Maria Luz Garcia
Assistant professor in department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology
Expertise: Ixhil Mayas, Guatemala immigration to US, Rios Montt trial, Guatemalan genocide, Mayan languages, Maya historical memory
About
Maria Luz Garcia has worked in the Ixhil (also spelled Ixil) Maya region of Guatemala since 2001. In Guatemala, her research has focused on how Ixhil people form a sense of community in the post-genocide period. She has studied the participation of the Ixhil in the trial of former de facto president of Guatemala, Jose Efrain Rios Montt, for genocide of the Ixhil people. Recently, with the large number of Ixhil people traveling to the United States, her research has included Ixhil communities in the US. She has particularly focused on the relationships of Ixhil people to wider U.S. communities and institutions. She has studied the use of the Ixhil language in American criminal justice and immigration systems.
