Learning about cultures is more than just a study in the field of anthropology for professor Alicia Re Cruz.

“It is about the role that anthropology can have as an element of power and change in society,” said Re Cruz, interim chairwoman of the anthropology department at the University of North Texas.

DRC/Barron Ludlum

Alicia Re Cruz, interim chairwoman of the anthropology department at the University of North Texas, spent two years living among the Mayan people of Chan Kom in the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico. She also provides translation assistance to Opening Doors Immigration Services and is part of a community service project to help children with autism.

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As part of a school lesson, Re Cruz came across the study of the Mayan calendar. She said she was instantly fascinated with how the Mayas became pioneers in mathematics, so she wanted to find out if indigenous communities still used the Mayan calendar.

To do so, Re Cruz spent two years living among the Mayan people of Chan Kom in the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico, studying the people for her dissertation.

She said it was the beginning of the work she still conducts today.

“It was the first chapter of my culture shock as an anthropologist,” Re Cruz said about the first time she came in contact with the indigenous group.

She said she knew a lot about the Mayas from articles and books, but living among them was a different experience.

“Back in the mid-’80s, Mayas did not have the amenities we had in the First World,” she said. “I knew that the Mayas were following some of the ancient cultural patterns, such as in the cultivation of corn, and knew that they lived in traditional houses ... with roofs made of palm trees and walls made of wood. I knew they slept in hammocks, but when I arrived there, I came to understand what it meant to be an anthropologist and, of course, a female anthropologist.”

During her time, she also learned how culture is an important factor in how communities interact with one another.

“Even now in the 21st century, we continue with cultural stereotypes of the indigenous persons who refuse to be ‘developed’ or ‘modernized.’ … I saw a couple of situations where government agencies came with their development programs, with the intention to ‘educate’ villagers within national cultural standards, without paying any consideration or respect to the local Mayan knowledge.”

Her dissertation became a book in 1996, The Two Milpas of Chan Kom: Scenarios of a Maya Village Life. Later, she collaborated on a documentary film with Melinda Levin, professor and chairwoman of UNT’s Department of Radio, Television and Film.

“She produced this film, and I directed it, shot and edited it,” said Levin, a friend of 10 years, “She was already a professor but understood that video could be an important tool in her work as an anthropologist.”

Since then, Re Cruz has continued to apply her knowledge of her field to help different cultures locally. When she is not teaching or contributing to research, she provides translation assistance to Opening Doors Immigration Services.

Anne Starnes, executive director of Opening Doors Immigration Services, said she first met Re Cruz when the anthropologist applied for U.S. citizenship at her office about two years ago. Re Cruz now serves on the advisory council committee of the agency.

“With her ability to understand everything about different cultures, she helps our clients discuss things that are harder for them to talk about,” Starnes said about the special cases that Re Cruz helps facilitate.

“She is always trying to understand the world around her and help make it better,” said Shala Ali-Rosales, professor of behavior analysis at UNT.

Ali-Rosales and Re Cruz have a long friendship rooted in kindred values — both are natives of other countries, have children of similar ages and their husbands happen to be from the same area in Mexico.

They are now working on their first community service project by helping children with autism.

Re Cruz said the university’s anthropology, behavior analysis and education departments are collaborating in the program. “[The anthropology department’s] contributions target the cultural factors involved in the way families perceive, diagnose and deal with the autistic child. We also put emphasis on the different ways families and communities deal with autism.”

Born in Madrid, Spain, Re Cruz came to the United States in 1985 to study at the University at Albany in New York. After receiving her doctorate in 1992, she moved to Denton to serve as a professor of anthropology at UNT. In 1994, she married Jose Calderon, a native of Guana­juato and a chemistry laboratory supervisor at UNT. They have three children.

“I have learned so much from her,” Calderon said of his wife. “She is a very impressive person.”

Calderon said their family travels often to places where his wife conducts research, such as Cancun and Merida.

He said that when the children were old enough, they traveled to Chan Kom and spent a summer living among the indigenous community.

Calderon said the children have learned to adapt to harsh conditions because of the visits.

“They see different standards of living,” he said. “They don’t get depressed or complain about it, they just adapt to the new setting.”

Re Cruz said she admires her children and learns from them as well.

“Children have a very unique way of understanding life and the world. They force me to pay attention to little things when I feel overwhelmed by the whole,” Re Cruz said. “They teach me how to explain in simple words very complex issues; for instance, that race, ethnicity are very different, that physical features do not tell us anything about the beauty and richness of human life and culture.”

KARINA RAMÍREZ can be reached at 940-566-6878. Her e-mail address is kramirez@dentonrc.com .