Dr. Laura Morlock is a speaker, scholar, author, and advocate for diversity, inclusion, and inter-faith community, using the clothes we wear as the lens that brings it all together.
All parts of North American society — from school boards to faith communities to businesses — live within the realities of a diverse nation. Part of this includes recognizing gaps in our own ability to understand and embrace the changes and benefits that come with diversity. Laura bridges the various elements of our communities with historical perspective, contemporary understanding, and future vision for inclusive, compassionate, and dynamic social diversity.
What objects could be more directly tied to beliefs, social behaviours, and cultural values than the clothes and accessories we wear? How we dress speaks volumes, conveying meanings both subtle and overt. Our clothes are layered with power dynamics and social norms, acting as a two-way conversation between what we intend to communicate and how others understand us, and nowhere is this more true than with religious dress.
Laura combines her academic training and public speaking to promote and facilitate religious understanding and cultural inclusion, using the many different ways cultures and religions dress to appreciate and connect with each other.
She completed her PhD in Religious Diversity in North America at the University of Waterloo. Her dissertation considers questions of Canadian identity and religious dress, using Mennonite bonnets during World War I, Insp. Baltej Singh Dhillon’s experiences as the first Mountie to wear a Sikh turban, and Zunera Ishaq’s Supreme Court Case to wear her niqab during her citizenship ceremony as case studies. She also holds a Master’s in Theological Studies with a specialization in Interfaith Dialogue, and a Bachelor’s in History (focusing on human rights, and colonial dress).
Based in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada, you can find her there writing about fabrics and Supreme Court decisions, urging her plants to stay alive just a little longer, and consuming unnatural amounts of tea.