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Current Research Delina Anibarro Halushka (Quechua Oral Tradition) I am an Andinista, which means, in my field of Latin American studies, that I devote my time to investigating the literary production of the Andean countries of South America. I am currently doing research on the oral narrative of Bolivia and specifically on the oral tradition of the Quechua Indians. Their oral tradition mainly displays Spanish roots that they have preserved for many generations back to the 16th century. It is a particularly interesting fact that during my research I discovered many types of folktales among the Quechuas that have disappeared from the European oral tradition. Judith Strupp Green (Maya and Zapotec Ritual and Ceremonial Cacao) Research can be encouraging, frustrating, satisfying and even exasperating. But it is never boring, because the well never runs dry. My research experiences after graduate school and completion of a thesis (on the Tarahumara women of Chihuahua) were in Mexican ethnic arts and ritual featured at the San Diego Museum of Man. I was employed there as curator of the Latin American collections for a decade. I currently focus on cacao as the source for sacred beverages made as offerings by the ancient Mesoamericans. Even today chocolate (processed cacao) remains an important ceremonial drink for contemporary Maya and Zapotec people. With the help of the Helen Hawkins grant I did field work in Tabasco and Yucatan in November 2006 to investigate the traditional growing and processing of cacao to make the beverages used in contemporary Maya ritual. This study complemented my earlier field work in Oaxaca on cacao and other foods used for altar offerings on the Zapotec Days of the Dead. As an example of the importance of cacao to the ancient Maya my work in Yucatan last year included photographing and documenting painted images of cacao at The Temple of the Owls (currently closed to the public) at Old Chichen Itza. I also located a 'lost' sculpture from the Temple at a museum in Merida that depicts the provocative theme of the resurrection of an important supernatural from a cacao tree. Willard Henry Wells (A Calculation of Human Survivability) This is an abstract of my forthcoming book: Apocalypse When? A Calculation of Humanity's Survival Prospects. Starting about 1950, our world changed forever. Global population multiplied 2.5-fold and technology surged forward at an unprecedented pace. Sir Martin Rees, England's Astronomer Royal, thinks the pace will cause a fatal error within a century or two. He wagered $1000 that a single act of bio-error or bio-terror will kill a million people before 2020. Bill Joy, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, fears that machines will overpower us using cybertechnology that he helped create. Stephen Hawking, renowned physicist and author of A Brief History of Time, thinks we must colonize outer space to ensure survival of our species. We cannot estimate survivability by running simulations of future events or by detailed risk analysis. Imagine living in 1900 and trying to anticipate nuclear winter, cobalt bombs, and global warming. Instead, we develop a mathematical formula that transcends such imponderables. It relies on humanity's track record for survival-actually two track records: 2000 centuries for surviving natural hazards, which is reassuring; and a scanty half century for surviving the many man-made hazards, which is precarious. Results depend strongly on world population: If we live in relative comfort with only 4 billion others (1974 world population), then we can expect to survive another 3 centuries with 65% confidence. But if we choose to live in squalor with 12 billion others, then we can expect only 1 more century. Either way the product is 12 billion people centuries. In other words, our species' life expectancy is inversely proportional to population for the next few centuries. Statistically this means that overpopulation is pruning centuries off everybody's family tree. These may be crucial centuries that determine whether intelligent life can escape from Earth, ultimately to populate the solar system and possibly the galaxy. |
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