Laura Jennings-Tallant

Laura Jennings-Tallant is a Senior Research Associate at the University of East Anglia's School of Education & Lifelong Learning, specializing in early childhood studies with a focus on Bakhtinian literary theory. She holds a PhD from UEA and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Her current research explores young children's digital literacies through the Joyce Morris-funded TYKES project.

Education: BSc/MSc/PhD in Early Childhood Studies from UEA, Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (PGCHE). She has held roles at Roehampton University, UEA (including Senior Lecturer and Co-lead of REaCh centre), and Bath Spa University, where she coordinated Erasmus programs and public engagement.

Research focuses on carnivalesque humor in early childhood, informed by Mikhail Bakhtin's dialogism and anthropological perspectives. She emphasizes humor's role in child development and pedagogy, arguing for its under-researched significance in childhood studies.

Recent activities include presenting at the 2024 Child and Teen Consumption Conference and the International Conference on Social Media & Society. Her work has been featured in media, including a 2017 article on playful learning's educational benefits.