Elisha Charley

Elisha Charley

Clinical Assistant Professor,
The Design School
Other ASU affiliations
ESSA Scholar, Earth Systems Science for the Anthropocene
  • [email protected]
  • Mail code: 5302
    Campus: Tempe
  • ‌
Biography Research Teaching Public Work
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Student Information
Graduate Student
Urban Planning
The College of Lib Arts & Sci

Long Bio

Elisha V. Charley, a Nihok'aa Diyin Dine'e Holy Surface People, grew up in Dennehotso, AZ, and White Mesa, AZ (in the northern region of the Navajo Nation). She is a Bit’ahnii Diyin Dine’e folded arms people-mother clan, Deeshchii’nii yá’chíín start of the red streak people-father’s clan, Tabaaha dabí’cheii water edge people clan-maternal grandfather, Táchii’nii dabí’nálí red running into the water people -paternal grandfather’s clan. Charley is a Clinical Assistant Professor in a joint appointment with the Landscape Architecture, Urban Design & Environmental Design program and the Indigenous Placekeeping and Design program in the Design School at Arizona State University (ASU) in Tempe, Arizona. She is also pursuing a doctoral program in Urban Planning at the School of Geographic Science and Urban Planning at ASU. 

Her research examines Native Nations’ housing marginality and spatial mapping within Indigenous planning frameworks. Charley’s interest in cooperative design, community-building practices, and housing data justice emerged through her work with an Indigenous-led nonprofit focused on housing and capacity-building in tribal college pedagogy, as well as through her lived experience. Her scholarship aims to reimagine tribal land use to support both housing development and the housing construction economy. Grounded in Indigenous epistemologies, her work emphasizes place-based knowledge systems and community agency, ensuring that local context and lived conditions are meaningfully integrated into housing solutions and policy development.

Education
  • PhD candidate, Urban Planning, Arizona State University 08/2019 - Present
  • M.A. Community, Regional, and Planning (MCRP), University of New Mexico 2017 
  • B.S. Interior Design, Northern Arizona University 2012
CV
Curriculum Vitae
Google Scholar URL
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=CUWwds4AAAAJ&hl=en
ORCID Profile ID
https://orcid.org/0009-0005-4761-9710
Research Interests

Grant interests center on advancing the M.S. Indigenous Placekeeping and Design (IPD) curricula that deepen partnerships with Indigenous communities, particularly around tribal housing and community development. I am also interested in exploring research funding for co‑mapping initiatives that allow Native communities and IPD to collaboratively build data and tools to guide Indigenous planning and governance.

Publications

Peer-Reviewed Journal Publications

  • Nihok’aa Diyin Dine’é Bikéyah, Charley (Navajo Nation), E. V., Lopez-Huertas (Maya K’iche’), M.J., & Shirley (Navajo Nation), M. P. (2025). Restoring our tomorrow: planning for who we are. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/11771801251363133. 
  • Charley, E., Sing Chi T., & Yusaf, S. (2025). Classroom in the “Working Landscapes” of Contaminated Soil. Journal of Architectural Education, 79:1, 57-69, DOI: 10.1080/104648883.2025.2463302  
  • Charley, E., Varfalameyeva, K., Alsanad, A., & Solis, P. (2022). Mapping for Resilience: Extreme Heat Deaths and Mobile Homes in Arizona. In Youth Mappers - Undecided (p. Chapter 12). Springer Nature.

Public-Facing Publications

  • Varfalameyeva, K., Solis, P., Phillips, L., Charley, E., Hondula, D., & Kear, M. (2021). Heat Mitigation Solutions Guide for Mobile Homes (Knowledge Exchange for Resilience Briefings Series, p. 44). Arizona State University. https://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.2.N.162992

Working Papers

  • Charley, E. (2026). Navajo Nation Land Use and Housing Conditions: Towards an Indigenous Planning Framework
  • Charley, E. (2026). Navajo Nation Housing Studies: Towards a Diné Architecture Housing Typology 
Courses
2026 Spring
Course Number Course Title
EDS 402 Environmntl Design Synthsis II
LDE 502 Foundation Landscape Studio II
DSC 523 Resource Driven Const & Design
DSC 494 Special Topics
2025 Fall
Course Number Course Title
LAP 311 History Landscape Architecture
DSC 519 Indigenous Design Data Collect
2025 Spring
Course Number Course Title
LDE 362 Landscape Architecture II
LAP 494 Special Topics
2024 Fall
Course Number Course Title
LAP 311 History Landscape Architecture
Presentations

2026

  • Charley, E., and other panelists (02/05/26) Session 1: Indigenous Planning + Design is Actualizing the Community-Building Work in AIS. [American Indian Studies Association 2026 Conference, 3:30 pm – 5 pm, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM]
  • Charley, E. (01/16/26) Sense of Place and Mental Atlas activity [Native Narratives Center for Imagination in the Borderlands, 1 pm – 4 pm, Arizona State University, Durham Hall 607, Tempe, AZ]

2025  

  • Charley, E., (10/24/2025) Place Knowing, Everyday Acts of Community-Making & Place-Keeping. 
    [A Place to Call Home: Indigenous Public Interest Design Institute Online Discussion, 9:00 am – 9:30 am, Zoom] 
  • Charley, E., (09/24/2025) Working the Landscape in Navajo Nation [Housing Process course, 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm, Zoom with the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM.]
  • Charley, E. (08/14/2025) Sense of Place [The American Indian Student Support Services Spirit Week, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ]
  • Charley, E. (05/27/25) Cultivating the Future Filmed Interview [High School online courses - Herberger Online Learning 11 am – 3 pm, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ] 
  • Charley, E., and other panelists (02/07/2025) Restoring Our Tomorrow: Planning For Who We Are. [American Indian Studies Association 2025 Conference, 11 am – 1 pm, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ]

2024

  • Charley, E., and other panelists (11/07/2024) Honoring Ted Jojola: Holding Space for the Future of Indigenous Planning. [Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning 2024 Conference, 6:30 pm – 8 pm Seattle, WA.]
  • Charley, E., (11/06/2024) Working the Landscape in Rural American Indian Reservation. [2024 Planners Network Bi-Annual Gathering, 1 pm – 1:30 pm Seattle Public Library, Seattle, WA]
  • Charley, E., and other panelists (04/06/2024) 2024 Indigenous Scholar Symposium. [The Women’s Council of Indigenous Doctoral Scholars 12 pm – 1 pm Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ]
  • Charley, E. (02/21/2024) Housing in Rural American Indian Reservations and Co-development Approaches to Housing Production in the Navajo Nation through Sweat Equity. [The Housing Process class at the University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Community, Regional, and Planning] 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm. UNM Albuquerque, NM (virtual lecture)
  • Shirley, Michaela., Charley, E., Low, Maggie., Lopez-Huertas, Joaquin. (02/02/2024) Indigenous Planning and Well-being. 3:45 pm – 5:15 pm. 2024 25th Annual American Indian Studies Association Conference Indigenous Wellbeing, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM.

2023

  • Holguin, Carmi., Charley, E., Dukepoo, Cara. (9/21/2023) Co-development Approaches to Sweat Equity Home Projects in the Navajo Nation. 10 am – 11 am. 2023 Western Planners Conference, Anchorage, Alaska.
  • Tewa, Rae L., Charley, E., De Mesa, Alycia., Brown, Kevin. (04/21/2023) PhD Student Panel at the Indigenous Scholar Symposium. Arizona State University Women Indigenous Council Doctoral Scholars. 3:00 pm – 7:00 pm. ASU Tempe, AZ.
  • Charley, E. (01/19/2023) Qualitative Research Methods in Indigenous Planning Theorical Framework. [Engineering for Humanity course at Arizona State University School of Human Evolution and Social Change].10:30 am – 11:30 am. ASU Tempe AZ.

2022

  • Hale, M., Chavez, J.-B., & Charley, E. (03/02/2022). Food Stands & Navajo Flea Markets: Using Planning Tools to Tell the Story [American Indian Studies Association]. 3:00pm-4:00pm, Arizona State University, Tempe AZ.

2018

  • Charley, E. (07/2018) Dine (Navajo) Architecture and Planning Research [5th Annual TCU Faculty Research Convening hosted by American Indian College Fund (AICF)]

2017

  • Halliday, Scott., Charley, E. (10/2017) LIDAR Technology and Preservation [Technology Preservation and Tradition in New Mexico Workshop]. Santa Fe New Mexico
  • Charley, E., Shirley, M. (07/2017). Tribal College and University (TCU) Articulation Agreement with Traditional University [4th Annual TCU Faculty Research Convening hosted by AICF]
Professional Associations
  • The American Indian Council of Architects and Engineers, board member 2023-Present
  • American Planning Association, student member, Arizona Chapter, 2019-Present
    • Western Planner - Tribal and Indigenous Planning Interest Group 
  • ASU Women’s Council of Indigenous Doctoral Scholars, student member 2021-Present
  • ASU American Indian Graduate Student Association, student member 2019-Present
  • The American Indian Council of Architects and Engineers, board member 2023-Present
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