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The exhibit tracks cultural ties that are shared by the people of the Americas.

Roberto Rodriguez surprised more than a few members of his undergraduate class on Mexican American culture when he said his students would be exploring the history of maize.

The students' unique understanding of this culture as taught by Rodriguez, a research associate at The University of Arizona's Mexican American Studies and Research Center, is now on display at the UA Main Library. "Mexican American Culture Through the Prism of Maiz" will run through Dec. 12. A public unveiling of the exhibit was held Friday.

The Mexican American Studies class description says students enrolled will learn the historical background, cultural institutions, identity, social relations and expectations of people of Mexican ancestry. The identity, culture and background Rodriguez has taught them includes a 7,000-year-old bond of the people of Mesoamerica through a cultural identity based on their use, worship and relationship with corn.

For the exhibition Rodriguez had the class of 40 students select one of seven categories that according to him illustrate the maize identity evident in Mexican American culture. Students then went to work on finding examples that were not only evident historically but are also found in daily life today. They focused on finding examples of how ancient and contemporary stories, beliefs, traditions, imagery, medicinal practices, art and music reflected a shared culture.

"This class has been my introduction into Hispanic culture and I'm half Mexican," said Farid Razavi, a psychology senior. He was surprised to learn how culturally unified all civilizations from the past 7,000 years were throughout Mesoamerica.

Razavi and a group of classmates decided to display how ancient codices on astronomy reveal how the various native cultures' understanding of the solar system have been passed on throughout Mesoamerica and have been proven to be accurate.

Samantha Banchy, a junior international studies major, said the class was different from other Mexican American classes she has taken "because the focus is on corn and maize culture versus Mexican civil rights" or other more mainstream areas of cultural identity or historical studies.

Another group worked on examples of how the ancient Ball Court, associated mostly with Guatemala and southern or central Mexico, also made its way into North America and was founded on the idea of rebirth. The ancient game, Rodriguez said, as depicted in the Popul Vuh, resulted in the beheading of the two twins who were playing against the Lords of Xibalba. After being beheaded, they are buried, then they come back to life. This is a representation and a reenactment of the harvest of corn and its seasonal rebirth, said Rodriguez.

Another display from the class represented the migration of maize culture through Mesoamerica by associating it with the current migration of people from Central America to North America.

"Our team created an altar in honor of corn as represented through the North American Free Trade Agreement and the people who work in the fields sometimes under inhumane conditions. We honor those who are keepers of the corn, who work to harvest it and the gods that the ancient people worshipped in its name," said Michelle Rascon, a sophomore creative writing major.