Roger Thayer Stone Center For Latin American Studies

Tulane University

William Balée

Professor - Anthropology

Contact Info
wbalee@tulane.edu

Degrees

  • B.A., University of Florida, Anthropology, 1975
  • M.A., Columbia University, Anthropology, 1979
  • M.Phil., Columbia University, 1980
  • Ph.D., Columbia University, 1984

Academic Experience

  • Professor, Tulane University, 1998-
  • Associate Professor, Tulane University, 1991-1998
  • Visiting Associate Professor, University of Florida, 1990
  • Researcher, Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Belem, Brazil, 1988-1991
  • Research Fellow, New York Botanical Garden, 1984-1988

Research & Teaching Specializations: Brazil; Anthropology; Ethnoecology; Ethnobotany

Related Experience

  • Director, Environmental Studies Program, Tulane University, 2007-2010
  • Editorial Advisory Board, Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America, 2003-2008
  • Academic Consultant and Translator, Our Peoples Exhibit, National Museum of the American Indian, sponsored by the Cultural Resource Center of the Smithsonian Institution, 2000-2004
  • Chair, Department of Anthropology, Tulane University, 1998- 2001
  • Chair, Ecology Department, Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Belem, Brazil, 1988-1991

Distinctions

  • World Wildlife Fund Grants, 1991-1993, 2003
  • Wenner-Gren Foundation Grant, “Agroforestry Complex in Southwest Amazonia,” 1993-1994
  • Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation for Research and Training Grant on Comparative Ethnoecology in Eastern Amazonia, 1990-1992
  • Ford Foundation Grant for Research on Transfer of Indigenous Technology, 1989-1990
  • Research Fellow, Institute of Economic Botany, New York Botanical Gardens, 1984-1988

Languages: Portuguese; Spanish; Ka’apor-Urubu (Tupi Guarani), French

Selected Publications

  • 2013. Cultural Forests of the Amazon: A Historical Ecology of People and their Landscapes. Birmingham: University of Alabama Press.
  • 2009. “The meaning of "tree" in two different Tupi-Guarani languages from two different Neotropical forests.” Amazônica, Revista de Antropologia. 1 (1): 96-135.
  • 2006. Time and Complexity in Historical Ecology: Studies in the Neotropical Lowlands. Editor, with C. L. Erickson. New York: Columbia University Press.
  • 2006. “The research program of historical ecology.” Annual Review of Anthropology. 35: 75-98.
  • 2003. “Historical-ecological influences on the word for cacao in Ka’apor.” Anthropological Linguistics. 45 (3): 259-280.
  • 1994. Footprints of the Forest: Ka’apor Ethnobotany- The Historical Ecology of Plant Utilization by an Amazonian People. New York: Columbia University Press.

Recently-Taught Latin American-Related Courses: Historical Ecology of Amazonia; South American Indians; Seminar in Historical Ecology

Number of Dissertations or Theses Supervised in the Past 5 Years: 8

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Congreso internacional de literatura y cultura centroamericanas (CILCA XXIII)

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Tulane University, Loyola University New Orleans, y Purdue University Calumet tienen el gusto de invitar al CONGRESO DE LITERATURA y CULTURA CENTROAMERICANAS (CILCA XXIII) que se llevará a cabo en la ciudad de New Orleans, Louisiana, del 11 al 13 de marzo del 2015 en el campus de Tulane University y Loyola University New Orleans.

Desde el primer congreso realizado en Nicaragua 1993, CILCA se ha caracterizado por ser un espacio de intercambio intelectual y de amistad para académicas/os, escritoras/es y lectoras/es. El congreso se ha efectuado en todos los países centroamericanos y por primera vez en su historia, CILCA se realizará en los Estados Unidos. La ciudad escogida es Nueva Orleáns, puerta de entrada hacia el Caribe y los países de América Central. El intercambio cultural entre Nueva Orleáns y América Central ha sido intenso por muchísimos años, y la ciudad alberga una de las comunidades de origen hondureño más grandes de los Estados Unidos. Tulane University tiene estrechos lazos con la región a través del Stone Center for Latin American Studies, the Latin American Library, y the Middle American Research Institute. Loyola University New Orleans se ha distinguido por el trabajo con las comunidades hispanas que realizan varias de sus unidades académicas, incluyendo the Law School y el Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies.

La organización de CILCA XXIII la realizan la Dra. Maureen Shea y el Dr. Uriel Quesada, expertos en literatura y cultura centroamericanas, con el apoyo del Dr. Jorge Román Lagunas, creador y promotor de CILCA.

La convocatoria será publicada en agosto 2014.

Tulane University, Loyola University New Orleans, and Purdue University Calumet invite you to the Congress on Literature and Culture of Central America (CILCA XXIII) which will take place in New Orleans, Louisiana March 11-13 2015 on the campuses of Tulane and Loyola New Orleans.

From the first conference, held in Nicaragua in 1993, CILCA has been a space for intellectual exchange and friendship for academics and writers. The conference has been held in all of the Central American countries and for the first time in its history will be held in the United States. New Orleans, the gateway to the Caribbean and Central America, has been chosen as the location. New Orleans and Central America have a longstanding cultural exchange and New Orleans has one of the largest Honduran communities in the United States. Tulane has long connections with the region through the Stone Center for Latin American Studies, the Latin American Library, and the Middle American Research Institute. Loyola New Orleans works closely with hispanic communities particularly through the Law school and the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies.

CILCA XXIII is organized by Drs. Maureen Shea and Uriel Quesada, experts on the literature and culture of Central America, with the support of Dr. Jorge Román Lagunas, creator of CILCA.

Call for papers coming in August 2014.