Kasey Diserens Morgan, Ph.D.
Kasey Diserens Morgan, Ph.D.
Adjunct Lecturer | Sociology and Anthropology
Kasey Diserens Morgan is an Adjunct Lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. She is a broadly trained anthropological archaeologist who studies community heritage initiatives and the uses of the past in a small Maya community in Mexico. She has a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania, a MS in Historic Preservation from the University of Pennsylvania, and a BA in Archaeology and Spanish from Cornell University.
Featured Spring 2025
Resisting Heritage Facadism
Politics of Patrimony and Community Centered Approaches to Heritage Preservation in Tihosuco, Mexico
Kasey Diserens Morgan
Abstract: Dr. Diserens Morgan’s doctoral dissertation is a materially grounded ethnography of the heritage-making process in rural Mexico that has resulted in a phenomenon she calls heritage facadism. Heritage facadism is the creation of static and superficial interpretations of the past and present narratives by a variety of actors who create power imbalances, driving a wedge between already marginalized Indigenous communities and their histories and historic resources. This research tracks how Tihosuqueños respond to the creation of new historical narratives – who gets to tell what story, and who does that story benefit in the long-term? Tihosuco was the epicenter of the Maya Social War (1847-1901), a rebellion that fought against oppressive social and economic systems imposed by the Mexican ruling class. Dr. Diserens Morgan uses a hybrid methodology that combines archaeological survey, historic building documentation, ethnographic interviews, and participant observation to investigate the legacy of the historic structures of Tihosuco and the use of the structures to construct new narratives about the past.
Access:
PhD Dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 2024.
Please fill out an Interlibrary Loan Request Form or contact a librarian to access this publication.