Serena Laws received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Minnesota in 2011. Her research is focused on the politics of debt and debt relief, social tax expenditures, and U.S. social policy more generally. Prior to coming to Trinity, she was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Dartmouth College, where she taught courses and supervised undergraduates conducting policy research for legislators in New Hampshire and Vermont. She received her Bachelor's Degree from Amherst College and is committed to liberal arts education. Her teaching emphasizes the connections between the political institutions of the United States and the everyday lives of its citizens, incorporating experiential learning and guest speakers to enhance students' exposure to real world examples. 

• “Blame, Policy Feedback, and the Politics of Student Debt Relief Policy.” 2024. The Forum. Ahead of Print, July 1. (With Mallory SoRelle).
• “Deservingness and the Politics of Student Debt Relief.” Perspectives on Politics 22(2): 372–90, June 2024.
• “Supreme Court Strikes Down Biden’s Plan to Cancel Student Debt,” Medium, June 30, 2023. (With Mallory SoRelle).
• “The Political Benefits of Student Loan Debt Relief,” Research & Politics 10(2): 1-8, May 2023. (With Mallory SoRelle).
• “Four things to know about Biden’s student-debt relief plan,” Monkey Cage blog, Washington Post. September 2, 2022. (With Mallory SoRelle) 
• “The Free-Market Family: How the Market Crushed the American Dream (and How It Can Be Restored). By Maxine Eichner.” Book Review for Perspectives on Politics 18(4), December 2020.
• “What Kind of Relief? Consumer Bankruptcy and the American Safety Net” New Political Science 42(3), September 2020.
• “Scraping for Assets: The Effects of Chapter 7 Trustee Discretion in an Era of Declining Bankruptcy Filings” (under review).
• “Catch-All and Last Resort: Consumer Bankruptcy’s Place in the American Welfare State” (working paper).
• “Policy Feedback and Tax Credits: Rethinking Invisibility in the Submerged State” (working paper).

• Community Engagement Faculty Excellence Award, Trinity College, Fall 2024 
• Summer Research Program Faculty Advisor, Trinity College, Summer 2024
• Community Engaged Research Faculty Fellowship, Center for Hartford Engagement and Research, Trinity College, 2024 
• Stephen Balcanoff Award, Southside Institutions Neighborhood Alliance (SINA), 2023 - in recognition of service as Director of the Trinity VITA tax site at Trinfo Cafe
• Trinity College Faculty Research Grant 2022-2023 
• Digital Scholarship Fellow, Trinity College, 2018-2019 
• Student Research Program Fellowship, Trinity College, Summer 2018 
• Center for Teaching and Learning Fellow, Trinity College, 2017-2018 
• Community Learning Initiative Course Development Grant, Trinity College Summer 2017
• Trinity College Faculty Research Grant, 2016-2017.
• Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, University of Minnesota, 2008-2009.
• Horowitz Foundation for Social Policy Grant, 2007.
• Graduate Research Partnership Program Grant, with Prof. Elizabeth Beaumont, 2007.
• Amherst College Graduate Fellowship, 2003-2006.