Dr. Laura Nelson

Biography

Laura Nelson writes and teaches courses on media studies, radical experimental pedagogies, critical theory, and contemporary film literature. Her current book project, titled 'School', explores social aesthetic experiments in education from the 1920s to the present, focusing on alternative educational spaces like living room salons, labor schools, and liberation schools. This book aims to highlight collective practices of reading and learning. In addition, she is compiling a digital archive project called 'Scores Study' to serve as a resource for students and educators looking to create their own learning spaces in communities. She has taught in both traditional and non-traditional settings, including Harvard University and Bard College. Nelson co-organizes experimental learning sites, including study groups and gatherings outside of the university context. Her recent projects include Place Settings in Los Angeles and Oakland Summer School in the Bay Area. Nelson's essays on film, art, and contemporary literature have been published in various outlets, including the Los Angeles Review of Books. She studied Literature Education as a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford and earned a Ph.D. in American Studies at Harvard University.

Research Interests

Experience