Joel Palka is an associate professor in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change. He is an archaeologist, anthropologist, and ethnohistorian of indigenous religions, art, and cross-cultural contact in Mexico and Central America. He has received grants from the National Science Foundation, National Geographic, and National Endowment for the Humanities, and he has written the books "Unconquered Lacandon Maya" and "Maya Pilgrimage to Ritual Landscapes."