Rate My Professor Laura Mayer

Laura Mayer is a Lecturer in Archaeology in the School of Social Sciences at The University of Western Australia, where she has been appointed since 2024. She also contributes to the Centre for Rock Art Research and Management. Previously, she worked as a Research Officer at the Australian National University on the Australian Research Council Discovery Project “Heritage and Reconciliation” led by Associate Professor Cressida Fforde. Mayer completed her Doctor of Philosophy in Archaeology at The University of Western Australia in 2020, with the thesis “Authenticity in 3D: immersive rock art replicas as cultural tourism and heritage,” supervised by Benjamin Smith and Jo McDonald. Her academic background includes a Master of Art Curatorship with Minor Thesis (2013) and a Master of Arts Management (2011) from the University of Melbourne, as well as a Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) from RMIT University (2008).

Mayer’s research interests focus on replicas as a heritage management strategy, the authenticity of visitor experiences, and heritage as a performance. She provides research assistance on Associate Professor Martin Porr’s Australian Research Council Future Fellowship, “Deep Time Images in the Age of Globalisation: Contemporary Heritage, Future Opportunities.” Her expertise includes qualitative data on visitor experiences at heritage places and cultural tourism pilgrimages. Notable publications include the chapter “Replicated Temporality: Time, Originality, and Rock Art Replicas” with Martin Porr (2024) in Deep-Time Images in the Age of Globalization: Rock Art in the 21st Century; the article “‘I have visited the Chauvet Cave’: the heritage experience of a rock art replica” with Mélanie Duval, Benjamin Smith, Christophe Gauchon, and Charlotte Malgat (2020) in International Journal of Heritage Studies; and her 2020 doctoral thesis. Her research aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goals 8 and 11.