Senior Lecturer
chaconyd@jmu.edu
Contact Info

2014       Ph.D. in Sociology, University of South Carolina

2009       M.A. in Sociology, University of South Carolina

2009       Graduate Certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies,
               University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC

2005       B.A. Sociology, Winthrop University

• Micro-Sociology: The Individual in Society
• Social Issues in a Global Context
• Sociological Perspectives of Latin American Societies

I am interested in understanding the social processes associated with the development of social complexity. My research focuses on the internal and external societal processes that led to social inequality in its various manifestations. Interdisciplinary in nature, my research emphasizes the application of experimentally tested sociological theory towards the understanding of contemporary and pre-modern societies.

My research interests include the development of social complexity, sociological theory, historical sociology, social psychology, group processes, leadership, collective action, education, immigration, race/ethnic/minority relations, the interlinking of race/class/gender/sexuality, Women’s and Gender Studies, as well as belief systems and ritual violence among indigenous peoples of the Americas. 

I have conducted ethnographic fieldwork among the Otavalo and Cotacachi Indians of Highland Ecuador where I documented ritual violence. Also, among the Haida of British Columbia, I focused on the emergence of social inequality in this transegalitarian society. 

My multi-faceted interests led me to co-found and co-organize the biennial “Warfare, Environment, Social Inequality and Pro-Sociability” (WESIPS) Conference in Seville, Spain. https://spanishstudies.org/wesips/

As a professor, I am passionate about helping students achieve their potential, particularly those from historically underrepresented populations. As a Latina immigrant from a working class background and a first generation college graduate, I have a keen interest in encouraging members of minority communities as well as first generation college students to pursue higher education. To this end, I created the ‘G1 Network Outreach Program,’ which provides mentorship for such students at the personal level.

(in press) Chacon, Yamilette, and Richard Chacon, editors. Archaeological and Ethnographic Evidence of Domination in Indigenous Latin America. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida.

2022.  Ling, Johan, Richard Chacon, and Yamilette Chacon. “Bronze Age Long Distance Exchange, Secret Societies, Rock Art, and the Supra Regional Interaction Hypothesis.” In: Trade Before Civilization: Long Distance Exchange and the Rise of Social Complexity. Eds., Johan Ling, Richard Chacon, and Kristian Kristiansen. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

2020. Chacon, Richard, Johan Ling, Brian Hayden, and Yamilette Chacon. “Understanding Bronze Age Scandinavian Rock Art: The Value of Interdisciplinary Approaches.” Adoranten Journal 51:74-95.

2020. Ling, Johan, Richard Chacon, and Yamilette Chacon. “Rock Art and Nautical Routes to Social Complexity: Comparing Haida and Scandinavian Bronze Age Societies.” Adoranten Journal 51:5-23.

2019. Chacon, Richard, and Yamilette Chacon. “Exploring Warfare and Violence from a Cross-Cultural Perspective: Introduction to the Special Issue.” Special Issue: ExploringWarfare and Violence from a Cross-Cultural Perspective, Human Nature. 30(2):145-148.

2019. Roscoe, Paul, Richard J. Chacon, Douglas Hayward, and Yamilette Chacon. “Social Signaling and the Warrior-Big-man among the Western Dani: A Man Called Tibenuk.”Special Issue: Exploring Warfare and Violence from a Cross-Cultural Perspective, Human Nature. 30(2):176-191.

2018. Ling, Johan, Richard Chacon, and Yamilette Chacon. "Rock Art, Secret Societies, Long Distance Exchange, and Warfare in Bronze Age Scandinavia." In Prehistoric Warfare and Violence: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches. Eds., A. Dolfini, R. Crellin, and C. Horn. New York: Springer.

2017. Willer, David, Pamela Emanuelson, Yamilette Chacon, and Richard Chacon. "How Chiefdom and Early Social Structures Resolve Collective Action Probelms." Pp. 417-452 in Feast, Famine or Fighting? Multiple Pathways to Social Complexity, edited by Richard Chacon and Ruben Mendoza. New York: Springer.

2015. Chacon, Yamilette, David Willer, Pamela Emanuelson, and Richard Chacon. "From Chiefdom to State: The Contribution of Social Structural Dynamics." Social Evolution & History Journal 14(2):27-45.

2014. Willer, David, Pamela Emanuelson, Michael Lovaglia, Brent Simpson, Shane Thye, Henry Walker, Mamadi Corra, Steven Gilham, Danielle Lewis, Travis Patton, Yamilette Chacon, and Richard Chacon. "Elementary Theory: 25 Years of Expanding Scope and Increasing Precision." Advances in Group Processes 31:175-217.

2007. Chacon, Richard, Yamilette Chacon, and A. Guandinango. "The Inti Raymi Festival Among the Cotacachi and Otavalo Indians of Highland Ecuador: Blood for the Earth." Pp. 116-141 in Warfare and Ritual Violence Among the Indigenous Peoples of Latin America: Problems in Paradise, edited by R. Chacon and R. Mendoza. Tucson, AZ: Univeristy of Arizona Press.

2005. Chacon, Yamilette. "Population Patterns and Educational Attainment of Mexican-Americans 1994-2004." Sociation Today. Vol. 3, No. 2.