Education

PhD English and American Literature, Stanford University
MSc (Oxon.) Comparative Education, University of Oxford || University of the Western Cape
BA Hons. (First Class) English Language and Literature, University of Oxford
BA English, College of Saint Benedict || Saint John's University

Biography

Laura McGrane is Associate Provost for Strategic Initiatives at Haverford College and a 2021-22 ACE (American Council on Education) Fellow.

Previously she served as founding Director of Visual Culture Arts and Media (VCAM) and Chair of English at Haverford College. Her work in liberal arts as interdisciplinary practice explores alliances between arts, technology, sciences and community engagement. She spearheaded the creation and design of VCAM and oversees its grant programming with the Mellon Foundation and other funders in arts, visual studies, technology and community practice. 

Recent grants of over $3M include the Mellon Philadelphia Area Creative Collaboratives program, the Mellon Visual Studies interdisciplinary minor project, the Creative Arts and Fabrication + Technology (CRAFT) initiative, the Summer Doculab program, HIP (Haverford Innovations Programming), and the Maker Arts Summer Design Collaborative.

She has also served as Director of the Hurford Center for the Arts and Humanities, overseeing the Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery and the Mellon Creative Residencies program. She is the District 4 Secretary for the American Rhodes Scholarship and is on advisory boards for the Swarthmore Aydelotte Foundation and the Educational Ecologies Collective. She leads workshops on issues of digital humanities and design in liberal arts education, and her teaching explores print culture and digital media, integrating theoretical work on interface, surveillance, and inclusivity into scholarship on the history of the book.