WNCC lecture offers insight into Peru's past, present

From the mud-brick huacas of the coastal Moche to the grand stone cities of the highland Inca, the history and culture of Peru will come alive in Northern Nevada on Friday.

Dr. Hal Starratt, a professor at Western Nevada Community College, will present a slide lecture titled "Art and Archaeology of Ancient Peru," at 7 p.m. Friday in Marlette Hall, located in the Cedar Building. The lecture is the fourth installment of the college's cultural series "Faces, Voices & Stories."

Starratt recently participated in a five-week study tour of Peru and Bolivia that was co-sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Community College Humanities Association.

"I was very fortunate to be selected as a participant in this program from a large field of scholars, professors, and instructors across America," Starratt said. "My students would be proud of me - the institute required a large amount of reading."

Dr. Starratt traveled to several Andean historic and prehistoric sites where he interacted with top Andean experts in the fields of archaeology, history, ethnography, sociology and more. He also took in lectures and tours in the Sacred Valley, Lima, Machu Picchu, Cuzco and Lake Titicaca.

"This experience was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me, and I know it will serve to make me a better teacher," he said, adding that his photos will be invaluable in his anthropology courses.

Some of Starratt's 400 photos will appear later this summer in the WNCC art gallery. "Hal's photos and stories will really make the audience feel like they are in Peru," Student Activities Coordinator Claire Yurovchak said.

Yurovchak's office, along with the WNCC Student United Students Association, sponsors the cultural series.

"WNCC faculty members have done some amazing things in our community and throughout the world," she said.

If you go

What: Art and Archaeology of Ancient Peru

When: 7 p.m. Friday

Where: Marlette Hall, in the Cedar Building, Western Nevada Community College, 2201 W. College Parkway