Archivist & Anthropologist
Working in the taskscape of cultural heritage preservation.
Archivist & anthropologist in the taskscape of cultural heritage preservation, focusing on the narratives and connections we develop between humans and objects, and the stories we tell.
My work encompasses the socio-cultural and technological aspects of preservation informed by critical cultural studies focusing on community-driven collections. This includes material culture, traditional memory keeping practices, archival & museum praxis, folklore, embedded and vernacular knowledge, and narrative agency and structure. My areas of focus are place as cultural memory, knowledge networks in communities of practice, and community-driven cultural heritage preservation.
Libraries, archives, and museums (LAM) are a vital part of our communities. As an archivist and as the President of the Museum Association of Arizona I contribute to advocacy for LAM institutions and support for the staff and volunteers that are responsible for our cultural heritage. I am an active board member and work with an incredible team of scholars in support of Southwest Folklife Alliance. I am also member of the Az Museum Archives Working Group, working to develop a model for museum practitioners to help make collections discoverable and accessible to researchers.
About Me
An interdisciplinary scholar, I studied English Literature with a thematic minor in Africana Studies & Anthropology in my undergraduate program before earning advanced degrees in Information Resources and Library Science at the University of Arizona and in Applied Anthropology at Humboldt State University. I have extensive experience working with small museums & archives, in nonprofit program management, and as a board member with multiple cultural organizations.
I am an Associate Professor teaching graduate courses at the University of Arizona College of Information Science and I manage the Knowledge River Scholars program. Knowledge River is designed to foster cultural literacy and engaged scholarship in a community of practice through academic and professional development while honoring the embedded and vernacular knowledge of KR scholars.
Berlin Loa 