Maribeth Erb has been a member of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology since 1989. In recent years she has taught courses on tourism, the environment, theme parks and qualitative methods. She has been doing research in Eastern Indonesia since the early 1980's on a range of topics that have informed and intersected with her teaching. Tourism has been growing in eastern Indonesia, and has been rebounding strongly post-pandemic. In particular her work has looked at tourist local interaction and changing ideas of hospitality; however with tourism growth has come also conflict, both over control of tourism businesses as well as the impacts on the environment. In the 21st century, expansion of the extractive industries has also led to conflicts between local communities, government and mining companies over these environmental impacts and access to land.
Tourism developments and changing ideas of hospitality; mining, the environment and local conflict.
BOOKS/MONOGRAPHS AUTHORED
2018 Theming Asia: Nature, Culture and Heritage in a Transforming Environment, edited by Maribeth Erb and Ong Chin Ee, Routledge.
2009 Deepening Democracy in Indonesia: Direct Elections for Local Leaders, edited by Maribeth Erb and Priyambudi Sulistiyanto, ISEAS Publications
2007 Biodiversity and Human Livelihoods in the Malay Archipelago, edited by Navjot Sodhi, Greg Acciaioli, Maribeth Erb and Alan Tan Jie Kin, Cambridge University Press.
2005 Regionalism in Post-Suharto Indonesia, edited by Maribeth Erb, Priyambudi Sulistiyanto, and Carole Faucher, London: Routledge-Curzon.
1999 The Manggaraians: Guide to Traditional Life Styles, Singapore: Times Editions.
CHAPTERS IN BOOKS
ARTICLES IN JOURNALS