Laura Katzman

Dr. Laura Katzman is a Professor of Art History at James Madison University (JMU) and previously held the Terra Foundation for American Art Visiting Professorship at the John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies at Freie Universität Berlin during the 2018-2019 academic year. Her email is katzmalr@jmu.edu.

• B.A. in Fine Arts, New York University
• M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. in Art History, Yale University

Her research focuses on the art of the United States, with an emphasis on the history of photography, documentary photography, public art, and museum studies. She explores how photography shapes social justice narratives, cultural identities, and political histories, particularly in Puerto Rico. Her work intersects modernity, archives, and the role of government in cultural production.

In her publications and exhibitions, she has examined figures like Ben Shahn and Louise Rosskam, analyzing their contributions to documentary practices and public art. Her current book project, Mining the Archive: Photography, Modernity, and the Office of Information for Puerto Rico, investigates 1940s documentary photography’s impact on Puerto Rico’s modernization and postwar identities.

• Edna Schaeffer Humanist Award (2013-2014)
• Madison Scholar Award for outstanding faculty scholarship

Katzman has secured grants from prestigious institutions including the Smithsonian, Fulbright Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, and Andrew Mellon Foundation. She has curated major exhibitions at Harvard, the Phillips Collection, New York University’s Grey Art Gallery, and others. Her research often involves collaborative projects with archives and cultural institutions in Puerto Rico, such as the Archivo General de Puerto Rico and Fundación Luis Muñoz Marín.

She leads initiatives at JMU’s Duke Hall Gallery of Fine Art and has contributed to spaces like the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University and the Asheville Museum of Art.