Lara Janson

Lara Janson (’05) is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology at Grinnell College. A sociologist specializing in gender, sexuality, law, and qualitative/mixed research methods, she is interested in researching and teaching about intersections of inequality. Dr. Janson enjoys implementing innovative, student-centered teaching methods in the classroom and is a former Chicago Center for Teaching Fellow and Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow at the University of Chicago. In addition to teaching introductory sociology, social movements, social media, and gender courses on the Grinnell campus, Lara is also currently teaching at Newton Correctional Facility as part of Grinnell’s Liberal Arts in Prison Program (LAPP).

Dr. Janson’s current book project, Missed Justice: How Title IX Fear Fails Women, Universities, and Society, examines how college campuses adjudicate sexual assault complaints, with particular emphasis on the competing legal jurisdictions at play. Related research interests include sexuality, social movements, indigenous and decolonial studies, feminist jurisprudence, critical race studies, and crime/incarceration.

Before pursuing her doctorate, Janson researched interculturalism and gender as a Fulbright Scholar in the Andes, where she also taught courses at a men’s prison and in rural indigenous/afro communities. After conducting street outreach and educational programs in juvenile detention centers for a non-profit in the U.S., she studied Peace and Conflict as a George J. Mitchell Scholar in Northern Ireland, where she helped develop curricula linking gender and peace/conflict.

For more information about Dr. Janson and their work, check out www.larajanson.com.