Laura L. Lovett

Laura L. Lovett was a Professor of History and Director of the Gender, Sexuality, & Women’s Studies Program at the University of Pittsburgh (2022–2025). She held previous roles as Associate Professor and later Professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and served as Director of the Five College Women’s Studies Research Center. Her academic career also included visiting appointments at Yale University, Dartmouth College, and the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga.

Education: PhD in U.S. History from the University of California, Berkeley (1998); MA in English and American Literature from UC San Diego (1990); BA in History and English from UCLA (1986).

Research Interests: Modern America, gender and sexuality studies, childhood history, public history, and the intersection of race, environment, and labor. Her work emphasizes global contexts and has addressed topics such as eugenics, pronatalism, and Black feminist activism. Notable publications include Conceiving the Future (2007), With Her Fist Raised (2021), and co-edited volumes on Dorothy Pitman Hughes and the 1977 National Women’s Conference.

Grants & Outreach: Secured funding for projects on eugenic geographies, transnational feminisms, and community archives. Collaborated with organizations like Breakthrough Pittsburgh and Jumpstart Pittsburgh to connect students with urban schools.

Awards: Distinguished Lecturer, Organization of American Historians; multiple teaching nominations; leadership roles in the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians and editorial positions for journals like Women’s History Review and Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth.

Lovett was also deeply engaged in civic initiatives, including community gardening projects and advocacy for voting rights and environmental justice.