About Me

Hi, I’m Catherine- and welcome to Mesoamerican Studies Online!

I am a graduate student and lifelong lover of Mesoamerican art and archaeology, and I am passionate about making that information available to others.

As a student beginning to study ancient Mesoamerica, I was constantly frustrated by the lack of good information readily available to the public about the Maya, the Mexica (Aztec), and the other cultures of Mesoamerica. Now that I have my Masters’ degree, I have decided to use my connections and knowledge to make it easier for travelers and students to find accurate information about the cultures.

Let me tell you about my trip to the Yucatan in 2016.

It was October, and I was finally on the plane. I had been saving up for this latest trip for a year, and I was ready. I had my backpack, my hammock… and my 700-page book on the Ancient Maya by Robert Sharer.

Yeah, I know.

But I was determined to really learn about these sites, and put them into context— and for that I knew I needed some real academic knowledge.

But guess what?

The information that I needed from that book only amounted to about 20 pages.

20 pages.

And I was carrying around the whole friggin’ book.

That was when I first started thinking about better ways to convey and transport academic information for tourists that travel to these sites.

I knew there had to be a way to condense all of that information into something portable.

Sure, there are travel guides out there. But who writes them? Not academics.

That was the beginning of Mesoamerican Studies Online. Since then, I have created online courses, eBooks and itineraries that gather together the important archaeological, art historical and cultural information known on individual sites so that they are available to travelers who want to be in the know when they go.

But in a digital form, so that you don’t have to carry around a 700-page book, like I did.