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Oct. 28, 2005
Dr. Gail Ament, associate professor and chair of modern languages at Morningside College, attended the Sixth Conference on Mayan Studies held in August at Guatemala City, Guatemala. In addition to attending the conference, Ament spent one week in Guatemala City researching Guatemalan Mayan novelists and poets.
The conference, sponsored by University Rafael Landivar in Guatemala City, included panel discussions on a variety of topics including human and civil rights, linguistics, archaeology, media representations of Guatemalan indigenous people, and bilingual education. The conference provided information for political activists as the country prepares for next year’s tenth anniversary of the 1996 signing of the Guatemalan Peace Accords, which ended more than 36 years of civil war.
Ament also hosted a three-part Mexican film series at the Sioux City Art Center in September. The film series was held in conjunction with the art center’s exhibit "La Loteria: A Window into the Culture and History of Mexico," which explored the artistic and historic tradition of a popular Mexican board game also known as Mexican bingo.
Ament specializes in contemporary Mayan literature, language, and culture and has published extensively on the subject. She received her master's degree from the University of Montana in Missoula and her doctorate from the University of Washington in Seattle. She was a Fulbright Scholar to Guatemala from 1995-1996 and previously was on the faculties at Whitworth College and Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash., before joining Morningside in 1998.
Learn more about the department of Modern Languages at Morningside.
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Morningside College professor Dr. Gail Ament attends
Mayan conference in Guatemala