UTSA anthropology professor was awarded Fulbright funding to teach and conduct research in Bolivia.
(Aug. 3, 2018) -- Sonia Alconini, a professor in The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Department of Anthropology, is teaching archaeological workshops at the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés in Bolivia this summer with funding from the Fulbright Specialist Program. Through the exchange opportunity, Alconini is also expanding on her research in Bolivia.
Alconini was invited by Universidad Mayor de San Andrés’ Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas y Arqueológicas to teach a set of workshops to students working on their theses to obtain professional degrees in anthropology and archaeology.
One of the workshops Alconini is teaching is about Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications to archaeological research.
She was asked to instruct the course because she has experience teaching spatial technologies in anthropology at the graduate level at UTSA. Alconini’s research expertise includes the archaeology of complex societies of the pre-Columbian World, including ancient empires and states.
The anthropology professor, based in the UTSA College of Liberal and Fine Arts (COLFA), also studies settlement pattern analysis, ethnohistory and household archaeology of the Inka Empire and Tiwanaku, both located in the Andes Mountains.
In addition to teaching this summer, Alconini is doing research at the archaeological site of Samaipata, Santa Cruz, which is a large Inka settlement in Bolivia.
“I am thrilled to have received this award. I am originally from Bolivia, and I have been working in South America for several years doing archaeological research,” said Alconini. “I feel that multilateral and multidisciplinary collaborative work is central in positioning UTSA as a premier research institution worldwide. I am truly excited to be part of this initiative.”
Alconini was awarded the UTSA President’s Distinguished Achievement Award for Excellence in Core Curriculum Teaching in 2016 and the UTSA President’s Distinguished Achievement Award for Advancing Globalization in 2015.
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