By Nancy Asmus
Staff Writer

The Brookhaven College Department of Humanities and Cultural Studies will host Dr. Adam Herring, associate professor and director of graduate studies at Southern Methodist University.

Herring will speak about the ancient Maya calendar and theoretical predictions for the end of humanity and Maya art and culture.

The lecture will be held at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 5 in the Performance Hall.

Herring’s discourse will focus on ancient Maya culture and the widely discussed Maya calendar’s prediction the world as we know it will end Dec. 21, 2012.

Edleeca Thompson, humanities and cultural studies professor, was a student of Herring’s while completing her master’s degree in art history at SMU and suggested Herring as a speaker for the fall semester.

“Dr. Herring tries to give us a better understanding of the Maya as a people, as a culture with a rich history,” Thompson said. “He will bring the Maya people to life.”

Herring studied at Princeton University, Yale University and University of California at Berkley where he specialized in the art of pre-Columbian Americas.

According to the Dallas Museum of Art’s website, Herring received the 2006 Vasari Award for his book “Art and Writing in the Maya Cities, A.D. 600-800: A Poetics of Line.”

Adrien Cuellar-McGuire, art professor, said Herring’s previous appearance at Brookhaven drew a big crowd.

“He was so popular. The room was packed,” Cuellar-McGuire said.