Olivia Navarro-Farr
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Professor of Archaeology, Sociology, and Anthropology; Program Chair for Archaeology
Phone: 330-263-2042
Office: Kauke 001
Degrees
- B.A., St. Mary’s University San Antonio 1998
- M.A., Southern Methodist University 2007
- Ph.D., Southern Methodist University 2009
Professor Navarro-Farr’s research focuses on ancient Mesoamerica. She has conducted archaeological investigations in Belize, Mexico, and, since 2003 has directed research in Guatemala at the site of El Perú-Waka’s primary civic-ceremonial building (Structure M13-1). She co-directs the Proyecto Arqueológico Waka’ (PAW) with Juan Carlos Pérez and is a member of the Board of the Waka’ Foundation. Her interests include the archaeology of ritual, monumental architecture, site abandonment processes, and the role of royal women in Classic Maya statecraft. In 2012, Professor Navarro-Farr and colleagues discovered the tomb of one of the site’s most famous royal queens, Lady K’abel. The queen’s portrait is rendered on a stela on view at the Cleveland Museum of Art.
- ARCH 103: Introduction to Archaeology
- ARCH 219: Issues in Archaeology: Mesoamerican Archaeology
- ARCH 350: Archaeological Method and Theory
- ANTH 110: Introduction to Anthropology
- ANTH 210: Physical Anthropology
- ANTH 231: Peoples and Cultures of Latin America
Selected Publications
(2021) [Report] Burial 61 at El Perú-Waka’s Structure M13-1 (first author with Griselda Pérez Robles, Juan Carlos Pérez Calderón, Damaris Menéndez Bolaños, Erin Patterson, and Keith Eppich) – Latin American Antiquity.
(2020) Forest of Queens: The Legacy of Royal Calakmul Women at El Perú-Waka’s Central Civic-Ceremonial Temple (first author with Griselda Pérez Robles, Juan Carlos Pérez Calderón, and Keith Eppich) in A Forest of History: The Maya after the Emergence of Divine Kinship. Travis Stanton and M. Kathryn Brown (Editors) The University Press of Colorado, Boulder
(2020) Expanding the canon: Lady K’abel the Ix Kaloomte’ and the political narratives of classic Maya Queens. First author with Mary Kate Kelly, Michelle Rich, and Griselda Pérez Robles. Feminist Anthropology.
(2020) Science 101: Teaching Scientific Anthropology in the Age of “Alternative” Facts. In Open Rivers: Rethinking Water, Place, and Community. 16 (Winter 2020).
(2020) Inclusive Comparisons for Undergraduates in Archaeology: Representation and Diversity in and Beyond the Classroom. Society for American Archaeology: SAA Archaeological Record.
(2020) Ancient Maya Queenship: Generations of Crafting State Politics and Alliance Building from Kaanul to Waka’. (First author with David A. Freidel, Keith Eppich, and Griselda Pérez Robles). In Approaches to Ancient Maya Landscapes of the Ancient Maya. Brett A. Houk, Barbara Arroyo, and Terry Powis (Editors). The University Press of Florida.
(2014) Archaeology at El Perú-Waka’: Ancient Maya Performances of Ritual, Memory, and Power. (Editor with Michelle Rich). Native Peoples of the Americas series, University of Arizona Press.
- Society for American Archaeology (SAA)
- American Anthropological Association (AAA)
- The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA)
- The Alphawood Foundation
- The Hitz Foundation
- US Department of the Interior
- Fundación Patrimonio Cultural y Natural Maya
- McClung Fund for International Research
- Henry Luce III Fund for Distinguished Scholarship