Meet Laura:
Laura Martin is an instructor of French, Latin, and Art History through her small business Learn with Laura, LLC. She also currently serves as Adjunct Instructor of Latin at Centre College (Danville, KY). Laura has an M.A. in French & Francophone Studies (University of Notre Dame), with Concentrations in Art History and in Classics (Latin). She has studied abroad twice at the Université Aix-Marseille in the beautiful city of Aix-en-Provence, France – the first time for an intensive language program (Summer 2012), then returning for a full academic year (2016-17). Laura has also completed post-bac coursework in French at Centre College in Danville, KY. She earned Kentucky Teacher Certification in 2009.
In addition to her current teaching at Centre College (Latin), Laura has taught Linguistics as full-time Instructor at the University of Kentucky, and has served as a TA of French at the University of Notre Dame. At Notre Dame, she also led workshops in 19th century French art movements for undergraduate students, both in person at Notre Dame’s Snite Art Museum (now the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art), and online via Zoom. Prior to that, she served as a docent at the University of Kentucky’s art museum.
Laura has taught French to all ages through her small business, Learn with Laura, LLC, started in 2014. Laura added online teaching to her offerings in 2019, when she taught her first French for Travelers course on Zoom (a year before there was ever a pandemic!). She has found that many people love learning from the comfort of their home, and students have expressed how this offers great convenience with today’s busy lifestyle. She transitioned to 100% online French teaching in 2023, and is excited to offer online art history courses beginning in Winter 2025.
English: Laura’s first B.A. was in Linguistics & English (University of Kentucky) during which time she also spent a semester abroad studying literature at the University of Central Lancashire, England. Following that, she earned an M.A.in Speech-Language Pathology (University of Cincinnati) and served in that capacity for a number of years, but her love of languages soon brought her back to French, Latin, and English. She taught English as a Second Language from 2008-2019, primarily through the Lexington Center for Language Immersion and Cultural Studies. She taught Linguistics as a full-time Instructor in the University of Kentucky’s Department of English, and co-taught their first online Introduction to Linguistics course in 2011.
Latin: Laura has a B.A. in Classical Languages & Literature (also from the University of Kentucky), and has served as a Professional Tutor of Latin at Syracuse University and as a tutor and small-group instructor of Latin since 2014 through her LLC. Laura was the recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Scholar award (2016), which for three weeks allowed her to study Pompeii (one of her favorite places in the world!) and Petronius’s Satyricon, along with a cohort of other scholars and professors. As mentioned above, she also earned a Concentration (her program’s equivalent of a minor) in Classics (Latin) during her M.A. studies in French at Notre Dame, and currently serves as an Adjunct Instructor of Latin at Centre College (Danville, KY).
Awards, Honors, & Service:
Laura was the recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Scholar award (2016), which for three weeks allowed her to study Pompeii (one of her favorite places in the world!) and Petronius’s Satyricon, along with a cohort of other scholars and professors.
While a student at the University of Kentucky, she twice was awarded the Maloney Merit Scholarship for Literature, and was a three-time recipient of the Arts and Sciences Merit Scholarship.
For two years Laura served as a volunteer docent at the University of Kentucky Art Museum, during which time she received further training in art and art education, in addition to prior undergraduate coursework in these areas.
Teaching philosophy: Laura is energetic, open-minded, and patient, and has first-hand experience with the challenges and rewards of learning another language. She believes that learning about other languages and cultures, including ancient ones, is not only great fun but also helps us better understand our basic humanity, feel more interconnected, and become better citizens. Laura has spent about 16 months of her life in Europe across multiple trips and stays, including three separate study abroad experiences, all of which has greatly expanded her world view. She also loves to travel in general, and at last count has visited 17 countries (some of them multiple times!) on three continents, and is eager to experience more. She believes that spending time in another country and learning about culture, if it is possible, is an essential part of learning a language.
Her founding of Learn with Laura, LLC is the result of her long-standing love of languages, teaching, and Art History and her wish to have a creative outlet for sharing these with others. Remote instructional delivery (currently via Zoom), which Laura transitioned to entirely in 2023, has allowed her to meet demand for this modality and flexibility in learning. You can now learn from anywhere!