Academic Background

Education

2012-2019
Ph.D., School of Architecture and Interior Design (SAID), University of Cincinnati, Ohio.

1990-1993
IIE/Fulbright Scholarship to obtain an M.S. Arch. at the School of Architecture and Interior Design (SAID), University of Cincinnati, Ohio.

1981-1988
Professional B.Arch. at the Faculty of Architecture, University of Panama, Panama (Sigma Lambda Student Average 2.76/3.00).

Maria Eugenia Achurra earned a Ph.D. in architecture (2019) from the University of Cincinnati´s School of Architecture and Interior Design (SAID). Two decades ago, she received a Fulbright Scholarship to obtain an M.S.Arch. at DAAP (1993). Dr. Achurra also holds a professional Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Panama (1988). She worked as an architect at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntington District (2019-2025).

Computer Software

AutoCAD 2025

Autodesk REVIT 2023

Autodesk 3ds Max 2023

Autodesk Maya 2022

Bentley MicroStation

Adobe Programs (InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, and Acrobat)

Microsoft Office Programs (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint)

Research and Publications

Achurra, Maria Eugenia. 2023. Civic Buildings After the Spanish-American War. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi. Book.

Achurra, Maria Eugenia. 2019. An Exceptionalist Spectacle: Federal Architecture After the 1898 Spanish-American War. Cincinnati, OH: University of Cincinnati. Dissertation.

Achurra, Maria Eugenia. “The Architect’s Vortex (As Described by Heidegger, Foucault, Wittig, and Others).”Published in the Science Journal of Civil Engineering and Architecture (a Science Journal Publication), October 2013. Online Publication.. https://www.sjpub.org/sjcea.html

Achurra, Maria Eugenia. “Flesh, Mud, and Floors: Georges Bataille’s The Big Toe and Ana Mendieta’s Earthworks.” From Sheardy Jr., Robert (ed.). 2006. Searching for America: Essays on Art and Architecture. Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publication. Book Chapter.

Achurra, Maria Eugenia. 1992. The Gaze in Current Architectural Discourses. Cincinnati, OH: University of Cincinnati. Thesis.

Achurra, Maria Eugenia, and Pilar Cachafeiro. 1987. Teoría de la Arquitectura Postmoderna (El Significado en la Arquitectura Actual). Panama: University of Panama. Thesis.

Papers and Proceedings

“Alienation and Unrest: Lygia Clark’s ‘Stone and Air.’”
Presented at AMPS, Alternatives to the Present. Cleveland, OH, November 2018.
Presented at the Popular Culture/American Culture conference (PCA/ACA), Boston, MA, April 2007.
Presented at the Northeast Conference of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), Québec, Canada, October 2006.

“Debord’s Spectacle: A Critical Approach to Vision.”
Presented at the humanitiesNOW conference, University of Cincinnati, OH, March 2015.

“Equipmentality and Architecture: Samuel Mockbee and the Rural Studio.”
Presented at the 97th Annual Meeting of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), Portland, OR, March 2009.
Presented at the Popular Culture/American Culture conference (PCA/ ACA), San Francisco, CA, March 2008.