Michelle Rich earned her B.A. in Anthropology (summa cum laude) from the University of Minnesota, her M.A. in Anthropology from SMU, and received her Ph.D. from SMU in 2012. She was awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship in 2001. Michelle has worked for many years (!) in the Maya area at a variety of sites, including Cerros, Belize; with Programme for Belize Archaeological Project in northwestern Belize and at the site of El Peru-Waka' in Peten, Guatemala. In addition to Maya and Mesoamerican archaeology, her research interests involve Classic period Maya civic-ceremonial architecture and elite mortuary contexts; space and place in complex societies; and museums, communities and the presentation of the past.
Title of Dissertation: "Ritual, Royalty and Classic Period Politics: The Archaeology of the Mirador Group at El Peru-Waka', Peten, Guatemala"
Contact Information:
Email: mrich@smu.edu
Entered program in 2000.
Region of Study:
Maya and Mesoamerica
Awards, Honors, Affiliations:
2011 U.S. Department of the Interior and USAID/Guatemala
Co-Investigator, "Searching for an Early Classic King at El Peru-Waka': A Bridging Field Season at the Classic Maya Site of El Peru-Waka' in Northwestern Peten, Guatemala."
2008 Kimbell Art Museum
Co-coordinator, "El Peru-Waka' Figurine Conservation Project"
2007 Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc.
Grant #07087, "Analysis of Samples and Artifacts from the Mirador Group, El Peru-Waka'"
2002-2005 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship
Three-year support with full tuition and monthly stipend.
2002 Presidential Partners Grant
Southern Methodist University. Awarded to Dr. Michael Adler and Michelle Rich for new GIS software for two laboratories in the Anthropology Department.