Laura Newman Eckstein

Laura Newman Eckstein is Ph.D. student in history at the University of Pennsylvania. Her studies focus on Jews in the early Atlantic world (17th-19th centuries) with specific interests in trade networks, material culture, and digital humanities methodologies. Prior to her doctoral studies, Laura worked as the Judaica Digital Humanities Coordinator at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries. Laura holds a bachelor's degree with the highest honors in religion from Haverford College. Laura's senior thesis at Haverford focused on Jewish peddlers, their business networks, and their religious practices along the Lower Mississippi River between 1820-1865. Laura is the recipient of a 2014 Tri-College, Mellon Foundation Digital Humanities Fellowship where she where she worked with Professor Ryan Cordell in his lab for Viral Maps, Texts and Networks at Northeastern University, mapping the spread and reprinting of 19th-century newspapers and magazines. Laura is also the recipient of a John B. Hurford Arts and Humanities Center Summer Research Fellowship.