معرفی
Laura Smithers is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Higher Education Leadership at the University of Nevada, Reno, College of Education and Human Development. Her work interrogates the intersections of assessment regimes, datafication, and affective dynamics in higher education, with theoretical foundations in poststructuralism, feminist new materialisms, and queer theory. She actively explores concepts like ontopower, precarity, and swarms in educational systems.
- Education: Ph.D. in Critical and Sociocultural Studies in Education (University of Oregon, 2018), M.S.Ed. in Educational Psychology (University of Florida, 2006), and dual B.A. degrees in Government and Politics & Economics (University of Maryland, College Park, 2004).
- Experience: A decade in student-athlete academic services as academic counselor and learning specialist.
Her research focuses on affective and material-discursive forces shaping educational environments, particularly through the lenses of the student success movement, predictive analytics, and the politics of belongingness. While her publications span 2017-2025, they collectively challenge neoliberal logics in educational policy and practice. Current projects examine the interdependence of systems and feelings of unbelonging, advocating for interventions at the collective affect level.
Notable article themes include:
- Critical analyses of datafication and predictive analytics in higher education
- Post-qualitative methodologies and speculative reforms
- Theoretical explorations of affect, precarity, and swarms
- Interrogations of measurement, optimization, and institutional power
