Laura Beard, PhD, MA, BA

Area of Study / Keywords

life narrative Literature of the Americas Wild West Tourism access community and belonging

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About

I am a professor of literature in the Department of Modern Languages & Cultural Studies as well as Associate Dean (Access, Community and Belonging) in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities. I previously served as Associate Vice President (Research) in the Office of Vice President Research and Innovation and as Chair of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies in the Faculty of Arts. My research is in the fields of life narrative, Inter-American Studies, and Indigenous Studies. 

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Research

My research interests include life narratives, Inter-American literature, Indigenous literatures and cultures and related topics. I serve on the steering committee for the International Autobiography Association Chapter of the Americas and am a consulting editor for the journal a/b Autobiography Studies. 

My latest book. John S. McClintock and Deadwood: The Making and Myths of a Wild West Town, is forthcoming with the University of Nebraska Press in 2026. Read more about the book here. 

A new research project explores stitched samplers in the Highlands of Scotland as examples of life narratives, telling family and community stories.

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Teaching

In Fall 2026, I am teaching MLCS 653, Research Methods and Design -- a graduate course on research methods and designs for projects in literary, cultural and media studies fields.

In Winter 2027, I am teaching MLCS 410, the capstone course in Modern Languages and Cultural Studies.

Check out my latest book here!

John S. McClintock and Deadwood: The Making and the Myths of a Wild West Town (University of Nebraska Press, 2026). 

MLCS 410 - Capstone Course

In this practice-based course that addresses an urgent concern facing the world today students will synthesize and apply the knowledge and skills obtained in the Modern Languages and Cultural Studies Major.

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MLCS 653 - Research Methods and Design

Survey of research methodologies and designs for projects in literary, cultural, and media studies fields. Topics may include quantitative and qualitative methods; archival and other primary source research approaches; semiotics, close reading, and other methodologies. Designed to complement theory courses with practical approaches to research designs. Prerequisite: consent of Department. Not open to students with credit in MLCS 630 or MLCS 640.

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MST 400 - Media Portfolio

In this capstone course, students will produce individually or collaboratively designed and executed analytic or creative projects. Prerequisites: MST 100, 200, 210, 300 and 310 or consent of the Program Administrator.

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Browse more courses taught by Laura Beard

20190601 to 20220531

"Wanted: A Life Narrative in Deadwood (SSHRC Insight Grant 2019-2022) examines the “persistent power of nostalgia” (Hirsch and Miller 5) and the affective will to know that drives so much genealogy research, life narrative, and cultural heritage tourism through the specific example of a life narrative from my own family tree, John S. McClintock’s Pioneer Days in the Black Hills: Accurate History and Facts Related by One of the Early Day Pioneers (1939; University of Oklahoma Press, 2000). Research into McClintock’s memoir, its influence on the written and popular history of Deadwood and the Black Hills, and the traces of that history in present day cultural heritage tourism in Deadwood (specifically the Days of 76 events) allow me to explore how both individual acts of memory and collective acts of memory participate in the construction of national narratives on contested lands.

Laura J. Beard and Ricia Anne Chansky, co-editors

2023 January;

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Beard, Laura J.

Life Writing. 2021 October; 18 (4):485-496

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Beard, Laura J.

Life Writing. 2019 January; 16 (4):539-551

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Beard, Laura J.

Studies in American Indian Literature. 2018 September; 30 (3-4):151-178

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Laura J. Beard

Pedagogy. 2011 January; 11 (1):109-134

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Laura J. Beard

2009 January;

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Laura J. Beard

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