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Front Matter, Maya America Editors

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Includes Cover Art, Definitions, and Table of Contents

Introductory Note: Maya America Volume 7 Issue 1 2025, Robin Chancer, Alan Lebaron

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Maya America Volume 7 Issue 1 presents essays, commentaries, and literature that directly or indirectly address our theme for this journal issue: “Maya Cosmic Health.” The authors examine various topics of health, and the collective work addresses the meaning of health as understood through Maya cosmovision. The editors of this special issue aim to encourage bridge-building between Maya health cosmovision and biomedical or psychological practitioners. In addition, we recognize the opportunity to address rapidly changing technological realities, the responses of Maya peoples, and the emerging potentialities for partnerships.

Book Review: Ch’Ul Mut: Sacred Bird Messengers Of The Chamula Maya, David Stoll

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

by Maruch Méndez Pérez and Diane Rus University of New Mexico Press, 2023 xli + 365 pp., 75 black-and-white photos, 77 color plates, 4 appendixes

Guatemalan Maya Women’S Attitudes Towards Biomedical Contraception After Migrating To The United States, Shreenaya Prabu, Iris Parshley, Robert Malkin

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Medical providers in the United States who discuss the use of contraceptives with Maya women migrants might discover strong reluctance and complex beliefs about the social and physical benefits of biomedical contraceptive measures. This research report presents information about contraceptive usage among Maya in Guatemala and how usage or attitudes toward contraception might have changed while living in the United States. The research team, during 2024, interviewed six adult female Guatemalan Maya refugees over Zoom to understand their thoughts toward contraceptive use before and after migrating. Discussion points included: lack of sexual education in Guatemala, health concerns arising from using …

Paris Trip Blog: The Codex Pérez And The Unesco Conference On Language Technologies, Gaspar Tomas

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Gaspar Tomas discusses his trip to Paris, where he attended the UNESCO conference on language technologies. Gaspar has long studied and lived within Maya cosmology; thus he also visited the Codex Pérez. Gaspar explains that technology can and must be employed in the preservation of Indigenous languages. In his own words: “Just as our ancestors once protected our languages, we must remember that ancestral knowledge is not lost; it simply waits to be reclaimed. The responsibility now lies with us to preserve, promote, and archive our voices to shape our future better.”

Full Issue - Maya America V7, I1, Maya America Editors

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Full issue of Maya America, volume 7, issue 1.

Integration Of Modern Treatments With The Cosmology Of Health Contributes Integrally To Physical, Emotional And Community Wellbeing, An K'A'Ch Guzmán Marcos

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

An K'a'ch Guzmán Marcos, an Ixil health care worker in the Ixil region, Guatemala, describes how cosmology forms an integral part of the people's identity. She describes the importance of cosmic health to the lives of the people, and the increasingly successful efforts of Ixil workers to build bridges of understanding with the biomedical medical profession.

Ancestral Languages In The Digital Age: My Experience At Unesco Presenting A Paper Entirely In Kaqchikel, Kawoq Baldomero Cuma Chávez

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Baldomero Cuma gave an invited presentation to the International LT4All UNESCO conference in Paris. He gave his presentation entirely in the Kaqchikel language. In this commentary, Baldomero discusses his beliefs about language and why he presented at the conference in his Maya language. To Baldomero, Maya language preservation has profound connections to the integral being of the Maya, and language preservation should be much more than mere academic research and information collection. As he writes, "In our homes, from the womb of our mother and at birth, we hear our identity, starting with the 'ta, ta, ta, ta' or with …

Mi Experiencia En La Unesco Al Presentar Una Ponencia Totalmente En Kaqchikel, Kawoq Baldomero Cuma Chávez

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Por primera vez un hablante nativo de kaqchikel se dirigió a una conferencia mundial de la UNESCO completamente en una lengua ancestral. El educador, autor y guía espiritual maya Baldomero Cuma Chávez hizo historia en París, Francia, en la Conferencia LT4ALL 2025: Language Technologies for All, con una convincente presentación sobre la preservación digital de las lenguas mayas. El discurso de Cuma Chávez en kaqchikel, una lengua con aproximadamente 475 000 hablantes, marca un antes y un después en el reconocimiento mundial del patrimonio lingüístico indígena. Su presentación destacó la creciente necesidad de integrar a las lenguas mayas en los …

Maya Migrants And Psychotherapy: Recommendations And A Case Study From Comunidad Sol In Canton, Ohio, Robin Chancer, Gerónimo Ramírez, Ernesto Ajanel Calel, María Ixcoy Mejía

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

This article approaches the question: How can non-Indigenous mental health practitioners work appropriately with Maya K’iche’ and Ixil communities in the United States? The authors are three Maya leaders and one non-Indigenous psychotherapist, the four of whom have worked together for several years. Psychological treatment rooted in Euro-American paradigms can be minimally helpful—if not harmful—to many Indigenous communities (Dudgeon & Bray, 2016). Traditional approaches such as cognitive-behavior therapy continue the colonial preoccupation with individual pathology and the separation of mind, body, spirit, and nature. The authors suggest that more appropriate approaches would include acknowledging structural oppression and centering the K’iche’ …

Book Review: Un Maya Migrante: Un Viaje Sin Retorno/A Maya Migrant: A Journey Of No Return, Christián González Reyes

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

By Gaspar Pedro González Yax Te’ Books, 2021. 262 pp

A Constructive Engagement Between Oxford Ordinary Language Philosophy And Latin American & Latine Liberatory Philosophy, Alessandro R. Moscaritolo Palacio

Comparative Philosophy

In this paper, I bring into dialogue a movement in Latin American social and political philosophy – which I have named Latin American and Latine Liberatory Philosophy – and a Western, or more precisely global North, philosophical movement sometimes called Ordinary Language Philosophy. By ‘Latin American and Latine Liberatory Philosophy’, I refer to a movement, adumbrated at the dawn of the 19^th century and developed during the 20^th century, whose guiding theme is the political, social, and cultural liberation of Latin America (and global South peoples more generally). By ‘Ordinary Language Philosophy’, on the other hand, I refer …

Black Americans’ Strategic Disengagement In Digital Protest: A Thematic Analysis Of Youtube Responses To Latino Deportation Appeals (2025), Professor Meya E. Hargett

The Scholarship Without Borders Journal

This qualitative study, grounded in digital discourse theory, investigates Black Americans’ responses to the Latino community’s calls for protest support against federal deportation policies under the current U.S. administration. Twelve publicly available YouTube videos from Spring 2025 were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis to identify key patterns in Black discourse, including themes of strategic withdrawal, political disillusionment, solidarity fatigue, and historical tension.

This study defines 'stand down' as a deliberate, non-antagonistic decision to refrain from participating in another group’s protest movement. Findings indicate that disengagement is not rooted in apathy but is shaped by long-standing racialized experiences, ideological misalignment, and …

Where Did All The Democrats Go?, Reese Adkins

Political Science Theses and Capstones

Following the reelection of President Obama in 2012, many political scientists such as Ruy Teixeira and John B. Judis, believed that this signaled the beginning of many Democratic electoral victories to come. They published their argument in their book, The Emerging Democratic Majority, in which they explained the Democratic Party’s plan to gain a systemic advantage in presidential elections. This was to be achieved by winning elections through winning the vote of minority groups, white women, and young college-educated people. This has been far from the case. Donald Trump, with political experience, shocked the world after winning the 2016 election …

Projecting Echoes: Valeria Luiselli's Writing On Immigration, Jacob C. Cisneros

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The growing concerns of immigration has been a fraught topic in both U.S. society and the American political landscape. Certain political narratives are formed which fuel the debate for and against immigration. This coincides with how immigrants are treated and how legal processes change throughout each term of presidency within the United States. This has sparked outrage from both advocates and adversaries of immigrants coming into the United States. Papers, speeches, news articles, and more have been created from both sides of the argument concerning how to handle the immigration crisis along with the question of how immigrants and asylum …

Taming The Wild Tongue Of Frida Kahlo: An Analysis Of Translation As Adaptation In Personal Narratives, Alyse K. Deatherage

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This thesis discusses topics of adaptation and translation theory by looking at the way Frida Kahlo’s diary has been transformed through both adaptation and translations of it in the texts The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait and The Diary of Frida Kahlo: A New Perspective. Scholars have paid much attention to the connections between Kahlo’s diary and her portraits, focusing on artistic critique and the painter’s diary as a drafting space for what eventually became her famous self-portraits. Researchers have also documented Frida Kahlo’s artistic and cultural influences in Mexico and abroad. However, none have addressed the …

Chingonas In Charge: A Phenomenological Study Of Latina Educational Leaders In Colorado, Paulina Yvette Lerma-Banuelos

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite comprising 76% of the U.S. teaching workforce (2017−2018), Latina women held only 8.5% of principal roles and 2.7% of superintendent positions. In places such as Colorado, where Latinos make up 15.1% of the population, this inequity highlights the pressing necessity for better representation. The present study used a qualitative phenomenological approach to explore the fundamental essence and attributes of leadership among Latina K−12 administrators in Colorado, with a focus on the concept of “chingona” and its transformative significance in their professional journeys. The name “chingona” was historically rejected by young Latina women because of connotations to being aggressive or …

Death To Comphet: A Chapina Southern Lesbian Story, Doraly Oneida Perez-Valdez

University Honors Theses

This paper is a counterstory that fights narratives that have been placed upon Latina Lesbians by everyone but us. The main topic is compulsory heteronormativity also known as "comphet". This autoethnography explains how "comphet" may affect different identities but specifically a Latina Lesbian from the South. There are nine chapters that explain how each topic affects a different aspect of identity but centers lesbianism. Societal reasons, cultural reasons, "date to marry" culture, Southern upbringing, sex education received, racial and gender stereotypes, and capitalism are all of the topics being explored through the lens of a Southern Latina Lesbian. These topics …

Balancing Power And Influence: U.S.-Brazil Foreign Relations In The 20th Century, Thais Russo Goncalves

The Kennesaw Journal of Undergraduate Research

This paper explores the intricate dynamics of U.S. foreign policies directed toward Brazil during the 20th century. The paper examines Brazil’s unique role in Latin America as the only country in the region to actively participate in both World Wars, which led to its emergence as a key ally of the United States. This partnership influenced U.S. foreign policy, particularly in economic and military aid, fostering Brazil’s dependency on the U.S. while simultaneously granting it regional significance. The paper acknowledges four schools of thought: exclusion, reactionary, parental, and economic-political, to analyze the motivations and implications of U.S. policies. The exclusion …

Tierras Celosas, Gery Vargas

Masters Theses

Tierras Celosas is a field study, a symposium presentation at Brown University, a belief system. It is a machine-object, a cosmotechnic tension, an ontological contradiction. It embodies resistance and release, failure, and reclamation.