Sarah Lockridge, PhD

Sarah Lockridge is an economic anthropologist that has spent extensive time studying the Bamana people of Mali, West Africa. She was an environment volunteer in the Peace Corps and lived in a rural village among the Bamana people for two years. It was this experience that launched her academic interest in studying the impacts of global tourism on indigenous female craft producers

Sarah Lockridge’s interest in the study of cultural anthropology was sparked by an opportunity to tutor Hmong refugees from Laos in their pursuit to become naturalized U.S. citizens while she was an undergraduate student at Humboldt State University. After receiving a B.A. in Anthropology, she entered the Peace Corps as a Forestry and Environment Volunteer and lived for two years in an agricultural community among the Bamana of Mali, W. Africa. After her service, she went to graduate school and received a M.A. and Ph.D in Cultural Anthropology from American University in Washington D. C..

Sarah is an economic anthropologist that focuses on economic development, social justice, gender inequality, and environmental sustainability. Her research interests include women’s rights are human rights, indigenous rights as impacted by globalization and climate change, tourism and cultural heritage, as well as gender as linked to empowerment and community development. Most of her research is conducted in Africa and the African diaspora.