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For the past 24 years, Amarillo College has offered a Creative Mind Lecture Series that has covered ancient civilizations and people as well as other topics. Past series have included Egypt, the Lewis and Clark expedition and heroic women.
Starting out as a faculty seminar, the newest topic for the Creative Mind Lecture Series is the Mayans.
Today, Dr. Dennis Tedlock, a professor of anthropology and English at the State University of New York at Buffalo, will speak on his book, Popol Vuh: The Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life, at 12:30 p.m. in the music building lobby.
"He has translated the creation story of the Mayans in this book," Nickalus said.
Tedlock will speak again at 7:30 p.m. at the Business and Industry Center on "Two Thousand Years of Mayan Literature."
Dr. Tom Guderjan, president of the Maya Research Program in Fort Worth, spoke twice Jan. 25.
The Mayans, a people full of intelligence, are known most for a mystery. Once a thriving nation, it was but a few years later that only abandoned cities remained.
Why? What could have caused such a rapid descent of an all-powerful nation? What is so interesting about these people?
Carol Nicklaus, coordinator of the series, chose the Mayans upon request.
"I have been interested in archeology for a long time," she said. "This topic was suggested by a lot of students from previous lecture series."
Nicklaus has a bachelor's degree in general education and a master's in philosophy of religion. She has worked as an archeology volunteer in Belize.
Dr. Brian Farmer, an AC history and government teacher, said, "The Mayans are interesting to me because they are the only advanced civilization to live in a tropical rain forest. It's 2007, and we still don't have an advanced civilization in a rain forest."
The Mayans were hunters and gatherers as well as an agricultural society.
"They practiced the slash-and-burn technique to cultivate their land," Farmer said.
Slash-and-burn is a method of clearing off forestry and burning it, using the cleared land to farm, and then after a few years of doing so, going to another spot of land to continue the process.
The next speaker, on Feb. 22, will come from the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. David Stuart, a professor of Mesoamerican studies, will speak at 12:30 p.m. in the College Union Building Oak Room and at 7:30 p.m. at the B&I Center. "He lived in the Mayan area when he was a little boy," Nicklaus said. "He will be here showing us how to decipher Mayan hieroglyphics."
On March 7, Dr. George Scheper of the Community College of Baltimore County-Essex, who is project director of NEH Maya World Institutes, will speak at 12:30 p.m. in the College Union Building Oak Room and at 7:30 p.m. at the B&I Center.
The speakers also are participating in a class from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursdays through March 9 in room 200 of the music building. "Because of the grants we receive, it allows this class to be free," Nicklaus said. "Plus, many professors give extra credit for these meetings."
But what happened to the ancient Maya?
"There are three major declining factors for the Maya: (1) overused resources, (2) they became more warlike, as well as, getting more efficient weapons from the Toltec, and (3) climate change," Nicklaus said.
Other theories exist, however.
"A dominating theory is that their religion changed," Farmer said. "Northern tribes brought their religion down south, and the Mayans adopted them. Basically, the cities were really religious centers. Once you have changed a religion, nothing is going to keep you there."
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