Maria Fernanda Escallón

Maria Fernanda Escallón is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Oregon. She holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology. Her research focuses on heritage governance, Afro-descendant rights, and the intersection of cultural preservation with social inequality in Latin America. Key areas include NGO influence in heritage policy, multicultural recognition dynamics, and archaeological methodologies in material culture studies.

Her work critically examines issues of exclusion and power in cultural heritage frameworks, particularly in Colombia and Brazil. She has explored topics such as Afro-Colombian territorial claims, the formation of heritage elites, and the practical implementation of heritage policies. Methodologically, her research bridges ethnography, archaeological analysis, and policy critique.

Publications span from 2005 to 2020, showing a progression from material culture studies (ceramic production, spatial organization) to contemporary ethnographic engagements with race, rights, and policy. Her writing frequently addresses the gap between multicultural recognition and on-the-ground exclusion, emphasizing marginalized communities' struggles for cultural and territorial rights.