معرفی
Laura Beard is a Professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies at the University of Alberta, and currently serves as Associate Dean (Access, Community and Belonging) in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities. Previously held roles include Associate Vice President (Research) and Chair of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies. She holds a PhD, MA, and BA in related fields.
Her research focuses on life narratives, Inter-American Studies, Indigenous literatures, and cultural heritage tourism. Notable projects include analyzing John S. McClintock’s memoir on Deadwood’s history and studying Scottish samplers as community archives. She co-edited The Divided States: Unraveling National Identities in the Twenty-First Century and authored Acts of Narrative Resistance: Women’s Writing in the Americas.
Key awards include two Fulbright Scholarships and teaching/research accolades. Her work explores intersections of memory, identity, and colonialism through literary and cultural analysis. Courses taught include MLCS 410 (Capstone) and MLCS 653 (Research Methods).
- SSHRC Insight Grant (2019-2022): “Wanted: A Life Narrative in Deadwood”
- Consulting editor for a/b Autobiography Studies
- Steering committee member, International Autobiography Association Chapter of the Americas
