Laura Robinson completed her Ph.D. in Duke University’s Graduate Program in Religion in Spring 2023. She began crocheting dolls of religious and historical figures in 2020 as a way to practice personal wellness and also to bring greater attention and honor to women in Christianity and Judaism.
“As someone who works on religious history and who is really passionate about reclaiming the role of women in the church, I started to think…I wonder if dolls are actually kind of a way into this? If people would be inspired to think more about the role of women in the church if they had something they could touch, and they had something they could interact with," Robinson said.
Robinson successfully defended her dissertation “Mission, Jews, and Gentiles in the Gospel of Matthew” in April 2023, co-advised by Frances Hill Fox Professor of Religious Studies Mark Goodacre and Joel Marcus, professor emeritus of New Testament at Duke Divinity School. During her time at Duke, her publications included three articles and two book reviews, and about a dozen lectures and conferences.
