalness’ of two important aspects of Yucatecan culture.

For further information, please email Theresa Collica, tcollica@uci.edu.