Lauren Miller Griffith
Biographic Data
| ID | 113340 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Lauren Miller Griffith |
| GIVEN NAMES | Lauren Miller |
| FAMILY NAME | Griffith |
| SIGNATURE | GRIFFITH L M |
| AFFILIATIONS | Texas Tech University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3565-9134 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 5 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 14 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Forging a path through the (decision) trees
Decision trees can help anthropologists craft ethnographically grounded fiction, which is in itself a tool for protecting the identities of vulnerable interlocutors. Deep engagement in social fields allows anthropologists to speculate responsibly, asking what characters might do in different situations. My choose‐your‐own‐adventure novel serves as an example of how storying otherwise can allow us to engage with sensitive materials without endange…
Affective Habitus in the Hopeful Art of Capoeira
Capoeira is a martial art that is said to have arisen out of the colonial encounter in Brazil. Forbidden from practicing martial arts, the enslaved Africans supposedly added music to their training and disguised it as dance, an artful subterfuge sustaining their hopes that they might one day be able to escape from bondage. Regardless of this story's veracity, it has become a foundational tale that practitioners in the United States reference as j…
Let Them Eat Chaya
The Belizean culinary landscape has experienced a dramatic shift in recent years, with an abundance of “fresh” and “local” dishes (i.e., salads) appearing on restaurant menus. While many tourists appreciate the option of ordering salad, there is a truly local green that might be equally or better suited to the tourist market given what we know about tourists’ interests in both authenticity and healthful eating. This paper explores both host and g…
Mothers on Mute
My experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, and trying to write through it, has been profoundly shaped by my identity as a mother. Like me, many women-mothers in particular-have had their voices muted by the demands of domestic labor. Trying to find a way to continue telling the stories that matter to me during these times has made me see how important it is for mothers to unmute and claim a space for our voices, even if our voices must change in ord…
The Power of Place
Hungry, Hungry Gringos
Tourist demand for food stuffs like delicate lettuce varieties that are ill-suited to the local environment are setting off a chain of reactions within the Cayo District of Belize. To meet demand, farmers are learning to grow these crops organically, synthesizing knowledge from a variety of sources in order to succeed in this new market. This paper takes readers through the experiences of villagers who work in several key sites of a luxury eco-re…
Agree-Culture in a Disagreeable Climate
You've got to meet this guy Juan,” a student insisted as we drove away from the chocolate festival. We — Lauren and Cameron — had set approximately a dozen undergraduate students loose in Punta Go
Virtually Legitimate
Previous research on capoeira suggests that face-to-face training is the ideal mode of learning this art. However, there is a robust corpus of capoeira tutorials available on YouTube. This paper asks what the function of these videos is. I analyze six comment threads taken from YouTube that exhibit a common pattern, concluding that beyond the video’s utility as a source of information, the comments shared by community insiders serve as an invitat…
Tourism and Informal Encounters in Cuba. Valerio Simoni. London
A Funny Thing Happened at the Shaolin Temple
Tribes or Nomads
This paper explores the relative value of "permanent" working groups versus "ad hoc" groups in large introductory level anthropology courses. The aim is to manage tutor workload while simultaneously enhancing students’ attainment of the learning objectives. In addition, a main learning objective was for students to practice critical thinking and develop an understanding of cultural relativism. We argue that one effective experiential approach to …
Apprenticeship Pilgrimage an Alternative Analytical Lens
Partnerships in Archaeotourism
Tourism management is increasingly coming under fire from anthropologists concerned about issues of social representation and accelerated cultural change. However, when managed well and at a local level, it can represent an economic boon to the community and may even revitalize ethnic pride. This is not to say that tourism development of archaeological sites should proceed without expert consultation. Rather, using Tano caves in the Dominican Rep…
Course Portfolios as Evidence-Based Reflection
Mothers on Mute
My experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, and trying to write through it, has been profoundly shaped by my identity as a mother. Like me, many women-mothers in particular-have had their voices muted by the demands of domestic labor. Trying to find a way to continue telling the stories that matter to me during these times has made me see how important it is for mothers to unmute and claim a space for our voices, even if our voices must change in ord…
Hungry, Hungry Gringos
Tourist demand for food stuffs like delicate lettuce varieties that are ill-suited to the local environment are setting off a chain of reactions within the Cayo District of Belize. To meet demand, farmers are learning to grow these crops organically, synthesizing knowledge from a variety of sources in order to succeed in this new market. This paper takes readers through the experiences of villagers who work in several key sites of a luxury eco-re…
Apprenticeship Pilgrimage an Alternative Analytical Lens
Partnerships in Archaeotourism
Tourism management is increasingly coming under fire from anthropologists concerned about issues of social representation and accelerated cultural change. However, when managed well and at a local level, it can represent an economic boon to the community and may even revitalize ethnic pride. This is not to say that tourism development of archaeological sites should proceed without expert consultation. Rather, using Tano caves in the Dominican Rep…
Course Portfolios as Evidence-Based Reflection
Apprenticeship Pilgrimage an Alternative Analytical Lens
Tribes or Nomads
This paper explores the relative value of "permanent" working groups versus "ad hoc" groups in large introductory level anthropology courses. The aim is to manage tutor workload while simultaneously enhancing students’ attainment of the learning objectives. In addition, a main learning objective was for students to practice critical thinking and develop an understanding of cultural relativism. We argue that one effective experiential approach to …
A Funny Thing Happened at the Shaolin Temple
Virtually Legitimate
Previous research on capoeira suggests that face-to-face training is the ideal mode of learning this art. However, there is a robust corpus of capoeira tutorials available on YouTube. This paper asks what the function of these videos is. I analyze six comment threads taken from YouTube that exhibit a common pattern, concluding that beyond the video’s utility as a source of information, the comments shared by community insiders serve as an invitat…
Tourism and Informal Encounters in Cuba. Valerio Simoni. London
The Power of Place
Hungry, Hungry Gringos
Tourist demand for food stuffs like delicate lettuce varieties that are ill-suited to the local environment are setting off a chain of reactions within the Cayo District of Belize. To meet demand, farmers are learning to grow these crops organically, synthesizing knowledge from a variety of sources in order to succeed in this new market. This paper takes readers through the experiences of villagers who work in several key sites of a luxury eco-re…
Agree-Culture in a Disagreeable Climate
You've got to meet this guy Juan,” a student insisted as we drove away from the chocolate festival. We — Lauren and Cameron — had set approximately a dozen undergraduate students loose in Punta Go
Let Them Eat Chaya
The Belizean culinary landscape has experienced a dramatic shift in recent years, with an abundance of “fresh” and “local” dishes (i.e., salads) appearing on restaurant menus. While many tourists appreciate the option of ordering salad, there is a truly local green that might be equally or better suited to the tourist market given what we know about tourists’ interests in both authenticity and healthful eating. This paper explores both host and g…
Mothers on Mute
My experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, and trying to write through it, has been profoundly shaped by my identity as a mother. Like me, many women-mothers in particular-have had their voices muted by the demands of domestic labor. Trying to find a way to continue telling the stories that matter to me during these times has made me see how important it is for mothers to unmute and claim a space for our voices, even if our voices must change in ord…
Affective Habitus in the Hopeful Art of Capoeira
Capoeira is a martial art that is said to have arisen out of the colonial encounter in Brazil. Forbidden from practicing martial arts, the enslaved Africans supposedly added music to their training and disguised it as dance, an artful subterfuge sustaining their hopes that they might one day be able to escape from bondage. Regardless of this story's veracity, it has become a foundational tale that practitioners in the United States reference as j…
Forging a path through the (decision) trees
Decision trees can help anthropologists craft ethnographically grounded fiction, which is in itself a tool for protecting the identities of vulnerable interlocutors. Deep engagement in social fields allows anthropologists to speculate responsibly, asking what characters might do in different situations. My choose‐your‐own‐adventure novel serves as an example of how storying otherwise can allow us to engage with sensitive materials without endange…
Sociology (7 works) · Computer Science (5 works) · Citation (3 works) · Diverse Aspects of Tourism Research (3 works) · Geography (3 works) · History (3 works) · Media studies (3 works) · Anthropological Studies and Insights (2 works) · Archaeology (2 works) · Art (2 works)