About Me
Laura-Ann is a postdoctoral research fellow with the National Center for Institutional Diversity Stepping uP Against Racism and Xenophobia (SPARX) Project. Laura-Ann is a Korean American adoptee. She grounds her work in the qualities of creativity, compassion, and connectedness, and her research pursues questions about how people learn about their identities, how they choose to share their stories, and how they make their mark on the world. Laura-Ann graduated in 2021 from the University of Michigan with a doctorate in Educational Studies with a specialization in Literacy, Language, and Culture. Prior to her doctoral program, Laura-Ann taught public high school English in South Carolina for six years. Her dissertation focused on preparing secondary English Language Arts teachers for antiracist pedagogical change for the purposes of disrupting educational inequity and creating spaces for students to explore and express themselves. Her current work centers around how people individually and collectively translate our stated commitments of justice into action for the purpose of social change.
Click here to learn about my dissertation: “Telling Another Kind of Story”: Enduring Tensions in Preparing Secondary English Language Arts Teachers for Antiracist Pedagogical Change at the Curricular, Instructional, and Personal Levels
I asked my three best friends to write a bio for me:
Laura Ann Jacobs grew up in Lawrenceville, GA in the same neighborhood as long time friend, Stephanie Corkery's, kindergarten boyfriend. She attended undergrad at Furman University, where she met Stephanie Corkery, and continued on there to get her Masters in Education. She was on the improv team, Improv!able Cause, along with others such as Stephanie Corkery. She taught high school English in Spartanburg, SC for several years. She later received a scholarship to study at University of Michigan, only a hop skip and a jump from Stephanie Corkery, who was living in Chicago at the time. In her free time (good luck!), Laura Ann enjoys all you can eat buffets, murder mystery parties, video games, and spending time with her good friend, Stephanie Corkery.
--Stephanie Corkery--
LA Jacobs is an educator, researcher, performer, and writer. After teaching highschool for six years, she is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Michigan. Her work focuses on youth empowerment, self-realization, and broadening the scope of literary canon in the classroom.
--Tyler Nichols--
Laura-Ann Jacobs hails from Lawrenceville, GA, where she fell in love with theatre and Tyler Nichols. While diligently earning her BA in English and Masters of Education at Furman University, she filled her nights and weekends with improv comedy performances and dedication to the sisters of Chi Omega. After spending many years tirelessly teaching high school English in South Carolina, she decided it was time to make a move to the Midwest to study how education can be improved for students and teachers via a doctoral program at the University of Michigan. She can quote every line of Mean Girls and the Lord of the Rings trilogy and loves to have fun with friends at all-you-can-eat buffets, football games, Chuck E. Cheese’s, and murder mystery parties.
--Mary Beth Smith--
Research Interests
Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice -- and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding. http://www.ted.com
Broadly: Youth Identity and Youth Literacies
More Specifically: Performance as space for youth empowerment
In Particular: Counterstories (and counterstorytelling) as an empowering and transformative space for youth