Anthropology professor to deliver George Tseo Memorial Lecture April 3

HAZLETON, Pa. - Penn State Hazleton's Lectures and Cultural Events Committee will host José M. Capriles, associate professor of anthropology in Penn State's College of the Liberal Arts, as the guest speaker for the campus' annual George Tseo Memorial Lecture on Friday, April 3, at noon in room 114 of the Evelyn Graham Academic Building. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Capriles' presentation, titled "The Power of Graphic Literature for Making Sense of Pre-Columbian Indigenous Societies and their Environments," will explore how visual and graphic narratives can be used to better understand the complex relationships between ancient Indigenous communities of the Americas and their surrounding environments. Drawing on archaeological research and interdisciplinary approaches, the lecture highlights the growing role of innovative communication methods in anthropology and public scholarship.

An anthropological archaeologist, Capriles specializes in environmental archaeology, human ecology, and zooarchaeology. His research focuses on long-term human-environment interactions in South America, particularly in the Andes and Amazonia. He investigates how people adapted to changing climates during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene periods; the economic and ecological processes behind the development of early pastoralism and food production systems; and the ways in which emerging and expanding complex societies - such as the Tiwanaku and Inca states - shaped subsistence practices, technology, and social organization.

Born in La Paz, Bolivia, Capriles earned his undergraduate degree in archaeology from the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés in 2004. He later attended Washington University in St. Louis, where he received his master's degree in anthropology in 2006 and his doctorate in 2011. Before joining Penn State, he held academic and research appointments as a visiting scholar at the University of Pittsburgh, a FONDECYT postdoctoral researcher in Chile, and an assistant professor at the Universidad de Tarapacá. His work involves extensive field research in Bolivia and Chile and collaboration with international, interdisciplinary research teams. He is also deeply committed to cultural heritage preservation and public outreach, emphasizing the participation of local and descendant communities in archaeological research.

The George Tseo Memorial Lecture is held annually in memory of George Tseo, a professor of Earth sciences at Penn State Hazleton from 1988 until his death in 2005. Established to honor Tseo's passion for learning and his wide-ranging intellectual interests, the lecture series brings speakers from diverse disciplines - including science, history, art, music and culture - to campus each year.