Bachelors of Cultural Anthropology with Honours (UDLAP, Mexico)
Masters in Social Anthropology and Tourism (University of Brighton, UK)
PhD Art, Design and Architecture (Monash University, Australia)
Available for mentorship and HDR Supervision at Monash University.
Mexican Mestiza. Writer, podcaster, activist and researcher. Co-Founder and member of APR Collective. My academic background is in cultural anthropology, specialising in heritage, tourism, identity and belonging, and Indigenous methodologies. I recently finished a PhD in Architecture at Monash University, where I worked on a multidisciplinary project with architects, urban planners and Indigenous Elders. Both my PhD and current research are focused on waterway management, groundwater, cultural memory and repair, and Indigenous water knowledges. I have been teaching since 2019 in architecture and urban studies from a geo-anthropological lens, adding to interdisciplinary research and creative projects.
Current projects
Past projects
Repairing Memory & Place: An Indigenous-led approach to urban water design (ARC Funded)
Repairing Memory & Place intends to integrate Indigenous ways of knowing with urban water management, will provide significant benefits by enabling the repair of ecological and cultural memory of place and enabling government agencies to apply Indigenous practices to everyday management of urban water towards a more sustainable water future.
In collaboration with Boon Wurrung Land and Sea Council, City of Port Phillip Council, City of Bayside Council, Melbourne Water and Museums Victoria.
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
Teaching
2019- present
Teacher associate, Monash University.
2024- ‘Time’ Studies Unit for Masters in Architecture.
2023- ‘Daylight Delight’ bachelor architectural studio with Secil Taskoparan
2022- ‘Unearthing Waterways’ Master of Architecture studio with Dr Laura Harper
2021- ‘Undrained’ architectural studio with Mark Romei and Nicolas Guerra
2020- ‘Flow Interventions’ architectural studio with Gyongy Engloner
2019- ‘Invisible Lines’ architectural studio with Yvonne Meng and Zheng Chin
2020-2023- Teacher associate, Monash University- Architecture and the City Tutor (ARC30401)
2014- Tutor, Universidad de las Americas Puebla, Mexico. Introduction to Tourism
Research
2023- present
Postdoctoral Fellow (Part-time) ARC Linkage Project 'Repairing Memory and Place: An Indigenous-led approach to urban water design.' Wominjeka Djeembana Indigenous Lab/Urban Lab, Monash University.
2023- present
Research Associate (Part-time), ARC Discovery Grant Application, UNSW.
2021-2022
Research Associate, Urban Lab/ SensiLab collaboration with National Trust in Rippon Lea. Monash University.
2020
Research Associate, Grant Application research, Urban Lab, Monash University.
2020
Research Associate, NDC Mapping of Latin America Case Studies. Monash University.
2015-2016
2012
Public Policy Consultant- IMALAB and Mexican Institute of Youth IMJUVE. Mexico.
Alianza Estratégica por el Trabajo y el Empleo para Jóvenes (ALITEJ) Empleo Joven.
Research, Ethnographic Consultant and Market research- Dinamia Investigación Social Estratégica. Mexico City.
2011
Fieldwork researcher. Universidad de las Americas Puebla (UDLAP) collaboration with Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP), Mexico. Project: Global Economic Crisis and Response in Four Communities of Recent Migration in Central Mexico.
2008
Data Analyser. Colegio de San Luis (COLSAN) San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Project: Indigenous Community Census (Padrón de comunidades Indigenas). The project is the first legal device to gather information on the traditions and customs to respect and value the traditional laws of ethnic and indigenous communities.
PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS
2017-2019
Marketing Manager and Product Manager Assistant- Contours Travel. Melbourne.
2019
Freelance Marketing Advisor- Clean Travel and More Travel. Melbourne.
2017
Phone Interviewer- Social Research Centre. Melbourne.
2015
Project Manager -Activate Ya, Mega Reto. Mexico.
TRAINING
2021
2018
Indigenous Mapping Workshop. Winyama Digital Solutions + Google Earth, Australia.
Diploma in Social Media Marketing. Australian Pacific College, Melbourne.
2015
Creative Writing. Workshop developed by Fabián Cuellar. Mexico City.
2007
French Language and Culture. La Sorbonne, Paris, France.
Contributions
PUBLICATIONS
Peer-reviewed Journal Articles
Briggs, C., Buckley, J., Chesworth, D., Coyne, T., Farr, A., Harper, L., Ho, X., Lara Heyns, A. C., Leber, S., Melo Zurita, M., & Raby Piccardo, O. (2023). Listen—Look up! Listen—Look down! Experiencing the counter-city through a sonic and augmented reality experience of urban undergrounds in southeast Melbourne. Cities 142 (pp.264-275).
Book Chapters
Lara Heyns, Ana Cristina (2020) “Flexibles y Selectivos: Identidad local y postiza en Tepoztlán”. In Pablos, J. (Ed.) Tepoztlán en su laberinto. Cuernavaca: Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos/ Ediciones Navarra.
Conference proceedings
Lara Heyns, A. C., Harper, L., & Bertram, N. (2020). The undergrounds’ underground: strategies for mapping what is both covered and invisible. In L. Harper (Ed.), Proceedings of the Annual Design Research Conference 2019: Real/Material/Ethereal (pp. 322-333). Monash University. https://www.monash.edu/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/2454440/fd08134598124b53c9f1eca6f2c122302bfc2316.pdf
Non-Traditional Outputs
2023 Hidden Rippon Lea, Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism 2023 (September to October)
2023 Hidden Rippon Lea: Travelling Underground: retracing memory, structures and journeys which have been covered up (as part of “Unsettling Queenstown,” Australian Pavilion) 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale (May to Nov)
2022 Hidden Rippon Lea: An immersive tour of nature, memory, and water sounds (2023). Visual Essays and Augmented Reality Application Experiences. Collaboration with N’arweet Dr Carolyn Briggs, National Trust of Australia, Dr Laura Harper, Oscar Raby, Dr Xavier Xo, Dr David Chesworth, Sonia Leber, Dr Marilu Melo Zurita, Taylor Coyne, and Professor Jon McCormack.
Ana Cristina Lara Heyns (2014) “Consuming the Zapatista Revolution. A critical evaluation of political tourism in southwest Mexico”. Brighton: University of Brighton.
Ana Cristina Lara Heyns (2013) “The tragic of the magic: The tourism and the cultural heritage in the Magic Town of Tepoztlán (In Spanish: Lo trágico de lo mágico: El turismo y el patrimonio cultural en el Pueblo Mágico de Tepoztlán)”. Puebla, Mexico: Universidad de las Américas Puebla.
Public Engagement publication
Lara, Ana Cristina (2017) Kioto. Labios rojos, sol naciente. Globetrotter. Mexico City: Hotbook Magazine.
Lara, Ana Cristina (2023) Meet the Underground River. Hidden Rippon Lea: An immersive tour of nature, memory and water sounds. Visual essays. Rippon Lea Estate, National Trust Australia.
Lara, Ana Cristina (2023) Going Back to the Old Ways. Hidden Rippon Lea: An immersive tour of nature, memory and water sounds. Visual essays. Rippon Lea Estate, National Trust Australia.
Lara, Ana Cristina (2023) Being on Country. Hidden Rippon Lea: An immersive tour of nature, memory and water sounds. Visual Essay. Rippon Lea Estate, National Trust Australia.
Policy Reports
2018 Alianza Estratégica por el Trabajo y Empleo para Jóvenes "Empleo Joven." Policy prepared for the Mexican Institute of Youth (IMJUVE)
INVITED TALKS
2024- Collaborating with Traditional Custodians. UNSW Sydney.
2023- Walking with water: Indigenous engagement and water design in the city. RMIT University.
2023- Protocols of Engagement in Boonwurrung Country. Ocean Networks Canada, Victoria, BC. Canada.
2023- Walking with water: more-than-human entanglement with water and design. University of Melbourne.
2023- Decolonising Water. MPavilion- M_Curators.
2022- Future Forums: First Nations for Water Justice. Melbourne Museum. Museums Victoria.
2022- Conversations with...Extractivism. Shared Campus.
2016- El turismo y la reconfiguración de identidades en Tepoztlán (Tourism and the reconfiguration of identities in Tepoztlán), in Seminar Perceiving Tepoztlán, different views of a Mexican village (“Percibiendo a Tepoztlán, diferentes miradas de un pueblo mexicano”). May 7th, 2016. Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Faculty of Architecture, México.