Debunking the Meme: November 16 |
|
November 13, 2012,
Volume 59, No. 12 |
|
The Penn Museum exhibition, MAYA 2012: Lords of Time, describes and debunks the media-fueled meme of an apocalypse to take place at the end of this year. This ceramic censer lid from the show depicts the founder of a major ancient Maya dynasty in Honduras who ruled from 427-437 CE. |
Simon Martin, co-curator of the MAYA 2012: Lords of Time, and the associate curator of the American Section at Penn Museum, will present 2012 and the End of the World: Debunking the Meme on Friday, November 16 at noon. It is part of the University Club’s new Food for Thought lunchtime series.
The talk will be held in the Hourglass Room of the Club and is open to members and their guests, with the purchase of lunch featuring Maya-inspired foods: sopa de lima, turkey pibil, corn tortillas, spiced black beans, rice, roasted winter squash and avocado salad.
Simon Martin is an expert on Maya hieroglyphic writing and specializes in the history and politics of the Classic Maya (AD 250-900). He has previously worked on an exhibition for the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, in 2004 entitled “Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya,” and co-wrote its catalogue with Mary Miller. Among his other publications is the book, Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens (with Nikolai Grube) from 2000. His work has been featured in the New York Times, National Geographic Magazine, Archaeology Magazine, Science and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. He appeared in the Nova television program Cracking the Maya Code in 2008 and has collaborated on other shows for Discovery and the History Channel.
|