About
Laura joined the department of Germanic Languages and Literatures in 2021. Her dissertation examines German fan communities' interest in American culture, with a specific focus on issues of race, migration, and national identity in contemporary Germany. Her research interests include contemporary literature of migration, translation, and performance studies.
Laura is currently a Fulbright researcher with the Obama Institute for Transnational American Studies at the Johannes-Gutenberg-Universität Mainz. She also works as a research assistant for the Inclusive History Project and has taught many courses within the German department's language sequence. She has previously served as the department's graduate student mentor. Laura earned her B.A. at the University of Michigan in the spring of 2021, with majors in German, History, and International Studies. She graduated with high honors in the German department with a thesis entitled "Writing Identity: The Turkish German Female Protagonist from Özdamar to Aydemir." Outside of graduate study, Laura has interned with the US Embassy in the Hague researching Sino-European relations across various arenas, the German Foreign Press Office, and various human rights initaitives.
