Dr. Stephens' research focuses on the relationships between communities in Latin America and how communities form in response to internal and external stressors. In her forthcoming book, titled In the Lands of Fire and Sun: Huichol Resistance and Accommodation, 1723-1930, she examines the ways in which the Huichols have selectively adapted elements of Spanish and Mexican culture as a way to insulate their indigenous practices from external forces, beliefs, and stressors. Her methodology combines analyses of ethnographic reports, archaeology, anthropological studies, and archival research in order to discover elements of Huichol identity and disunity, use and manipulation of Spanish and Mexican legal systems, and syncretic religious beliefs, among other variables. She is currently writing an article that explores the important contributions of European ethnographers to our understanding of Huichol cultural history
