She has also led seminars and presented papers on a variety of topics, including the multicultural history of the American Revolution, colonial urban life, community studies and material culture, and the politics of public entertainment in eighteenth-century Boston. Carr's research focuses on community, local economies and institutions, and women in early America. In particular, her studies deal with businesswomen in New England during the Revolutionary era and early American Republic. Carr's scholarship has earned her grants and fellowships from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Phi Beta Kappa Society.