Winifred Creamer
by Tom Parisi
NIU Presidential Research Professor Winifred Creamer will be the featured speaker at an upcoming “networking luncheon” sponsored by the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women and the Women’s Resource Center.
Creamer is a professor of anthropology whose research has attracted worldwide attention and is helping to shed light on the origins of civilization in the Americas.
All NIU community members are invited to the luncheon. It will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24, in the Chandelier Room of Adams Hall. The fee for lunch is $10 per person, although students can eat for free. For reservations, call (815) 753-0320.
Creamer’s presentation, titled “21st Century Research on Ancient Civilization: Past to Future,” will begin at 12:05 p.m. The talk will focus on the Proyecto Arqueologico Norte Chico, a long-term archaeological project examining the emergence of complex societies on the Peruvian coast.
The first five years of the project were devoted to establishing the chronology of a large cluster of major ceremonial centers in the region. The research confirmed the centers were built and occupied in the 3rd millennium B.C. and provoked a worldwide response, with stories appearing in more than 150 publications.
Creamer’s latest work yields new information about when, where and why people began building pyramids and other monuments on the coast of Peru. Her research incorporates the latest in archaeological fieldwork techniques, including use of handheld computers, in-field electronic mapping and Geographic Information Systems.
Creamer earned her Ph.D. in anthropology from Tulane University. Over the course of her career she has received two Fulbright Research Fellowships (2004 and 1985) and numerous grants, including from the National Science Foundation and the National Geographic Society. She is fluent in Spanish and speaks conversational French, Italian and Swedish. She also holds a permanent appointment as visiting professor at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru.
At NIU, Creamer serves as executive director of the Anthropology Museum and teaches courses on the rise of civilization, exploring archaeology, archaeological method and theory and the archaeology of South America.
The Presidential Commission on the Status of Women has organized this luncheon to provide an opportunity for women and men from diverse backgrounds to gather informally and become empowered through the camaraderie, inspiration and support that a network of contacts can provide.
The luncheon is the place for NIU women to connect with one another, enable others and hear the sound of women’s voices. The commission serves as a conduit for advice to NIU President John Peters on issues and concerns related to the status of women at NIU.
The Women’s Resource Center is committed to making the campus community safer for women, serving as advocates for women with concerns on campus, raising awareness of how gender affects everyone’s lives and getting women the resources they need to be successful.