Laura B. Fretwell

Laura B. Fretwell serves as Assistant Professor of Digital and Public History in the Department of History at Florida Atlantic University, where she bridges academic scholarship with public engagement through innovative digital methodologies.

Her academic foundation includes a Ph.D. from George Mason University, complemented by professional experience across major public humanities institutions. This trajectory has established her expertise in translating historical research for diverse audiences while maintaining scholarly rigor.

Dr. Fretwell's research interrogates the complex relationships between space, memory, and power in the American South, with particular focus on 19th-20th century African American experiences. She employs digital mapping to visualize historical landscapes and oral history to recover marginalized narratives, as demonstrated in her book manuscript on Richmond's Chimborazo Park. Her work reveals how commemorative spaces actively shape historical memory and community belonging.

Teaching remains central to her practice, with undergraduate courses spanning US History surveys, Public History, Oral History, and Digital History, alongside graduate-level Public History and Digital History seminars. Her pedagogy emphasizes hands-on digital humanities skills and community-based historical projects.

Through fellowships at the National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, and Roy Rosenzweig Center, she has developed significant expertise in public history practice. These collaborations demonstrate her commitment to making historical scholarship accessible beyond academia while securing competitive funding for public humanities initiatives. Her current research promises to reshape understanding of Southern landscapes and memorial practices through rigorous interdisciplinary methods.