Cultural Anthropology
priscilla.loforte@email.ucr.edu
I received my BA in Anthropology from the University of California, Davis, where I researched the societal transformations occurring as a result of the coffee crisis in Veracruz, Mexico, with a focus on related state practices and transnational processes. This research sparked an interest in issues related to political ecology in Latin America. In this PhD program, I plan to explore human-environment relations in the context of environmental conservation efforts in Cuba and Mexico. I seek to uncover and understand how forms of governance articulate with seemingly unrelated acts of environmental regulation in societies operating under differing political systems, with specific attention paid to how and why the implementation of certain Natural Protected Areas are leading to varying degrees of social and ecological change. I am also interested in the relationships between language, power, inequality, and identity in the USA.