Working in the taskscape of cultural heritage preservation. Focusing on the 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 approaches focusing on community-driven collections. This includes material culture, traditional memory keeping practices, archival & museum praxis, embedded and vernacular knowledge, and narrative agency and structure. My areas of focus are place as cultural memory, narrative theory in collections, knowledge networks in communities of practice, and community-driven cultural heritage preservation.
Cultural heritage institutions such as 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 