Middle American Research Institute

Interested in archaeological science but not sure where to start?

The Archaeometry Laboratory at the University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR) is excited to announce our Archaeometry Workshop for Mesoamerican Archaeologists, taking place November 9–13, 2026 in Columbia, Missouri.

This hands-on workshop introduces participants to archaeological science methods including:
• Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA)
• XRF
• Mass Spectrometry
• Raman Spectroscopy
• Petrography

Through lectures, lab tours, and practical activities, participants will explore how these methods can support their own archaeological research.

• Open to graduate students and early-career scholars in Mesoamerican archaeology
• International applicants are encouraged
• No registration fee
• Selected participants receive travel support, housing options, and meal stipends

Applications due: May 30, 2026

Scan the QR code in the flyer to apply or use this link: https://forms.gle/AhZLQEXV1xPP3q5p7

Contact Whitney Goodwin at [email protected] for more information.

Don't forget to submit your application for internships at MARI! Due April 27th!

Internship applications for Fall 2026 are OPEN!
Our M.A.R.I Internship program offers students a chance for hands-on research specific to their interests across a range of disciplines! Our application deadline for Fall semester is April 27th, make sure you get your application in before then! We look forward to working with you
https://liberalarts.tulane.edu/mari/outreach/get-involved

Internship applications for Fall 2026 are OPEN!
Our M.A.R.I Internship program offers students a chance for hands-on research specific to their interests across a range of disciplines! Our application deadline for Fall semester is April 27th, make sure you get your application in before then! We look forward to working with you
https://liberalarts.tulane.edu/mari/outreach/get-involved

Thank you so much to everyone who came out to the Tulane Maya Symposium 2026, all of our speakers, workshop leaders made this such an incredible and informative time. A special thank you to our collaborators and sponsors New Orleans Museum of ArtConsulado de México en Nueva OrleansRuta Maya CoffeeNew Orleans Hispanic Heritage Foundation and the Latin American Graduate Organization at Tulane we couldn't have had as fun or successful event without the help of so many people, we hope to see you all next year!

Please join us this Friday April 3rd for our next Lunch Talk featuring Miruna Achim!

Her talk will be on her current work which reconstructs the uses of Mesoamerican jade – a mineral rich with meanings in ancient Mesoamerica – as an object of art, science, politics, and commerce since the Spanish conquest. Placing jade’s material properties --color, texture, translucence, hardness, chemistry-- at the center of analysis, she explores how changing perceptions of matter have shaped interactions with the stone and among the people who extract, work, traffic, collect and study it. Building on the premise that jade is not an ontologically fixed essence, she asks, first, how its uses have been produced and translated over time between linguistic, geographic and cultural borders. Second, about the conceptual and political arrangements that sustain a differential production of knowledge and ignorance, making it possible for certain narratives of the stones’ uses to become prominent, while the violence pending on their extraction has been opaqued. Jade functions as a site for inquiring into the ways in which the Mesoamerican past and material cultures have been incorporated into global histories and into the relations of contemporary Amerindian communities with transregional economic and political actors. By delving into the uses of a stone, she asks how Mesoamerican material culture and its circulations still haunt, affect, and inspire contemporary contexts worldwide.

Get excited! This week is the Tulane Maya Symposium! Here is a spotlight at our speakers for the Saturday talks after lunch!

Saturday March 7th is the day of the Tulane Maya Symposium we have all of our speakers! Tune in before lunch to hear Alexandre Tokovinine, Francisco Estrada-Belli, Kathryn Reese-Taylor, and Thomas Garrison!

Next Friday at the Tulane Maya Symposium our workshops will be on epigraphy and GIS 1:00-3:00! Make sure you tune in before heading to the keynote talk!

Check out our two workshops taking place next Thursday, March 5th! We hope you are able to join us in learning more about provenance or mapping and modeling cities!

We are so excited for the Tulane Maya Symposium next week! Our keynote speaker Charlotte Arnauld will be talking at the New Orleans Museum of Art Friday March 6th 6:30-7:30, followed by a reception, we hope you are able to join us!