2006
The Evolution of Knowledge Systems: Narrative Knowledge vs. Scientific Knowledge. A paper presented at the Society for Anthropological Sciences. February 22 to February 26, 2006, Savannah, Georgia.
Religion and Science: Two Peas in a Pod or Fruits of Different Vines. Public lecture, Oakland University, Department of Sociology and Anthropology Brown-Bag Series. March 30, 2006. slides
How Can Religion Be Studied Scientifically? A paper presented at the 83rd Annual Meeting of the Central States Anthropological Society. Omaha, Nebraska. April 6 to 9, 2006.
Chairperson of the Session. The Anthropology of Religion at the 83rd Annual Meeting of the Central States Anthropological Society. Omaha, Nebraska. April 6 to 9, 2006.
2005
Sistemas de Sacrificio: Perspectivas Sobre la Base de la Religión: Los Sistemas de Cargos y El Protestantismo Evangélico. Conferencia Magistral en el III Congreso Internacional Sobre Organización Social Tradicional. San Felipe del Progreso, Edo. de México, 20 a 25 de junio, 2005
Nature Worship within Cargo Rituals in Mexico. A paper presented at the 2005 Meetings of the Central States Anthropological Society, March 10-12, 2005. Oxford, OH.
2004
Religions and Evolutionary Theory. A paper presented at the 81st meeting of the Central States Anthropological Society, Milwaukee, WI, US. April 15 to 18, 2004.
2003
The Growth of Protestant Religions in Mexico and Central America. A paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. Norfolk, Virginia. October 23-26, 2003.
2002
Cultural Materialism and Mesoamerican Indian Religion. A paper presented at the 79th Annual Meeting of the Central States Anthropological Society. East Lansing, Michigan, March 7-10, 2002.
Sierra Otomí Religious Symbolism: Mankind Responding to the Natural World. An invited presentation at the Symposium Mesas and Cosmology in Middle America, March 6, 2002, San Diego Museum of Man, San Diego, California.
La Religión de los otomíes de la Sierra. Colloquium at the Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social. Distinguished Visiting Professor Program of the Mexican Academy of Sciences. February 26, 2002.
Historia y etnografía de los otomíes. Siglos XVI-XX. Colloquium at the Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social. Distinguished Visiting Professor Program of the Mexican Academy of Sciences. February 25, 2002.
1999
Explicaciones del avancé de protestantismo entre los grupos indígenas mexicanos. Plenary address at the Tercero Coloquio Otopame. November 9-13, 1999, Toluca, Edo. de México, Mexico.
Shamans as Spirit Biologists: Central Mexican Shamanism in Perspective. Presented in the session Methodological Issues in the Cross-Cultural Study of Shamanism at the 76th Annual Meeting of the Central States Anthropological Society, April 15-18, 1999, Chicago, Illinois.
1998
Central and North Mexican Shamans. Presented in the session, Comparative Research on Mesoamerican Healers at the 97th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, December 2-6, 1998, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Moderator of session The History of the CSAS: An Open Forum at the 76th Annual Meeting of the Central States Anthropological Society, April 2-5, 1998, Kansas City, Missouri.
Chairperson of session Migration, Community, Tradition and Change in Mexico and Costa Rica at the 76th Annual Meeting of the Central States Anthropological Society, April 2-5, 1998, Kansas City, Missouri.
1997
Discussant in the session Anthropological Science: Definitions and Introspections. at the96th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, November 19-23, 1997, Washington, DC.
Evangelical Protestantism in Rural Mexico: Its Theology and Ecology. Charla Colloquium, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Michigan State University, October 1, 1997, East Lansing, MI.
How Cultural Anthropology Contributes to Culture: The Scientific Method in Late Twentieth Century Cultural Anthropology. Presented in the session, Science in Anthropology: Late Twentieth Century Debates at the 74th Annual Meeting of the Central States Anthropological Society, April 3-6, 1997, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
1996
An Examination of Stable Equilibria for Deception and Honesty in Human Culture. Presented in the session, Mathematical Anthropology: Where Are We Now? Where Are We Going? at the American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, November 19-24, 1996, San Francisco, California
Traversing Anthropology's Cyberspace: ANTHAP and New Electronic Communities for Anthropologists a paper presented in the session The Applied Anthropology of Computing at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology, March 27-31, 1996, Baltimore.
Internet Resources for Anthropology a presentation given in the above session. Central States Anthropological Society, March 21-24, 1996, Covington, KY.
Anthropology and the Internet a session at the Annual Meeting of the Central States Anthropological Society, Covington, KY, March 21-24, 1996.
1994
Undergraduate Learning: Field Work in Garbage, Graffiti, and Campus Culture, a paper coauthored with Martha Laclave, and Richard Stamps and presented at the 93rd Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Atlanta, GA, November 30 - December 4, 1994.
Discussant in the session Anthropology and Theology at the 93rd Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Atlanta, GA, November 30 - December 4, 1994.
Chairperson of session, New Directions in Physical Anthropology and Primatology, 71st Annual Conference of the Central States Anthropological Society, March 16-20, 1994, Kansas City, Missouri.
Co-organizer of Organizing Meeting: Scholars for Mexican rural development, Eighteenth International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, March 10-13, 1994, Atlanta, Georgia.
1993
Collective compadrazgo: Sierra Otomí oratory groups, a paper presented at the 92nd Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Washington, D.C., November 17-21, 1993.
A linguistic map showing the location of Otomí, Totonac, Tepehua, Nahua, and Spanish speaking people in east central Mexico, a poster presentation at the 13th International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, Mexico City, July 29 - August 5, 1993.
Chairperson of the Mexican rural development scholars network roundtable at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology, San Antonio, Texas, March 10-14, 1993.
1991
Discussant in the session Cultural perspectives on information system development at the 90th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Chicago, Ill., November 20-24, 1991.
Material factors affecting Protestant conversions in the northern part of the Sierra de Puebla, Mexico, a paper presented at the 90th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Chicago, Ill., November 20-24, 1991.
Organizer and Chair-person of session Listening to the word of God: The impact of modern missionaries and Evangelists in Latin America. at the 90th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Chicago, Ill., November 20-24, 1991.
Protestantism and development in rural Mexico, a paper presented at the 21st Conference of the Société Internationale de Sociologie des Religions. Dublin, Ireland, August 19 to 23, 1991.
1990
Panelist in the workshop Field research in Latin America, 89th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, New Orleans, November 28 - December 2, 1990.
Shamanismo Otomí, a public lecture sponsored by the Departamento de Antropología, División de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana - Iztapalapa, Iztapalapa, D.F., México. July 23, 1990.
La caída de una jerarquía civil-religiosa, protestantismo, y el mantenimiento de etnicidad entre gente indígena, a paper presented at the Tercera Reunión Latinoamericana de Religión Popular y Etnicidad. Escuela Nacional de Antropología, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City, June 5 - 9, 1990.
1989
La religión de los Otomíes de la Sierra, a public lecture sponsored by the School of Social Sciences, University of the Americas, Cholula, Puebla, Mexico. November 20, 1989.
Cambios en la religión de los Otomíes de la Sierra de Hidalgo, a colloquium presented at the Centro Coordinador Interstatal, Instituto Nacional Indigenista, Pachuca, Hidalgo, México. August 1, 1989.
New directions in computer applications for anthropologists, a presentation to the Graduate Colloquium, Department of Anthropology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Mich. April 13, 1989
The evolutionary origins of deception and exploitation in human culture, a paper presented at the 66th Annual Meeting of the Central States Anthropological Society, Notre Dame, IN, March 10-12, 1989.
Chair-person of the session Socio-Biology at the 66th Annual Meeting of the Central States Anthropological Society, Notre Dame, IN, March 10-12, 1989.
1988
The evolution of exploitation, a paper presented at the at the 87th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Phoenix, Ariz. November 16-20, 1988
Discussant in session Computer solutions to anthropological problems at the 87th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Phoenix, Ariz. November 16-20, 1988
1988
The political economy of religion in Mexico and Central America, a paper presented at the 86th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Chicago, Ill. November 18-22, 1987.
1987
Magical symbolism in modern medicine and its implications for medical/applied anthropology, a paper presented at the annual meeting of the society for applied anthropology, Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico, April 8-12, 1987.
Discussant in session Using computer packages in applied anthropology projects, Annual Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology, Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico, April 8-12, 1987.
1986
Organizer and Chairperson of session Computer communications and methods, at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology. Reno, Nevada, March 26-30, 1986.
1985
From computer expert to apprentice shaman. paper presented in the symposium "Anthropological Perspectives on Apprenticeship" at the 84th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association. Washington, D.C. December 4-8, 1985.
Commentator in session Folk healing in American Catholicism. Conference on American Catholicism. Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, October 4-5, 1985.
1984
Scientific perspectives on religio-magical healing, Sigma Xi lecture. Oakland University. April 6, 1984.
Tonal and nagual in Otomí shamanism: Therapeutic and anti-therapeutic animal images, a paper presented in the symposium "Human-Alloanimal Social Relations: Care and Curing" at the 83 Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association. Denver, Colorado. November 18, 1984.
1983
Shamanism, faith healing, and psychotherapy: A transcultural theory of healing, a paper presented at the 45th Annual Meeting of the Association for the Sociology of Religion, Detroit, Mich, August 30, 1983.
Computer software applications in anthropology, a symposium organized and chaired at the 82nd Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Chicago, Ill., 1983.
Anthropology in Mexico: Current directions, a roundtable discussion organized and chaired at the XI International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, Mexico City, Sept. 30, 1983. Also sponsored by the Society for Latin American Anthropology
Communication and conferencing software for anthropology, a paper presented at the 82nd Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Chicago, Ill., Nov. 18, 1983. Document No. ED 244 853. Boulder, Col.: Educational Resources Information Center.
1982
How shamans heal, Presentation to the Wayne State University Anthropology Colloquium. April 5, 1982.
The combined use of computers and audio tape recorders in storing, managing, and using qualitative verbal ethnographic data, a paper presented at the 81st Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Washington, D. C., Dec. 7, 1982. Document No. ED 251 342. Boulder, Col.: Educational Resources Information Center.
The teachings of Don Serafín: The healing arts of an Otomí Indian shaman, a paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters. Kalamazoo, Mich. March 26, 1982
1981
The process of magical healing among the Otomí of the Northern Sierra de Puebla, Mexico, a paper presented at the 80th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Los Angeles, California, Dec 6, 1981.
1980
The male supremacist complex: Current critique and re-evaluation of evidence, a paper presented at the 56th Annual Meeting of the Central States Anthropological Society, Ann Arbor, Michigan. April 10, 1980.
1979
Women capture as a motivation for warfare, a paper presented in the symposium, Adaptational Approaches to Culture and Custom," American Anthropological Association Meeting, Cincinnati, Ohio. Nov. 28, 1979.
1978
Mathematical cultural systems theory, A new approach to understanding Yanomamö violence, a presentation to the Wayne State University Anthropology Department Colloquium. 1978.
1977
The integration of materialist and non-materialist views of culture in mathematical systems models: The case of male supremacy and female infanticide in tropical forest cultures, a paper presented at the Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Houston, Texas., 1977.
1976
The symbolic control of cultural ecological systems, a paper presented at the Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Washington, D. C., 1976.
1975
The image of limited production: Envy and other threats to productive motivation in peasant societies, a paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, San Francisco, Calif., 1975.
Co-organizer of the session Critical approaches to rural agrarian economy: Polanyi revisited at the Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, San Francisco, Calif., 1975.
The religiously instituted economy in a Mexican peasant society, a presentation to the Colloquium of the Division of Social Sciences, Bennington College, Bennington, Vermont. 1975.
1974
Paper dolls and the sierra Otomí concept of soul, a paper presented at the 73rd Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Mexico City, Mexico., 1974.
Problemas de trabajo en el campo, colloquium presented to the Departamento de Etnografía y Antropología Social of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City, July 29, 1974.
1973
The economic functions of religion in a Mexican Indian society: Redistribution and the wealth-leveling hypothesis, a paper presented at the Meetings of the Northeastern Anthropological Association, 1973.
Chairperson of the symposium Religion and ritual at the Meetings of the Northeastern Anthropological Association, Burlington, Vermont., 1973.
1972
Keeping Indians in their place: A system of peasant exploitation in Central Mexico, a paper presented at the Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Toronto, Canada., 1972.
1970
Those who are standing: Religious corporate groups among the Otomí Indians of the Sierra de Puebla, Mexico, a paper presented at the Meetings of the Northeastern Anthropological Association, Ottawa, Canada, 1970.
1965
Astronomical orientations at Teotihuacán, a paper presented at the Meetings of the Society for American Archaeology, Urbana, Illinois., 1965