Yamilette Chacon is Senior Lecturer in sociology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at James Madison University. She has conducted ethnographic fieldwork among the Otavalo and Cotacachi of Highland Ecuador and among the Haida, and Nuxalk (Bella Coola) of Canada. Her areas of specialization include collective action, social inequality, the social processes associated with the development of social complexity, warfare, ritual violence long distance exchange, secret societies, and belief systems. Her research emphasizes the application of experimentally tested sociological theory to the understanding of contemporary and premodern societies. Professor Chacon has a special interest in encouraging members of minority communities as well as first generation college students to pursue higher education. Dr. Chacon teaches Social Issues in a Global Context, The Individual in Society, Sociological Perspectives of Latin American Societies, Sociology of Culture, Race and Ethnicity, and Study Abroad. Yamilette proudly represents COSTA RICA!