The 2023 Four Corners Lecture Series schedule has been announced.
The series features presentations on archaeology, Native American culture, Southwest history, and natural resources of Mesa Verde and the Four Corners. Guest lecturers share their knowledge, interpretations, research and experiences on various topics.
The talks take place April to October at different locations in southwest Colorado and are free. They can be seen in person and/or remotely through live Zoom links.
View the schedule and topic information at the Four Corners Lecture Series Facebook page. Information on the Zoom links are on the schedule.
The series is organized by Mesa Verde Museum Association said Executive Director Terry Paul, and have been ongoing since 2006.
Presentations were held virtually via Zoom during the pandemic, which increased participation by thousands of viewers, Paul said.
“It was wonderful. Participation really spiked. People were tuning in from all over the world,” she said.
The virtual format is now a standard part of the presentations and in-person locations have returned for most talks.
Presentations are sponsored by several local organizations, including Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, Hisatsinom Chapter of the Colorado Archaeological Society, Mesa Verde National Park, Edge of the Cedars State Park and Museum, Bears Ears Education Center, Fort Lewis College, Southwest Colorado Canyons Association and others.
Speakers are paid honorarium by their sponsor. The sponsor organization typically posts an archive Zoom link of the presentation on their website.
The Four Corners Lecture Series kicks off April 4, at 7 p.m. at the Methodist Church for a presentation titled “Hiding in Plain Sight: The Rise and Evolution of Three-Kiva Pueblo and Its Place in the Great House World.”
Presenters are archaeologist Winston Hurst and anthropologist Don Miller.
According to bios, Hurst is an independent student of deep history who has spent six decades trying to satisfy a lifelong curiosity about the experiences of his own Bluff-Blanding family and their northern San Juan neighbors, both recent and ancient.
Don Miller is a retired anthropologist and administrator from Roane State College in Tennessee who worked as a student on the early 1970s excavations at Three-Kiva Pueblo and described the results in his Brigham Young University master’s thesis.
- April 11, 4 p.m.: Dr. Tara Travis “Pottery and Partnerships: Maria Martinez and Mesa Verde National Park.” Zoom link at mesaverdefoundation.org.
- April 19, 4 p.m.: Bob Blair “From Wagon Trains to Airplanes: The Life and Legacy of William Henry Jackson” at Fort Lewis College Center for Southwest Studies.
- April 20, 4 p.m.: Dr. Weston McCool “Exploring Fremont Territoriality and Resource Defense in Nine Mile Canyon, Utah” on Zoom at crowcanyon.org.
- April 22, 6 p.m.: Sylvia Taylor “Uranium: A Cultural and Natural History” at Bears Ears Education Center in Bluff, and Zoom at bearsearspartnership.org.
