Molly Morgan is an archaeologist investigating the lives of enslaved people who lived and worked at regional plantations including Levi Jordan and Varner-Hogg in order to examine the historical context and legacies of slavery and how it is presented in public history. This work involves public archaeology through engagement with communities and local groups in Texas. She also works toward public history interpretations along with colleagues at the Texas Historical Commission, which manages these historic sites. This work offers experiential learning opportunities for undergraduate students in all parts of the process of archaeological research.
Morgan also has experience in the archaeology of Mesoamerica. This work involves exploring sites on the Pacific Coast of Guatemala that date back some 3,000 years. Her research goals in Mesoamerica include building multidisciplinary datasets through which to better understand issues such as initial sedentism, emergent agriculture, ecological transition, early complex social organization, and processes of political regionalization. Her work falls into environmental archaeology and social archaeology. In her Mesoamerican archaeology research she has worked in such areas as the Formative Pacific Coast, as well as the Preclassic Maya Lowlands, Classic Maya sites in Guatemala and Belize, and an Early Postclassic site in northwestern Belize.