Palmer Grant Travel Report: Madeline Ray | Latin American Studies

Palmer Grant Travel Report: Madeline Ray

“The Palmer Grant from the Center for Latin American Studies made it possible for me to go to Mexico in January to support Professor David Carballo’s community archaeology efforts in Tlajinga, Estado de Mexico. In pre-history, Tlajinga was a working-class neighborhood on the outskirts of the ancient city of Teotihuacan. Today, the area is a small town that is becoming absorbed into Mexico City’s sprawl. Carballo has excavated here over several years and has built relationships with neighbors and land-owners. On this trip, we conducted community outreach and held a neighborhood meeting, in which David and I and two other students led a “social mapping” exercise. Residents gathered around a detailed map of their community and customized it with detail on current land use, ownership, and sites for possible future excavation. I was able to use my social work and public health group facilitation skills and my familiarity with modern and ancient Mexico, to help the neighbors and the academics understand each other. The grant provided a unique opportunity for me to combine skill sets and interests of mine that seldom overlap.”

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