Lauren Bartone is a PhD student in Italian Studies with a designated emphasis in folklore.

Her background as a visual artist strongly informs her approach to studying Italian culture. Before joining the Department of Italian Studies at Berkeley, she completed a B.A. in Fine Art at UCLA, followed by an M.A. in Education at UC Berkeley, and an M.F.A. at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Previous work in collaborative map making, community dialogue, and participatory art forms led to her project A City in Maps, completed as the artist in residence at the de Young Museum of Art in San Francisco, and lead to other collaborative projects including Paradise, A Map for the Centennial of the Panama Pacific International Exposition, and SF New City Atlas, a series of creative maps for the San Francisco Arts Commission.

Her current research examines how culturally based identity and belief systems change in form and function across national contexts. Her academic interests primarily focus on belief systems about luck, migration, and the visual and material culture of Sicily and the southern Italian diaspora.