Ross Hassig (born December 13, 1945) is an American historical

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

specializing in

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. W ...

n studies, particularly the

Aztec The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those g ...

culture. His focus is often on the description of practical infrastructure in Mesoamerican societies. He is the author of several influential books, among them: ''Time, History, and Belief in Aztec and Colonial Mexico''; ''Aztec Warfare: Imperial Expansion and Political Control''; and ''Trade, Tribute, and Transportation: The Sixteenth-Century Political Economy of the Valley of Mexico''.

Career

Hassig began his academic career as an undergraduate at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

, where his studies initially focused on non-Western legal systems. He soon developed an interest in anthropology, later obtaining in 1974 his

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

from Vanderbilt in Law and Anthropology, with a thesis on political development among the

Puebloan peoples The Puebloans or Pueblo peoples, are Native Americans in the Southwestern United States who share common agricultural, material, and religious practices. Currently 100 pueblos are actively inhabited, among which Taos, San Ildefonso, Acoma, Zun ...

Acoma Pueblo Acoma Pueblo (, kjq, Áakʼu) is a Native American pueblo approximately west of Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. Four communities make up the village of Acoma Pueblo: Sky City (Old Acoma), Acomita, Anzac, and McCartys. These com ...

. He then went on further his graduate studies at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, obtaining his

Ph.D A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

from the Department of Anthropology there in 1980.School for Advanced Research (n.d.) During his time at Stanford, Hassig's research agenda shifted to focus on the cultures of

, where he investigated the economic and political foundations of pre- and post-conquest societies. Among the first of his studies was directed towards the underpinnings of the

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...

Tarascan state Tarascan or Tarasca is an exonym and the popular name for the Purépecha culture. It may refer to: * the Tarascan State, a Mesoamerican empire until the Spanish conquest in the 1500s, located in (present-day) west-central Mexico * the Purépecha p ...

. For 1989–90 he was a scholar-in-residence of Pre-Columbian Studies at

Dumbarton Oaks Dumbarton Oaks, formally the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, is a historic estate in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It was the residence and garden of wealthy U.S. diplomat Robert Woods Bliss and his wife, M ...

Research Library and Collection, with a research project entitled "Warfare and the Mesoamerican Past". In 1997–98 Hassig spent a year as Resident Scholar under the Weatherhead Fellowship program at the

School of American Research The School for Advanced Research (SAR), until 2007 known as the School of American Research and founded in 1907 as the School for American Archaeology (SAA), is an advanced research center located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. Since 1967, the s ...

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label=Tiwa language, Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. ...

, with a primary focus on researching the Aztec calendar. In the 1999 United Kingdom academic year, Hassig was awarded one of the two residential Visiting Fellowships offered annually by the

Sainsbury Research Unit {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 The Sainsbury Research Unit is a research department at the University of East Anglia, in the UK. History The Sainsbury Research Unit (SRU) had its origins in 1984, when Sir Robert Sainsbury and Lady Lisa Sainsbury ...

at the

Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts The Sainsbury Centre is an art gallery and museum located on the campus of the University of East Anglia, Norwich, England. The building, which contains a collection of world art, was one of the first major public buildings to be designed by th ...

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

, towards the study of 'Aztec thought and culture'. Hassig held a chair as Professor of Anthropology at the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

, until 2003 when he relocated to

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

. Since leaving OU Hassig has remained an

independent scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher ...

and author, continuing his research into Mesoamerican cultures and state societies.Raaflaub (2007:x).

Published works

Hassig's published works include: ;authored books— * * * * * * ;edited books— * ;contributed chapters— *

Notes

References

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hassig, Ross Aztec scholars Historians of Mesoamerica American Mesoamericanists 20th-century Mesoamericanists 21st-century Mesoamericanists American anthropologists Vanderbilt University alumni Stanford University alumni Columbia University faculty University of Oklahoma faculty Academics of the University of East Anglia 1945 births Living people