Maria has been at John Carroll University since 2002. Her research focuses on Andean traditional religion and its encounter with Spanish Catholicism in the Andes, particularly in Southern Peru-Northern Chile. She has published extensively and directed a major research project on the subject. She is currently completing her book manuscript “Hábitos Perniciosos: Religión Andina Colonial en la Diócesis de Arequipa, siglos XVI-XVIII” and is the co-editor of the forthcoming Culto a los Ancestros, Hechicería y Resistencia Colonial. El Caso de Gregorio Taco, Arequipa, 1750, a transcription and essay collection on a renowned archival case of late-colonial Indian religious misconduct.