“The Art and Science of Classic Maya Project”
with Dorie Reents-Budet, Research Associate, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
This talk describes the workings of the Maya Ceramics Project which features nuclear chemistry and art historical analysis of ancient Mesoamerican pottery with a focus on ceramics from the Maya region. The primary goal is to discern patterns of ceramic production and exchange to address questions of production, use, and the socio-political implications thereof.
Dorie Reents-Budet, Ph.D.
Dorie Reents-Budet specializes in Maya ceramic studies. She holds a BFA in studio art from the University of Northern Colorado, and an MA in anthropology and PhD in art history from the University of Texas at Austin. She is a senior research associate at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution where she is the art historian for the Maya Ceramics Project. Dorie taught art history at the University of California at Santa Barbara, Duke University, and the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.
Dorie’s museum career started at Duke University and later as Consulting Curator at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte, and Casa K’inich (Copán, Honduras), as well as other museums in North America.