LONG BEACH - If you're worried 2012 will bring the end of the world, as some say the Mayan calendar indicates, you might want to listen to a professor from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Gerardo Aldana kicks off a series of workshops Saturday, appropriately enough at the Hotel Maya, that will explain what the Mayan calendar really means and where interpretations, correct and false, come from.

Aldana's free presentations, at 2 and 3:30 p.m., will be held at the hotel, 700 Queensway Drive.

The first event, a Maya Calendar Workshop, will debunk Maya doomsday prophecies with a basic understanding of the Long Count. Aldana will explain the math and hieroglyphic text.

The second lecture, Observatories and Green Stones: Exploring the Origins of the Maya Calendar, will take a closer look at the famed calendar's origins and its function as a political and cultural tool necessary for the establishment and stability of early Preclassic communities.

As a faculty member in the Chicano Studies Department, the professor has written extensively on Mayan and Mesoamerican history and culture.

The Museum of Latin American Art is helping sponsor the series. Information and RSVPs are available by calling 562-481-3922.

- Greg Mellen

Want to go?

What: Mayan lectures

When: Saturday, 2 and 3:30 p.m.

Where: Hotel Maya, 700 Queensway Drive

Admission: Free

Info: 562-481-3922