Laura studies the nineteenth century United States, focusing particularly on legal and social history. She maintains an interest in race relations, slavery, and emancipation. She co-authored a volume titled Seen/Unseen: Hidden Lives in a Community of Enslaved Georgians (UGA Press, 2021) that reveals the complex interior lives and social networks that one community of enslaved people built and sustained. She also created and updates the book’s companion website, www.seenunseenbook.com. Her dissertation project aims to look at how ordinary Americans engaged with law in their everyday interactions.

Laura graduated with highest honors from the University of Georgia in 2014 with a BA in History and a BBA in Economics. She then completed an MA in History (2018) and an MEd in Learning, Design, and Technology (2020) at UGA. Outside of the classroom, she has engaged in public history and history education efforts through museum work, oral history initiatives, and co-teaching a high school elective on local history in Georgia.