CLINTMM003 - Midweek Medley: From Stonehenge to the Galápagos

Dirk Van Tuerenhout, Ph.D., is curator of anthropology at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. He has participated in several archaeological research projects in Belize and Guatemala. His research emphasis is on Maya culture, settlement patterns, population history, architecture and art. He holds a master’s degree in ancient history and another in art history and archaeology, both from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, as well as a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in anthropology from Tulane University. He has published a monograph on Aztec culture. Dr. Van Tuerenhout has taught anthropology at Tulane University, Shippensburg University, the University of New Orleans and the University of Houston–Clear Lake. Among the exhibits he curated at the Houston Museum of Natural Science was “Lucy’s Legacy.” He is currently working on the renovation of the John P. McGovern Hall of the Americas.

Luis Duno-Gottberg, Ph.D., is a professor at Rice University and has taught at Universidad Simón Bolívar in Caracas and Florida Atlantic University. He specializes in 19th-, 20th- and 21st-century Caribbean culture, with an emphasis on race and ethnicity, politics and violence. His current book project, “Dangerous People: Hegemony, Representation and Culture in Contemporary Venezuela,” explores the relationship between popular mobilization, radical politics and culture. He is the author of “La humanidad como mercancía: Introducción a la esclavitud moderna en América y el Caribe” (2014) and “Solventando las diferencias: La ideología del mestizaje en Cuba” (2003). He is the editor of “Carceral Communities in Latin America: Troubling Prison Worlds in the 21st Century” (2021).

Cin-Ty Lee, Ph.D., is the Harry Carothers Wiess Professor of Geology in the Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences at Rice University. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University and his B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley. His research focuses on volcanoes, continent formation and the making of ore deposits. Dr. Lee is also a lifelong naturalist and has written numerous articles on the field identification of birds. He dedicates his spare time to documenting the flora and fauna of Rice University, recording 228 species of birds and over 500 species of insects since 2002.

Debra Dickinson, M.A., was the artist-teacher of opera studies for acting and movement at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music for nearly three decades, directing 25 productions for the Department of Opera Studies. She was a professional singer and actress in New York for 15 years before starting her career as a director. She performed with Richard Burton on Broadway in “Camelot” and as Guenevere opposite Richard Harris in the subsequent national tour. Ms. Dickinson has taught master classes for Houston Grand Opera and Houston Ebony Opera, served as the acting instructor for Glimmerglass Festival, Brevard Opera and Chautauqua Opera, and was the recipient of the Marcus Bailey and Betty Graves Shelfer Eminent Scholar Chair in Music Theatre at Florida State University. Ms. Dickinson holds an undergraduate degree from Northwestern University and a graduate degree from Hunter College in New York City.

Diane Wolfthal, Ph.D., is the David and Caroline Minter Endowed Chair Emerita in the Humanities and a professor emerita of art history at Rice University. She specializes in late medieval and early modern European art and culture. Dr. Wolfthal formerly taught at Columbia and Cambridge Universities. Her most recent book is “Household Servants and Slaves: A Visual History, 1300–1700” (Yale University Press, 2022). She is also guest curating an exhibition, “Medieval Money, Merchants and Morality” for the Morgan Library and Museum in New York.

Jim Parsons, M.A., puts a lifelong passion for Houston’s history and architecture to work as programs director for Preservation Houston, the Bayou City’s only citywide historic preservation nonprofit. Since joining Preservation Houston’s staff in 2009, Mr. Parsons has worked to broaden the organization’s educational outreach through architectural walking tours, lectures, workshops and digital programs. He has photographed and coauthored four award-winning books on Art Deco architecture in Texas, including “Houston Deco: Modernistic Architecture of the Texas Coast.”

Online: Pre-recorded / on demand
This course will be delivered in a pre-recorded/on-demand format. Registered participants will receive instructions to access the course page and may view the pre-recorded lectures in any order and as often as preferred. Check Section Notes for access availability.

This special series is offered at a deeply discounted rate. No additional discounts are applicable.