Dr. Maria Fernanda Escallón is an Assistant Professor in the Anthropology Department at the University of Oregon. She holds a PhD and a MA in anthropology from Stanford University and a MA in archaeology from the Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia. Prior to joining the U of O, she was a 2015-2016 Dissertation Fellow in the Department of Black Studies at the University of California Santa Barbara. Her work examines the consequences of cultural heritage declarations and draws attention to the political and economic marginalization of minority groups that occurs as a result of such recognition. Her research and teaching interests include identity politics; poverty and inequality in Latin America; cultural diversity; heritage ethics; race and ethnicity; UNESCO, and cultural diplomacy.