Elizabeth Larson

Elizabeth Larson is a senior lecturer in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at Arizona State University, where she teaches human, regional and environmental geography courses. She regularly teaches Society and Environment; Geography of Latin America; Geography of the Middle East; the Geography of World Crises; and Population Geography. Early in her career, Larson studied refugee populations within Central America. In the mid-1990s, her work focus turned from the refugee movement to community dialogue and civic engagement in the public arena. She coordinated a two-year program, "Voices from Communities in Transition" for the Arizona Humanities Council (AHC) (1995-1997), and then worked in municipal government as the director of "Scottsdale Voices," a citizen engagement program modeled after the Humanities Council's 'Voices' program. In 2002, Larson was awarded the Distinguished Public Scholar Award by the Arizona Humanities Council.