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Laura’s research concerns how we come to see the EU as a ‘four-letter word’, which encompasses studies into populism, Euroscepticism, emotion, and identity politics. She is investigating the key role of ‘blame’ in the Brexit campaign, and has also conducted research into the role of blame and self-victimisation in Trump’s presidential campaign.
Laura started her PhD in International Relations at the Brussels School of International Studies in September 2017. Prior to that, she worked as a consultant, policy writer, and marketing/PR professional in Australia; as a consultant to the diamond industry in Antwerp; as a teacher in Russia; and as a sailor in the United Kingdom.
She obtained her MA in EU External Relations at BSIS in 2016, after writing her dissertation on ‘Gayropa’ in the discourse of Russian political elite, and whether that was in aid of countering EU hegemony or due to local understandings of homosexuality. She was awarded the John Groom Prize for the Best Taught Performance on a Politics Program, and later completed a Diploma in Federalism, Decentralisation, and Conflict Management at the Institut fur Federalism in Switzerland, summa cum laude. Prior to that, she gained First Class Honours for her BSc in Politics and International Relations via the University of London’s international programmes (London School of Economics) in 2010, and has further qualifications in management, project management, and teaching.
She is originally from Tasmania, Australia, and needs people to know that both Tasmanian Devils and drop-bears are real.
Laura is graduate teaching assistant for the courses International Relations Theory, Foreign Policy Analysis, Negotiation and Mediation, and Fundamentals of Dissertation and Research (FDR).