Departmental News

Posted:  Sep 28, 2018 - 12:00am

As part of her statewide listening tour, UNM President Dr. Garnett Stokes visted Chaco Canyon Historic Monument in August 2018. Below is an excerpt from her report of the visit:

"My final stop on this tour was one I had highly anticipated, and, quite frankly, it surpassed my expectations. Chaco Canyon National Historic Monument is where many of our archeology and anthropology students take part in field school, and it is the focus of groundbreaking research by faculty member, Dr. Patricia Crown. I was honored to get a personal tour of the site from Dr. Crown and Dr. W.H. “Chip” Wills, both of whom have done extensive work at Chaco. Dr. Crown, who was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2014, was the first person to discover traces of cacao north of the Mexican border, proving the existence of chocolate at Chaco. They also took me to a private area of the park (with park ranger’s permission, of course) where I stood in the oldest room in North America, a place more ancient than the oldest buildings in Santa Fe. The chair of our Department of Anthropology, Les Field, also joined us at the site, along with three of our ASUNM Students, President Becka Myers, Chief of Staff Alice Vernon, and Director of Communication Brendon Gray."  Read more about Dr. Stokes Statewide  Listening Tour here and follow her on Twitter for updates on UNM activities.