Alba Menéndez Pereda
Education
Currently PhD Candidate, Interdepartmental Archaeology Graduate Program, University of California, Los Angeles
2017 MPhil, Archaeology of the Americas, University of Cambridge
2016 BA, Archaeology and Ancient Civilizations, University of Durham
Areas of Interest
Inca Empire, Andes, Indigenous archaeology, landscape studies, environmental humanities, built environment, architecture, reuse, ecology, materiality, ritual practices, sacredness, performance, sensory experiences, sound, colonialism in the Americas, transatlantic exchanges
Profile
Alba Menéndez Pereda (she/her/hers) is an interdisciplinary archaeologist specialized in the Inca Empire and with experience conducting fieldwork, studying legacy collections in museums and storage facilities, and reading and transcribing documentary sources in archives. Her current research focuses on the making and experiencing of sacredness at the heart of the Inca Empire from imperial Inca times through the early modern period.
Alba graduated with a B.A. in Archaeology and Ancient Civilizations from the University of Durham, and with an M.Phil. in Archaeology from the University of Cambridge where she specialized in the Archaeology of the Americas. Prior to joining the Cotsen Institute, Alba participated in numerous research projects spanning various cultures and time periods, for which she conducted fieldwork and worked with museums in England, Italy, and Spain, and worked in a commercial archaeology unit (CRM) in England.
Committed to engaging the wider public in the study of the Andes, Alba creates accessible digital content for the Andean Lab Instagram. She manages the Andean Lab at the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, co-organizes the Andean Working Group, and has previously co-organized the Indigenous Material and Visual Culture in the Americas Working Group.
SELECTED FIELDWORK
The Architecture of the Coricancha Through Time, Cuzco, Peru
Proyecto de Investigación Arqueológica Paisajes Arqueológicos de Pañamarca, Nepeña, Peru
Proyecto de Investigación Arqueológica Chincha, Chincha, Peru
PRESENTATIONS
American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Boston (November 2025)
CSULB Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies Conference, Forest Lawn Museum (November 2025)
Society of Architectural Historians Annual International Conference, Atlanta (May 2025)
Society for American Archaeology Annual Meeting, Denver (April 2025)
Society for American Archaeology Annual Meeting, New Orleans (April 2025)
American Anthropological Association / Canadian Anthropology Society Annual Meeting, Toronto (November 2023)
Aural Architecture: Sound, Space, and Spirituality, Department of Music, Stanford University, Stanford (May 2023)
Vernacular Architecture Forum Annual Meeting, Plymouth (May 2023)
College Art Association Annual Conference, New York (February 2023)
(Re)thinking Landscape: Ways of Knowing / Ways of Being Conference, Yale University, New Haven (September 2022)
Sound, Space and the Aesthetics of the Sublime Conference, Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics, Stanford University, Stanford (May 2022)
Lunch & Learn, The Fowler Museum (April 2022)
Early Modern Research Group, Center for 17th- & 18th-Century Studies, UCLA (April 2020)
FELLOWSHIPS, GRANTS, AND AWARDS
Short-Term Fellowship, Yale Institute of Sacred Music, Yale University
Mayers Fellowship, The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
Dissertation Fieldwork Grant, The Wenner-Gren Foundation
Sarah Elizabeth Gilfillan Award, Fowler Museum
Short-Term Fellowship, John Carter Brown Library
Archaeological Research Grant, Archaeological Institute of America - Orange County Society
Orlando Ridout Fieldwork Fellowship, Vernacular Architecture Forum
Edilia and François-Auguste de Montêquin Junior Scholar Fellowship, Society of Architectural Historians
Fellowship for Postgraduate Studies in North America and Asia-Pacific, “la Caixa” Foundation
Dissertation Fieldwork Fellowship for International Studies, International Institute, UCLA
Graduate Student Summer Fellowship, CMRS Center for Early Global Studies, UCLA
Graduate Student Research Grant, Latin American Institute, UCLA
Edward A. Dickson Fellowship in the History of Art, Department of Art History, UCLA
Early Modern Studies Summer Mentorship, Center for 17th- & 18th-Century Studies, UCLA
Steinmetz and Friends of Archaeology Research Travel Fund, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, UCLA
Graduate Summer Research Mentorship, UCLA
Birley Bursary Award, Department of Archaeology, University of Durham
TEACHING
Instructor of Record, Art Out of Ores: Metalworking in the Indigenous Americas, Department of Art History, UCLA (Summer 2025)
Mentor, Archaeology Mentorship Program, UCLA (2022–present)
Guest Lecturer, Art, Science, and Technology, Department of Design Media Arts, UCLA (Spring 2022)
Instructor of Record, Intro to Archaeology: Past, Present, and Future, Educational Studies Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Spring 2022)
Reader, Inca Art and Architecture, Department of Art History, UCLA (Winter 2022)
Instructor of Record, Entendiendo la Sudamérica Indígena: Investigación y Colección, Instituto de Conservação e Restauro Pachamama (Fall 2021)
Teaching Assistant, Art and Architecture of Ancient Americas, Department of Art History, UCLA (Spring 2021)
Teaching Assistant, Medieval Art, Department of Art History, UCLA (Winter 2021)
Teaching Assistant, Museum Studies, Department of Art History, UCLA (Fall 2020)
SELECTED PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
Social Media Manager, Andean Lab, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, UCLA (2019–present)
Workshop Facilitator, Explore Your Universe, UCLA (2020, 2022)
Social Media Manager, Institute of Andean Studies (2020–2021)
Demonstration Facilitator, “Andean Textiles,” Annual Open House, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, UCLA (2019)
Workshop Facilitator, “Adventures in Archaeology,” 826LA, Los Angeles (2019)
Demonstration Facilitator, Prehistory and Archaeology Day, University of Cambridge (2016)
LANGUAGES
Spanish, native speaker
English, bilingual
Quechua/Kichwa, beginner
French, beginner
ADDITIONAL LINKS
Yale Institute of Sacred Music
The Archaeological Institute of America – Orange County Society