Workshop Information January 14-16, 2020

Program of Workshops

The Workshops will take place at The University of Texas at Austin Thompson Conference Center (TCC).

1. Introduction to Maya Hieroglyphic Writing
Tuesday, January 14 and Wednesday, January 15, 9 am-5 pm
Workshop Leaders: Danny Law and Mackenzie Walters

This is a two-day workshop open to all beginners and participants who would like a refresher course. Come learn how to read Maya inscriptions!

Ancient Maya hieroglyphic texts recorded a range of topics and their decipherment opened up new avenues for understanding ancient Maya lives. This two-day workshop will provide an overview of ancient Maya hieroglyphic writing and get participants off to a running start in deciphering ancient Maya inscriptions for themselves. Topics will include the basics mechanics of the script and the language, calendars, historical and ritual events, and more. No prior experience is necessary.

Regular Price: $105
Full-time Student: $70
Residents of Latin American countries: $70
UT Austin affiliates with current EID (UT Faculty, Staff, and Students): $50

Early Bird special pricing is $10 off until the end of Wednesday, December 4th!

2. Pictographic Language and the Children of the Plumed Serpent

Tuesday January 14 and Wednesday, January 15, 9 am-5 pm
Workshop Leader: John M.D. Pohl

This is a two-day workshop with a focus on pictographs and codices. The ancient Nahua, Mixtec, and Zapotec civilizations of Mesoamerica created screenfold books upon which their artists painted pictographs in vibrant primary colors.  The symbols represent people, places, and things used to illustrate divinatory guides, miraculous stories of creation, heroic sagas, and royal genealogies spanning over a thousand years.  The legend of the Mixtec Lord Eight Deer and Lady Six Monkey would rival the works of Sophocles or Shakespeare for their accounts of murder, love affairs, and political intrigue. While the study of the codices and related works is the cornerstone for the scholarly analysis of both ancient and Colonial Mexican indigenous art in general, this workshop also serves as a basic introduction to pictographic communication systems and non-western European art. Even attendees lacking experience in art history will grasp the significance of symbolism communicated through standardized systems of color and form to communicate meaning. By the end of the workshop, each attendee will be able to present oral readings of the scenes in the codices. All attendees must bring to the workshop a copy of Codex Nuttall published by Dover Publications, 1975 (ISBN-13: 978-0486231686). You may wish to bring a copy of Codex Borgia by Dover as well (ISBN-13: 978-0486275697). These make for good evening tonalpohqui readings. Please look up your tonalli or birthday sign and your trecena sign at https://www.azteccalendar.com/.

Regular Price: $105
Full-time Student: $70
Residents of Latin American countries: $70
UT Austin affiliates with current EID (UT Faculty, Staff, and Students): $50

Early Bird special pricing is $10 off until the end of Wednesday, December 4th!

3. Mesoamerican Directions in Colonial Context: Analyzing City, Symbol, and Space in the Relaciones Geográficas of New Spain and Guatemala

Thursday, January 16, 9 am-5 pm
Workshop Leader: Josefrayn Sánchez-Perry

This is a one-day workshop that introduces participants to an overview of city, symbol, and space in the colonial context of 16th-century Mesoamerica. The goal of the workshop is to recognize that with European occupation, indigenous communities experienced the establishment of different organizing systems, some of which were new, while others developed as part of complex Mesoamerican civilizations. The Relaciones Geográficas or “Geographic Reports” of New Spain and Guatemala serve as an important case study that illuminates this process. On the one hand, the collection allows us to see the degrees of European influence throughout a large region. On the other hand, it shows us that each Mesoamerican city-state had unique ideas about how spatial dimensions functioned within larger cultural productions. The workshop will be divided in three sections. First, we explore the process that transformed Mesoamerican city-states into Spanish colonies. Second, we learn to identify the unique mapping techniques of indigenous and European artists through the iconographic styles of naming place and space. With the opportunity of being at UT-Austin, in our last section, we plan to visit the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection to have a first-hand viewing of original maps from the Relaciones Geográficas.

Regular Price: $85
Full-time Student: $60
Residents of Latin American countries: $60
UT Austin affiliates with current EID (UT Faculty, Staff, and Students): $45

Early Bird special pricing is $10 off until the end of Wednesday, December 4th!

4. Categories of Space in Hieroglyphs and Iconography

Thursday, January 16, 9 am-5 pm
Workshop Leader: David Stuart

This one-day workshop will focus on Maya cosmology and spatial concepts as reflected in the written and artistic sources of the Classic period. Through case studies and recent decipherments, we will explore the fundamental categories and symmetries of space and direction, sidedness, centrality, etc. and how these derive from solar phenomenon to express an essential unity among space, time, and real-world human concerns. Some aspects of these phenomena are familiar to students of all Mesoamerican religions and philosophies, but new readings and case studies from the Maya sources, many unpublished, will help bring these ideas into sharper view, providing them with a deeper cultural and historical context. Case studies will include the tombs of Río Azul, architectural programs at Palenque, and other textual references to the sun, centrality, and related cosmological structures. Some basic knowledge of Maya hieroglyphs and iconography is assumed. 

Regular Price: $85
Full-time Student: $60
Residents of Latin American countries: $60
UT Austin affiliates with current EID (UT Faculty, Staff, and Students): $45

Early Bird special pricing is $10 off until the end of Wednesday, December 4th!!