Amaris Ketcham

BA in Latin American Studies | 2007

Photo: Amaris Ketcham

Job : Assistant Professor, University of New Mexico
Location : Albuquerque, NM

Amaris Feland Ketcham chose UNM for its proximity to Mexico and its educational emphasis on a part of the world that she knew nothing about. "I am from Kentucky, and I chose UNM for my BA because as a teenager I was terribly curious. I had never heard anyone talk about New Mexico. Latin America wasn't mentioned in any curriculum at my elementary or high school." She studied cultural anthropology and Latin American Studies so she could take classes in anthropology, fine art, history, literature, and languages. "One of the most important aspects of a BA is its ability to give a student a way of thinking, a way of looking, and a way of asking questions." Amaris is currently a professor in the Honors College at UNM where she designs and teaches interdisciplinary classes that have a creative writing or literary publishing core.