She earned her bachelor's degree in American history and literature from Harvard and her Ph.D. in American Studies from Yale University. Dr. Griffin is the recipient of many honors. Among them are the Mary Ingraham Bunting Institute Fellowship at Radcliffe College and her departmental Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. Her courses are cutting edge, characterized by such titles as "Cross Cultural Conjure Women: Creativity, Politics and Spirituality in Contemporary Fiction and The Literature of Social Vision and Social Action." A list of her articles, essays, and book reviews, conference papers, and invited lectures is equally impressive and interesting and testifies to the breadth of her research interests.