Mary Weismantel

Mary Weismantel is a Professor of Anthropology and Director of SPAN (the Sexualities Project at Northwestern) at Northwestern University. She earned her PhD from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 1986. Previously, she directed the Latin American Studies Program, the Gender and Sexualities Studies Program, and chaired the Department of Anthropology. Her affiliations span Gender and Sexuality Studies, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Performance Studies, and Spanish and Portuguese.

Her research explores indigeneity, gender/sexuality, race, and material culture in the Andes, blending ethnography, archaeology, and art history. She investigates themes like decolonial ontologies, human-nonhuman relationships, and Indigenous resistance. Her publications emphasize pre-Columbian artifacts, queer temporality, and racial politics, with a consistent focus on interdisciplinary methodologies.

Her article corpus reveals a progression from ethnographic analyses of Andean communities to innovative archaeological engagements with queer theory and materiality. Recurring themes include agency of objects, ritual symbolism, and critiques of colonial legacies, reflecting a sustained commitment to decolonial scholarship.

Awards:

• Association for Latin American Art-Arvey Foundation Book Award (2022) for Playing with Things: The Moche Sex Pots

She directs SPAN, an interdisciplinary initiative advancing sexuality research, and has led university-wide programs fostering cross-departmental collaboration.