Erica M Larson

Erica M Larson

  • 11 February 2026
  • 3 min read
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Dr. Erica Larson

ARI, NUS, Singapore
Profile

Erica M. Larson is a cultural anthropologist and Senior Research Fellow at the Asia Research Institute (ARI), National University of Singapore (NUS). Her research in Indonesia focuses on religious coexistence and the role of schools as key sites for negotiating belonging within the nation, as examined in her recent book, Ethics of Belonging: Education, Religion, and Politics in Manado (2024, University of Hawai‘i Press).

Dr. Larson’s current research examines the Indonesian diaspora in Singapore, with particular attention to mobility and the construction of belonging across diverse groups, including students and religious networks. In addition, she is engaged in long-term ethnographic research on Indonesian university students active in religious organizations, exploring their attitudes and beliefs about corruption as a lens for understanding normative relationships between the state and society, as well as broader concepts of ethics, piety, and responsibility.

In 2025, Dr. Larson serves as a Visiting Fellow at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP), UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta. In this role, she collaborates academically and in research with Dr. Iding Rosyidin, S.Ag., M.Si., a faculty member of FISIP UIN Jakarta. This collaboration is expected to strengthen UIN Jakarta’s international academic networks while advancing the integration of globally benchmarked scholarship and research.

Publication
  • Books
    • - Larson, Erica M. (2024). Ethics of Belonging: Education, Religion, and Politics in Manado, Indonesia. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.
    • - Hertzman, Emily Zoe, Natalie Lang, Erica M. Larson, Carola Lorea, eds. (2023). CoronAsur: Asian Religions in the Covidian Age. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.
  • Refereed Articles
    • - Larson, Erica M. (forthcoming). “Assessing Value and Questioning Self-Worth in Educational Migration: Indonesian University Students in Singapore.” Anthropology & Education Quarterly.
    • - Larson, Erica M. (2025). “Wearing Your Moral Character on the Sleeve of Your School Uniform: Ethical Becoming and Nation-Building in Indonesia.” The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology 25(1): 35–55.
    • - Carola E. Lorea, Erica M. Larson, Ashawari Chaudhuri, and Emily Z. Hertzman. (2024). “Faith in Immunity and Structures of Trust: COVID-19 Vaccines from Asian Perspectives.” Asian Medicine 19(1): 1–33.
    • - Larson, Erica M. (2024). “Smartphones and the Education of Religious Youth in Indonesia: Highway to Hell or Path of Righteousness?” Social Compass 71(1): 119–135.
    • - Larson, Erica M. (2023). “Ethical Pedagogies and/of Relationality.” HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory 13(3): 484–493.
    • - Larson, Erica M. (2022). “Learning to Navigate the Ethics of Boundaries: Schools, Youth, and Inter-Religious Relationships in Manado, Indonesia.” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 28(2): 432–450.
Contact

📧 Email: arieml@nus.edu.sg