Laird Harrison, MFA, (he/him) (Reporting/Writing Professor) is an award-winning journalist, author and educator whose work has appeared in TIME, Audubon, Reader’s Digest, People, Health, the San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Reuters, Salon, MSNBC and CNN.com. He has also produced video for Smithsonian Magazine and WebMD and audio for KQED and WUNC public media.
Laird has taught journalism and creative writing at San Francisco State University and UC Berkeley Extension. His award-winning novel, Fallen Lake, was published by Verdant Books in 2012.
A former study abroad student in Bordeaux, Laird knows firsthand the value of living and learning in another culture. He first taught with ieiMedia in Perpignan, France, 2011 and later joined the faculty of the Arles Project. He taught in the inaugural Kyoto Project in 2026 and returns to Kyoto in 2027, when he’ll help students develop their reporting, interviewing and storytelling skills while exploring Japan.