Laura Bier

Laura Bier is an Associate Professor of History in the School of History and Sociology at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She holds a PhD in History and Middle East Studies from New York University (2006), an MA in Middle East Studies from the University of Chicago (1995), and a BA in English and Political Science from Tufts University (1992). Bier began her career at Georgia Tech as an Instructor in 2005, was promoted to Assistant Professor in 2006, serving until 2013, and has held the position of Associate Professor since 2014. Her teaching portfolio includes courses on the History of Islamic Societies, History of the Modern Middle East, Women and Gender in the Middle East, and Global Food History.

Bier's research centers on the social and cultural history of Egypt in the latter half of the 20th century, with a focus on gender history, domestic technology, and food politics. She authored the book Revolutionary Womanhood: Feminisms, Modernity and the State in Nasser’s Egypt (Stanford University Press, 2011), republished by the American University in Cairo Press (2012). Her peer-reviewed articles include “Making Arab Socialism Palatable: Gender and the Politics of Food in Nasser’s Egypt” (Journal of North African Studies, 2025), “The Pleasures of Domesticity: Household Appliances, Gender and the Democratization of Well Being in Nasser’s Egypt” (Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies, 2023), “The Family is a Factory: Gender, Citizenship and the Regulation of Reproduction in Post-War Egypt” (Feminist Studies, 2010), and “Modernity and the Other Woman: Depictions of Foreign Women in the Egyptian Women’s Press, 1952-1967” (Gender & History, 2004). She has contributed book chapters to volumes on Middle East studies and the Bandung Conference. Bier has received numerous awards, including a Fulbright Scholar Grant to Egypt (2012), Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant (2000), USIA Fulbright Grant (1999), and Georgia Tech’s Provost Teaching and Learning Fellowship (2020-2022). She has delivered invited lectures at institutions such as Emory University and the American University in Cairo, and served as Program Committee Chair for the Middle East Studies Association (2023-24), Director of Undergraduate Studies (2020-2022), and faculty advisor for student organizations. Her current projects examine women in the Arab Spring and the history of domestic technology and food in Egypt.

Professional Email: laura.bier@hsoc.gatech.edu