Lisa C Breglia

University Affiliate

Associate Professor

Globalization; Mexico, Latin America; Ethnography; Immigration in Washington, DC; Political economy of resources; Energy, Environment and Sustainability; Museums, Heritage, Cultural Policy

Lisa Breglia is Senior Associate Dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and is Associate Professor of Global Affairs. Her 2006 book, Monumental Ambivalence: the Politics of Heritage (University of Texas Press) examines the struggle over national patrimony between public interests and private sector development in Maya archaeological sites across the Yucatán Peninsula. Her second book Living with Oil (2013, UT Press) is an ethnographic investigation of the effects of Mexico's intensive offshore oil industry on Gulf coast communities.

Current Research

Seeking Sanctuary: the Politics of Asylum in the New National Borderzones. This research examines how “sanctuary cities” have become not only the focus of heated debate, but also very real grounds of contestation for migrants from across the globe struggling to resettle in the US. Fleeing violence and persecution in their home countries, reaching the border offers little solace after months-long journeys. For migrants at the US/Mexico border, seeking asylum is chaotic, confusing, difficult, dangerous and increasingly impossible. This study examines the case of Washington, DC––where more than 12,000 migrants have arrived and many have settled––since April 2022. How does DC’s status as a “sanctuary city” affect how the city officially and unofficially welcomes and supports arriving and resettling migrants? How does changing policy on the US/Mexico border 1) affect how recently arrived migrants are making asylum claims and 2) shape migrants’ attitudes and decisions toward resettlement? Further, what are the differing roles played by government agencies and community members in supporting migrants in the short and long-term and how can this inform humane asylum policy and immigration policy more generally?

Selected Publications

2013 Living with Oil: Promises, Peaks, and Declines on Mexico’s Gulf Coast. Austin: University of Texas Press.

2006 Monumental Ambivalence: the Politics of Heritage. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Education

PhD Anthropology, Rice University

Dissertation:
Docile Descendants and Illegitimate Heirs: Privatization of Cultural Patrimony in Mexico

MA Religious Studies, University of Florida

Graduate Certificate, Latin American Studies, University of Florida

BA English with Honors, University of Florida