- Biography
- Research and Creative Activity
- Honors and Awards
Laura Kolb has taught at Baruch since 2014. A specialist in early modern literature, she offers courses including Shakespeare, Renaissance Drama, Survey of British Literature I, and Women in Literature. She also regularly teaches in Baruch's Great Works program. Her first book, Fictions of Credit in the Age of Shakespeare (2021), examines the social and rhetorical dimensions of early modern England’s credit-driven economy, as represented in stage plays and practical texts. Her current research focuses on trickery, gender, and social performance in comedy and conduct literature. Her have appeared in Renaissance Drama, Shakespeare Studies, SEL, The Sidney Journal, and Forum For Modern Language Studies.
Education
Ph.D., English, U. Chicago Chicago IL
Books
Kolb, L. (2021). Fictions of Credit in the Age of Shakespeare. Oxford University Press.
Kolb, L., & Oppitz-Trotman, G. (2020). Early Modern Debts, 1550-1700. Palgrave Macmillan.
Journal Articles
Kolb, L. E. (2025). "Becoming Tricky in Measure for Measure: Isabella's Silences Revisited". Shakespeare Studies,
Kolb, L. (2022). "Feminine Performance in The Taming of the Shrew: Final Speech and Missing Soliloquy". Renaissance Drama,
Kolb, L. (2018). "Debt's Poetry in Timon of Athens". SEL: Studies in English Literature 1500-1900,
Kolb, L. (2016). "Jewel, Purse, Trash: Reckoning and Reputation in Othello". Shakespeare Studies,
Kolb, L. (2012). "Stella’s Voice: Echo and Collaboration in Astrophil and Stella 57 and 58". The Sidney Journal,
Kolb, L. (2007). "Playing with Demons: Interrogating the Supernatural in Jacobean Drama". The Forum for Modern Language Studies,
Book Chapters
Kolb, L. (2023). "Wench, Witch, Wife, Widow: Classifying Characters in The Witch of Edmonton". In Arab, R., & Ellinghausen, L. (Eds.), Intersectionalities of Class in Early Modern English Drama
Kolb, L. (2020). "Debt Letters: Epistolary Economies in Early Modern England". In Kolb, L., & Oppitz-Trotman, G. (Eds.), Early Modern Debts, 1550-1700 New York. Palgrave Macmillan.
Kolb, L. (2016). "Jonson’s Old Age: The Force of Disgust". In Eschenbaum, N. K., & Correll, B. (Eds.), Disgust in Early Modern English Literature (pp. 164-182). New York. Routledge.
Presentations
Kolb, L. E. (2025, March 25). Crediting Deceptions in The Taming of the Shrew and The Tamer Tamed. . 71st Annual Meeting of the Renaissance Society of America (RSA). Boston, MA: RSA.
Kolb, L. E. (2025, March 25). "All the Crafty Deceits of Women": or, How to Find Real Women in Misogynist Texts. 53rd Annual Meeting of the Shakespeare Association of America (SAA). Boston, MA: SAA.
Kolb, L. E. (2025, January 25). Machiavels and Silent Women. 139th Annual MLA convention. Philadelphia: MLA.
Kolb, L. E. (2025, February 25). Cunning, Close, Silent: Women as Dissemblers on the Early Modern Stage. Columbia Shakespeare Seminar. New York: Columbia University.
Kolb, L. E. (2025, December 25). Machiavels and Silent Women: Figures of Vigilance on the Early Modern Stage. Conference on Vigilance and Uncertainty in Early Modern Drama. Munich, Germany: Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.
Kolb, L. E. (2025, April 25). Becoming Tricky in Shakespearean Comedu. 52nd Annual Meeting of the Shakespeare Association of America (SAA). Portland, OR
Kolb, L. E. (2025, January 25). "This Needs Must Be a Practice: Trickery and Truth in Measure for Measure". 138th Annual MLA meeting. San Francisco, CA: MLA.
Other Scholarly Works
Kolb, L. (2021). "'To you I owe the most': tales of debt from Shakespeare’s England to the present day." Blog post. OUPblog.
Kolb, L. (2019). "The Very Modern Anger of Shakespeare's Women." Essay. Electric Literature.
Kolb, L. (2018). "The itemized life: John Kay’s notebook." Blog post. The Collation.
Reviews
Kolb, L. E. (2025,April 25). "The Drop Sinister." Review of the Morgan Library's exhibit, Belle da Costa Greene: A Librarian's Legacy.. The Times Literary Supplement. TLS.
Kolb, L. E. (2025,February 25). "Defamatory Petitions." Review of Joseph Mansky, Libels and Theater in Shakespeare's England.. The Times Literary Supplement.
Kolb, L. E. (1970,January 1). Review of Pamela Allen Brown, The Diva's Gift to the Shakespearean Stage: Agency, Theatricality, and the Innamorata.. MLQ.
Kolb, L. E. (1970,January 1). Review of Writing at the Origin of Capitalism: Literary Circulation and Social Change in Early Modern England by Julianne Werlin.. Genre.
Kolb, L. (1970,January 1). "The Makers of Manners: 150 Years of Henry V Criticism." Review of Shakespeare: The Critical Tradition: King Henry V, ed. Joseph Candido. The Times Literary Supplement.
Kolb, L. (1970,January 1). Review of The Matter of Virtue: Women's Ethical Action from Chaucer to Shakespeare by Holly Crocker. The Shakespeare Newsletter.
Kolb, L. (1970,January 1). Review of Love's Quarrels: Reading Charity in Early Modern England by Evan Gurney. Renaissance Quarterly.
Kolb, L. (1970,January 1). "Shame." Review of Shakespeare's Body Language: Shaming Gestures and Gender Politics on the Renaissance Stage by Miranda Fay Thomas. The Times Literary Supplement.
Kolb, L. (1970,January 1). "So Wise So Young: Reading Family Drama in Shakespeare." Review of Shakespeare's Domestic Tragedies by Emma Whipday and The Child in Shakespeare by Charlotte Scott. The Times Literary Supplement.
Kolb, L. (1970,January 1). "Pretty sprinkled judgement: The textual chemistry of Shakespeare’s sources." Review of A Brief Discourse of Rebellion and Rebels by George North: A Newly Uncovered Manuscript Source for Shakespeare's Plays by Dennis McCarthy and June Schlueter and Shakespeare's Originality by John Kerrigan. The Times Literary Supplement.
Kolb, L. E. (1970,January 1). Review of The Diva's Gift to the Shakespearean Stage: Agency, Theatricality and the Innamorata by Pamela Allen Brown. Modern Language Quarterly (MLQ).
| Honor / Award | Organization Sponsor | Date Received | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shakespeare Association of America Innovative Article Award | SAA | 2025-03-29 | Awarded for "Feminine Performance in The Taming of the Shrew: Final Speech and Missing Soliloquy," published in Renaissance Drama. |
| Barbara Reich Gluck Teaching Excellence Award | Baruch English department | 2020 | |
| Rare Book School Directors' Scholarship | Rare Book School | 2019 | |
| Folger Short-Term Fellowship | The Folger Shakespeare Library | 2018 |