- Academic Calendar
- _
- Access and Equity
- _
- Administration
- _
- Calendars
- _
- Campus Life
- _
- Controller's Office
- _
- Email Search
- _
- Emergency Preparedness
- _
- Employers
- _
- Employment
- _
- Financial Aid
- _
- Human Resources
- _
- Human Rights
- _
- Information Technology
- _
- Libraries
- _
- Maps
- _
- Meadows Museum
- _
- News
- _
- Public Affairs
- _
- Registrar
- _
- Saving for College
- _
- Site Index
- _
- Student Accounts
- _
- Substance Abuse Prevention
- _
- Visit SMU
- _
- Webmail
- _
- Academic Calendar
- _
- _
- _
- Career Center
- _
- Health Center
- _
- Leadership & Community Involvement
- _
- New Student Programs
- _
- Parent & Family Programs
- _
- Recreational Sports
- _
- Residence Life & Student Housing
- _
- Services for Students with Disabilities
- _
- Student Activities & Multicultural Student Affairs
- _
- Student Center
- _
- Student Conduct and Community Standards Office
- _
- Student Life
- _
- University Chaplain
- _
- Vice President of Student Affairs
- _
- Women’s Center
- _
- _
Cultural
Institute weekend in 2008: July 17-20
2008 Cultural Institute registration is closed. Email us at taosci@smu.edu to be placed on the waiting list.
Course Offerings
Ceramics and Silver: Collecting Native American Art
$650
About the Course
Native American artisans create works that are collected and treasured across the world. These works meld contemporary materials, traditional motifs and ancestral roots. This course delves into two primary art forms – pottery and silver jewelry – with a focus on the artists and traditions that have shaped southwestern Native American art. You will meet working artists and view private collections to better understand what differentiates masterworks from the mundane in Native American ceramics and jewelry. Buying the work of a Native American artist is simple; knowing what artistry will be collectible and distinguished in the coming decades is the challenge to be tackled in this exciting workshop. Participants will have the opportunity to both assess and purchase authentic Native American pottery and jewelry made by noted American Indian artists.
About the Instructor
Marti Struever has been a specialist in southwestern American Indian art for 33 years. She is a noted dealer and appraiser, an exhibition curator, author of two books on pottery and jewelry, and has led more than 60 10-day art field seminars to introduce collectors to southwestern artists and scholars.
"There are many things we wonder about as we mature, but rarely do we have the opportunities to easily satisfy those curiosities. SMU-in-Taos Cultural Institute helps satisfy that curiosity, and thereby enhances our knowledge. It is truly educational and quite enjoyable." – Ed Fjordbak
The Living Earth: Geology and Environmental Science of the Northern Rio Grande
$700
About the Course
Powerful natural forces have shaped the landscape of the Taos region, including volcanic activity, glaciation
and erosion. This ancient land has seen at least five episodes of mountain
building, erosion and immersion under ancestral oceans. Hundreds of millions
of years of geological change has created a complicated landscape that
supports one of the most diverse botanical ecosystems in the Americas. The
dual focus of this course – geologic dynamics and floral diversity – weaves
landscape into natural environment. The first day of the course will
introduce you to the geological forces that have sculpted the living earth
of the northern Rio Grande region, as well as the wide variety of plant life
in the region.
Short hikes will be offered.
About the Instructors
Bob Laury, professor emeritus in geology, began teaching at SMU in 1966 and served as director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Geological Sciences until his retirement in 1998. Bob taught and directed the SMU Geology Field Camp at SMU-in-Taos for 25 years. He currently resides in Mason, Texas, in a house constructed of Hickory Sandstone, the oldest sedimentary rock in Texas.
Dr. John Ubelaker is Professor and past Chair in the Department of Biology at SMU. This year marks Dr. Ubelaker’s 40th year of teaching and research at SMU. John has taught biology at our Taos campus for many years, and served as the Director of SMU-in-Taos from 1992 – 2006. A Fellow of the Texas Academy of Science, Dr. Ubelaker’s research specialties include the biology of parasites, cacti of the southwest, as well as medicinal plants of New Mexico. He is the recipient of many teaching honors at SMU, including the Altschuler Distinguished Lecturer Award. Dr. Ubelaker was elected into SMU’s Academy of Distinguished Teachers in 2005.
Georgia O’Keeffe and Modernism
Physical Challenge: Low$700
About the Course
This class will explore the art and life of Georgia O’Keeffe (1887–1986), situating her paintings and philosophy of art within the larger context of modernism. The course will employ O’Keeffe’s work as a vehicle to examine what nurtured the emergence of modernism in America, as well as elucidate the sharp differences between American and European art during that era. The lectures, along with a field trip to her house in Abiquiu
and the Ghost Ranch site, will reveal how her art couples a great respect for
the physical world with a desire to transform and transcend it.
Recommended Reading
Full Bloom: The Art and Life of Georgia O’Keeffe, by Hunter Drohojowska-Philp
About the Instructor
After receiving his Ph.D. in art history from the University of Delaware, Randall Griffin was a Fellow at the National Gallery of Art’s Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts for two years. He taught at Vanderbilt University before coming to SMU in 1992 to teach in the Art History Department of Meadows School of the Arts, where he serves as associate professor and
department chair. He has received two Hope Outstanding Teaching awards, the Golden Mustang Award for excellence in scholarship and teaching and the Rotunda Outstanding Teaching Award. He has authored several articles, as well as three books, Thomas Anshutz: Artist and Teacher; Homer, Eakins, and Anshutz: The Search for American Identity in the Gilded Age; and Winslow Homer: An American Vision.
"Dr. Griffin's meticulous research, enthusiasm for the subject, and articulate presentation created a delightful, meaningful, memorable learning experience." – Gwen Patterson
Kivas to Cathedrals: Religious Art and Architecture of New Mexico
Physical Challenge: Low$700
About the Course
This course examines the artistic and cultural legacies of colonial New Mexico: Pueblo life and architecture; Spanish city planning and church design; retablos, santos and their place in religious experience; and art in the secular life of towns and haciendas of colonial and republican New Mexico. The course will include field trips to the Millicent Rogers Museum, the Martinez Hacienda and the St. Francis of Assisi Church. Guest lecturers will include master santero Charlie Carrillo, recipient of the 2006 Masters Award for Lifetime Achievement given by the Spanish Colonial Arts Society.
Recommended Reading
Centuries of Hands: An Architectural History of St. Francis of Assisi Church, by Van Dorn Hooker
The Religious Architecture of New Mexico, by George Kubler
A Tapestry of Kinship: The Web of Influence among Escultores and Carpinteros in the Parish of Santa Fe, by José Antonio Esquibel and Charles Carrillo
About the Instructor
Charles M. Carrillo a native New Mexican and santero (saintmaker) was the 2006 recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts-National Heritage Award, the highest honor awarded a traditional folk artist by the United States government. He holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of New Mexico where he teaches part time. His research concentrated on Spanish colonial ethno-archaeology and craft specialization. He has written extensively about the Spanish colonial traditions arts of New Mexico. His latest book on 18th and 19th century santos is titled: A Century of Retablos; The Janis and Dennis Lyon Collection of New Mexican Retablos.
Felipe R. Mirabal a 9th generation New Mexican is a Historian and Art Historian. He holds a Masters of Divinity at Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon, and was a doctoral candidate at SMU. His concentration is Spanish Colonial Arts, Architecture and religious traditions. He has extensive understanding of Spanish paleography and religious traditions and is a favorite speaker throughout New Mexico.
Ancestral Images: Petroglyphs of the Northern Rio Grande
Physical Challenge: Moderate$650
About the Course
The vibrant northern Rio Grande is home to some of the oldest and most spectacular petroglyphs in the region, chronicling more than 4,000 years of migration, ethnic interaction and religious practice. Through on-site lectures and actual fieldwork, you will discover the impressive rock art galleries of this sacred landscape, gain insight into ancestral Pueblo life, learn to distinguish variations in rock art styles and symbolism through time and across cultures and record these petroglyphs using sound archaeological techniques.
About the Instructor
Sunday Eiselt joined SMU as a visiting assistant professor of archaeology after receiving her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 2006. Focusing on the geographic regions of Mexico, the U.S. Southwest, California and the Great Basin, her research interests include rock art of both the Archaic and Historic
periods, especially as they relate to symbolic landscape ideologies and oral history; the historical archaeology of native people of the Southwest; the effects of colonialism on indigenous cultural identities and traditions in the Spanish borderlands region; and archaeological ceramics and pottery manufacturing. Visit Sunday Eiselt's Cultural Institute page.
“Sunday was incredibly enthusiastic; a born teacher full of spirit.” – Jacque Brogan
Taos Mountain Sports Adventure
Physical Challenge: High
Options for Mountain Sports include fly-fishing, hiking, white-water rafting and mountain bike riding.
$300 + cost of activities selected
About the Course
Share the natural beauty of the Taos area while challenging your body to master new outdoor adventures. Achieve your personal peak through two days of exhilarating guided fun. You can sign up for two days of hiking, mountain bike riding, white water rafting or fly-fishing and choose how active you would like to be. In addition to the outdoor adventure combination you choose, Professor Michael Esaili will inform you on the natural nutritional, culinary and botanical cures associated with the plants of the region.
About the Instructors
Lynn Romejko Jacobs is an associate professor in the SMU Wellness Department with 28 years of experience in training both mind and body. Her specialized interests are in adult fitness and holistic approaches to healthy living. In 1990, Lynn originated the wellness courses that are taught each summer at the SMU-in-Taos campus.
Jeanne Athos-Adler is principal and founder of Blue Skies Strategy, LLC, with 23 years of experience in marketing and consumer insights. She received a B.A. from Princeton University in psychology and an M.B.A. in marketing from the University of Michigan. A competitive athlete all her life, Jeanne avidly pursues mountain sports as an area of interest, including 16 years of hiking, biking, rafting and skiing in Taos.
About the Instructor
Michael Esaili works for Dedman College Science Labs Support
Facilities at SMU and has 25 years of training as a botanist and herbalist. Michael has traveled extensively, researching herbs and their uses, striving to separate botanical fact from fiction. He is a member of the Herb Research Foundation and the American Botanical Council.
"I caught the most fish! Loved the guides, they were so knowledgeable about the rivers and on casting instruction." – A.B. Aston
Digital Photography in the Land of Enchantment
Physical Challenge: Low$650
About the Course
Explore the land of enchantment for three days with SMU Photographer Hillsman Jackson. Having photographed Northern New Mexico for a decade, Jackson provides tips for capturing the area on camera. Designed for beginning photographers, this course will teach you how to realize the full potential of your digital camera by moving beyond “point and shoot.” Emphasis will be placed on aesthetics, light and technique, culminating in a comprehensive review and critique of participants’ photos. Participants should have a digital single-lens reflex camera or a digital camera equipped with manual mode. A tripod and comfortable walking shoes are suggested.
About the Instructor
After earning his B.S. degree in photography with a minor in art from East Texas State University in Commerce, Hillsman Jackson moved to Dallas in 1987 to apprentice under some of the leading commercial photographers in the Southwest. He then launched his own business, producing work that continues to challenge and inspire his craft today. Jackson’s client list includes Mosaic, Network World, Plains Capitol Corporation and the University of Pittsburgh. He joined SMU as university photographer in 1993 and has produced award-winning photography for a broad range of print and Web-based media. In 1998, Jackson received the Silver Award Photographer of the Year from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). In 2001, Jackson’s 1998 portrait of then-First Lady of Texas Laura Bush was selected as her official portrait for the 54th Presidential Inauguration.
"Great! I learned a lot. Hillsman did a good job with students on so many different levels. Taos is wonderful." – Kimberly Noble
The Secret City: Los Alamos and the Atomic Age
Physical Challenge: Low$700
About the Course
It once was reported that there were two great loves in J. Robert Oppenheimer’s life: physics and New Mexico. The two came together at Los Alamos during World War II when he helped assemble a secret community of brilliant scientists who ushered in the atomic age. This course will focus on the rich human interest of the project, the science that led to the atomic bomb’s creation and reflection on the legacy left by those uniquely gifted men and women who toiled relentlessly in the mountains of Northern New Mexico to end the most savage war of modern history. The course will include a field trip to Los Alamos and a special presentation by Ellen Bradbury on the Russian espionage that took place during and since the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos.
Recommended Reading
109 East Palace: Robert Oppenheimer and the Secret City of Los Alamos, by Jennet Conant
Los Alamos, by Joseph Kanon
The Making of the Atomic Bomb, by Richard Rhodes
About the Instructors
James Hopkins is Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor and
professor of history in SMU’s Dedman College. Stimulated in part by his father’s role in the atomic bomb attacks on Japan, he taught for many years the course
Atomic Energy and the Modern World. The course's themes were developed into the film “The University and the Fate of the Earth,” which won first prize in the New York International Film Festival.
Cas Milner received his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Texas at Austin. He has done experimental particle physics work at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, The Superconducting Super Collider Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory. He is an adjunct professor of physics at SMU, where he periodically teaches
Introduction to Modern Physics. He works full time as a quantitative analyst in the investment business.
For more information
Contact Allison Curran at:
taosci@smu.edu or call 214-768-TAOS (8267).