Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Texas-Austin Paola Canova gave a lecture titled "Empowerment Lessons from the Margins: An Examination of Ayoreo Sexuality in Paraguay's Chaco Region" in Spring 2016 as part of the Price Lecture Endowment.

The event was sponsored by Luther's Women and Gender Studies department and organized by Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Gender Studies Maryna Bazylevych and Assistant Professor of Anthropology Anita Carrasco. Bazylevych explained the importance of the Price Lecture Endowment.

"[Price lectures] focus on topics that are otherwise not presented by the faculty that's already here. For instance, [for studies on] indigenous people of a particular area where we have no specialist in school."

Canova is a sociocultural anthropologist with a Ph.D. from the University of Arizona. Since 2000, she has conducted research with the Ayoreo people in the Chaco Region of Paraguay. Her research focuses on issues of gender and sexuality among the Ayoreo and how these issues intersect with economics and Christianity in the context of the changing political ecology of the region. Because the Ayoreo are considered a primitive group of people, they lead a very different life from the Paraguayans and do not share the same neighborhoods.

In her lecture, Canova focused on sexuality among Ayoreo women. Ayoreo women usually go out with non-Ayoreo men and indulge in sexual acts in exchange for gifts. Although Western culture sees this as "prostitution," the Ayoreo community does not. Canova emphasized that in order to understand the sexuality of Ayoreo women, it is important to understand the culture of the Ayoreo community. Her research is aimed at raising awareness of their culture so that people can change their perception of the marginalized group.

In addition to this research, Canova has worked among several other indigenous groups, including the Nivaclé, Myba Guarani and Pai Tavytera in Paraguay, the Assurini in Brazil, and the Ayoreo in Bolivia. Her research interests also include the history of relations between indigenous peoples and groups of Mennonite immigrants to the Chaco Region and the broader historical and contemporary dynamics between indigenous peoples and the Paraguayan State.