Jonathan Larson

Jonathan Larson, Assistant Professor of Education, is a linguistic and political anthropologist of education with teaching, scholarly, and administrative expertise in issues concerning secondary education and democracy; political discourse, language socialization and literacy; multilingualism; and international and comparative education. At Grinnell Dr. Larson has taught courses on comparative and international education, literacy, participant observation in schools, and education and the future of work in addition to the department's introductory course.

Dr. Larson is the author of Critical Thinking in Slovakia after Socialism (University of Rochester Press/Boydell and Brewer, 2013), which was published in Slovak translation in 2017. Since then he has written about a range of questions in international education as well as area and global studies, including censorship, the cultural politics of eavesdropping and decency, and concepts of intercultural competence and concepts of "the field" in education abroad. His current research interests include interculturalism, scale, and initiatives of inclusion across the educational systems of the European Union, as well as ambiguities of "the internship" in US higher education. Dr. Larson's work on inclusion across the education systems of EU member states has involved Grinnell students as research assistants and for concentration capstone work.  He likes to use his research and teaching to promote the study of other languages.

Dr. Larson serves as an off-campus study program advisor for CET Prague and IES Abroad European Union programs. He is a certified professional in the Forum on Education Abroad's Standards of Good Practice. His experience with international and area studies in Europe includes managing and successfully reapplying for multi-year grants from the U.S. Department of Education and European Commission that included national and international university partnerships as well as outreach and professional development with K-12, community college, and minority-serving institution educators. Reinforcing a commitment to exploring non-Western perspectives on the human experience, Dr. Larson has visited programs for students in places inside and outside of Europe, including Latin America, China, India, and southern Africa.

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