Laura Nelson

Laura Nelson

Laura Nelson

Laura seeks to celebrate and create sites of gathering and study. Her research in American Studies looks at experiments in education throughout the twentieth century, turning to the community-based artists and organizers—Augusta Savage, Noah Purifoy, Ericka Huggins, and others—who have imagined and worked to bring about other worlds through projects like the Harlem Community Arts Center, the Watts Towers Community Art Center, and the Black Panthers’ schools. She has taught courses on literature, social movement history, education, and film at Harvard University and Deep Springs College. Alongside research and teaching, she has collaborated with artists, activists, and organizers to run community-based educational projects, including the Oakland Summer School, Night Poems, and the Library of Study. 

Project: Library of Study