Synopsis:

Anthropologists, we have a lot of fun and the privilege of learning from and about other peoples. My main take-away from these experiences is that there is so much more I don’t know and can never know. But I do know that many concepts that I “grew up on" are simplified. My goal is to unpack some of these concepts in terms of the diversity that exists in Oaxaca— from the ecological to the cultural, by looking back through time and across space. Some themes are maize, language, ethnicity, history v. “pre” history in terms of continuity and change.

Bio:

Martha Rees is an anthropologist with almost 50 years of experience in Mexico, I specialize in women’s work, peasant household economy, migration and health, and do evaluation research (MacArthur Foundation, NIOSH-CDC). I have worked in Mexican and US institutions: Instituto Nacional Indigenista, Centro de Ecodesarrollo, University of Cincinnati, and Agnes Scott College, as well as held Fulbright scholarships and worked as an expert witness. Currently I am the President of the Welte Institute for Oaxacan Studies, Inc. [https://institutowelte.org/], a library of Oaxacan materials in Oaxaca.