Visiting Scholar
Comenius University, Bratislava

Milan Kováč is Professor and Chair in Religious Studies at the Department of Comparative Religion at Comenius University in Bratislava (Slovakia). He holds an M.A. (1994) and a Ph.D. (1998) in Religious Studies. Professor Kováč has published more than 200 articles and various books dealing with Mesoamerican archaeology, history, and religions. As the main editor, he recently published the book Maya Cosmology: Terrestrial and Celestial Landscapes (München 2019). His previous books include, among others, Mitos y cuentos lacandones (Mexico City 2012; Myths and Tales of the Lacandons); Slnko jaguára: Náboženský svet Olmékov, Mayov a Aztékov (Bratislava 2002; Sun of the Jaguar: The Religious World of the Olmecs, Maya, and Aztecs); Lacandónci: poslední praví Mayovia (Bratislava 2001; Lacandons: The Last True Maya). He translated into Slovak the main source of the Maya pre-Columbian religion, namely Relación de las cosas de Yucatán (2010). He is a long-time director of international excavations in the forest area of Peten, Guatemala, where he works to unearth the pre-classic Maya history. His most influential recent article—"Ancient Lowland Maya Complexity as Revealed by Airborne Laser Scanning of Northern Guatemala"—has been published in 2018 in Science (361). His teaching comprises a broad range of courses, such as Theories and Methods in Religious Studies, as well as Mythologies of the World. However, his main focus is on Mesoamerican rituals, mythologies, and religions, teaching several specialised courses on all levels, from B.A. to Ph.D. While at the Department in the winter semester 2022/2023, Professor Kováč co-ordinates a course on "Maya Religion – From the Past to the Present."