Laura Robinson
Ph.D. 2006, Sociology, UCLA
Laura Robinson specializes in digital sociology, research methods, and global media in Brazil, France, and the U.S. Robinson’s work has appeared in journals including Information, Communication and Society; New Media & Society; Sociology, and Sociological Methodology. Robinson earned her Ph.D. from UCLA, where she held a Mellon Fellowship in Latin American Studies and received a Bourse d’Accueil at the École Normale Supérieure. She also earned degrees from Université Sorbonne Nouvelle - Paris 3 and USC. Leadership to the discipline has included serving as CITAMS Section Chair and as a member of the ASA Committee on the Status of Persons with Disabilities in Sociology.
At Santa Clara University, she enjoys teaching several courses, including Tech, Social Media, and Society; Globalization & Inequality; and Tech, Innovation, and Culture. One of the things Robinson enjoys most about teaching at SCU is using the sociological imagination to explore digital sociology, and comparative cultures (especially Brazil and France), and research methods that let us study the social world.
At Santa Clara University, Robinson enjoys teaching courses including Tech, Social Media, and Society; Globalization & Inequality; and Tech, Innovation, and Culture. Among her most satisfying accomplishments is working with Miller Center as the Lewis Family Fellowship Chair to train students to serve social entrepreneurs such as Solar Ear. A copy of the report “Tuning in to Solar Ear: Measuring the social benefit of applied social science for the public good” by Myles Sansone, Mary Catherine Duane, and Natalie Lays may be found on SCU’s Scholar Commons. Other projects with student-researchers include working with Oscar Quiroz-Medrano who explored Brazilian media thanks to the Witold Krassowski Student Research Assistant Endowed Award that also funded sociology majors Nicole Speciale and Jenna Harrison to serve as assistant editors on the volumes “Brazil: Media from the Country of the Future” and “Digital Empowerment: Opportunities and Challenges of Inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean.” In 2023, Robinson was recognized with a Career Achievement Award from the Communication, Information Technologies, and Media Sociology section of the American Sociological Association ASA.