Aimee Villarreal discusses reconciliation in place names with Big Ideas TXST
Jayme Blaschke, Media Relations | September 13, 2022
Aimee Villarreal, assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at Texas State University, joins the Big Ideas TXST podcast for September's episode, discussing her appointment by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland to the Advisory Committee on Reconciliation in Place Names, a federal advisory group to help identify and recommend changes to derogatory terms still in use for places throughout the country.
Committee members will meet to identify geographic names and federal land unit names that are considered derogatory and solicit proposals on replacement names.
Villarreal was trained in anthropology at the University of California at Santa Cruz with specialization in Mexican American culture and history. As a Chicana with roots in New Mexico and Texas, she is descended from farmworkers, faith healers, educators and community workers whose collective spirit she brings to her teaching, scholarship and creative projects. She is committed to homeplace ethnography and applied projects in partnership with local stakeholders.
Her interdisciplinary research explores social movements and other acts of rebeldía for social justice, equity and sustainable futures in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. She produced and served as lead researcher for an award-winning documentary animation about the 1680 Pueblo Revolt. Currently, she is working on Unsettled Refuge, a historical project involving researchers in Canada and the U.S. who are documenting Indigenous practices of sanctuary and humanitarianism in North America. Her forthcoming book Sanctuaryscapes in the New Mexico Borderlands tells time-traveling stories about how vulnerable people band together to create communities of protection and care.
Big Ideas TXST is a monthly podcast from Texas State’s Division of University Administration that goes inside the fascinating minds forging innovation, research and creativity at the university. Hosted by Daniel Seed, a lecturer in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, each episode features thoughtful interviews and discussion with the thought leaders developing innovative ideas to make the world a better place.
Big Ideas TXST can be found at news.txstate.edu/inside-txst/big-ideas-podcast. The podcast may also be listened to or subscribed to at:
About Texas State University
Founded in 1899, Texas State University is among the largest universities in Texas with an enrollment of 38,694 students on campuses in San Marcos and Round Rock. Texas State’s 221,000-plus alumni are a powerful force in serving the economic workforce needs of Texas and throughout the world.
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For more information, contact University Communications:Jayme Blaschke, 512-245-2555 Sandy Pantlik, 512-245-2922 |