dr. L.M. De Vos (Laura)

Dr Laura De Vos teaches courses and advises research projects in Indigenous Studies and American Studies in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures.

Their research, supported by RICH, focuses on North American Indigenous social movements and international solidarity with these movements.

Their forthcoming book titled "Voorbij Winnetou en Pocahontas” will be published by EPO in September 2025. It is a non-academic, Dutch-language book project on North American Indigenous social movements, their worldviews, and their relevance in today's world.

Laura's new research, in collaboration with Dr Reetta Humalajoki at the University of Turku, investigates the relationships between European and Native American social movements.

Laura obtained their PhD degree from the University of Washington English Department in Seattle, USA, during which time they also volunteered with the Quinault Indian Nation on different projects. They received their MA in English Literature and Linguistics and their ME in Cultural Management from the University of Antwerp, Belgium. They also did selected graduate course work in Gender Studies at the University of Utrecht. Laura initiated and helped create a Graduate Certificate in American Indian and Indigenous Studies at the University of Washington, which is now being offered (since January 2020).

Laura's work has been published in Transmotion and Settler Colonial Studies. Their article "Spiralic Time and Cultural Continuity for Indigenous Sovereignty: Idle No More and The Marrow Thieves" received the 2020 Association for the Study of American Indian Literatures Beatrice Medicine Award for Best Published Academic Essay. They are now a co-editor for "Transmotion: Journal of Postmodern Indigenous Studies." Laura is a fellow of the Salzburg Global Seminar.