Dr. Elizabeth Larsen is Director of Sociology and Social Science at California University of Pennsylvania. Using her expertise in Sociology, Dr. Larsen has worked with Carnegie Mellon University, Magee Women’s Hospital, and various social service and mental health services agencies in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, delivering research products that have brought about positive social change for these organizations and for those they serve. She has published in professional peer-reviewed sociology journals, such as Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, Gender, Work and Organization, and Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering. Dr. Larsen has served as President for the Pennsylvania Sociological Society, and for the national Association for Applied and Clinical Sociology (AACS).
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She teaches a range of courses in Sociology, from the fundamental building blocks of introduction, theory, and research methods, to more specialized learning experiences in urban sociology, inequality, and social minorities. She also teaches in the new Deviance concentration in Sociology, with Resocializing the Deviant and Marginalized, in which she explores and evaluates the return to conventional society of individuals such as former inmates of prison and mental hospitals, veterans of the armed forces, youths aging out of the foster care system, and individuals released from long-term medical care. Her mission is to promote and facilitate active learning in undergraduate sociology curricula, through field study, service learning, sociological practice, and quality internship experiences.