For those wondering where Laura fit in the academic ecosystem.
Degrees
- PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2013
- MA, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2007
- EdM, Harvard University, 2002
- BA, Wesleyan University, 1997
Appointments (selected)
- Lecturer in Global Religion and Politics, Lancaster University, UK
- Fellow, Institute for Social Futures, Lancaster University, UK
- Assistant Professor of History, Keene State College, USA
- Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Africana Studies and Latin American Studies, Bowdoin College, USA
- Graduate Director, Project for Historical Education, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA
Fellowships & Awards (selected)
- BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinkers (finalist)
- Fulbright-Hays Fellowship, US Department of Education
- Gerda Henkel Foundation PhD Scholarship, Germany
- Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship, US Department of State
- University Merit Assistantship, University of North Carolina
Conference Presentations (selected)
- Brazilian Studies Association (2015, 2014, 2008)
- Association of American Geographers (2014)
- Society for US Intellectual History (2013)
- Conference on Latin American History (2012)
- American Society of Church History (2012)
- African Studies Association (2012, 2011)
- American Historical Association (2011)
- African Association for the Study of Religion (2010)
Invited Talks (selected)
- King’s College London (2019)
- University of Birmingham (2018)
- Lancaster University (2018)
- Leeds University (2017)
- Columbia University (2016)
- Colby College (2015)
- Cambridge University (2011)
- US Consulate Rio de Janeiro (2010)
Press (selected)
Courses Taught (selected)
- Global Pentecostalism
- Demons & Deliverance in the Atlantic World
- Media, Religion & Politics
- History & Politics of Afro-Brazilian Culture
- Colonial Latin America
- History of Brazil
- Writing Personal Histories
Languages
- Spanish
- Portuguese
- French
Articles & Book Chapters (selected, all single-authored & peer-reviewed)
- “Bless Us With Children: Pregnancy, Prosperity, and Pragmatism in Nigeria’s Christ Apostolic Church” in Spirit on the Move: Black Women and Pentecostalism in Africa and the Diaspora, Judith Casselberry, and Elizabeth Pritchard, eds.Duke University Press, 2019.
- “Prophets, Evangelists and Missionaries: Trans-Atlantic Interactions in the Emergence of Nigerian Pentecostalism” in Religion 45, no. 2 (2015): 221-38.
- “‘The Holy Rollers are Invading Our Territory’: Southern Baptist Missionaries and the Early Years of Pentecostalism in Brazil” in Journal of Religious History 35, no. 1 (2011): 1-23.
Essays (selected)
- Talking about the unspeakable: On The Sacred with Richard Ayoade and Lydia Fox. Theos Think Tank / Medium, 19 September 2019.
- John of God: my encounter with Brazil’s accused faith healer. The Conversation, 4 January 2019.
- Donald Trump’s evangelical supporters: the wrong kind of hope. The Conversation, 11 July 2018.
- Teaching Quilombismo: An Afro-Brazilian Political Philosophy. Black Perspectives, 11 October 2016.
- Trump and Cruz Battle for Evangelical Hearts: Spiritual Warfare on the Campaign Trail. The Boston Review, 29 January 2016, published online.
- One Nigeria Under God. The Boston Review, July/August 2015 print edition.
- Dead Man Talking: Brazil’s Spiritists Redefine Religion. The Boston Review, March/April 2015 print edition.