Biography
Dawn Larsen joined the department full-time in 1998, becoming an Associate Professor in 2003. As Director of Graduate Studies, Dawn oversees the Master of Arts Management program, including admissions and policy issues.Dawn holds a J.D. cum laude from the University of Illinois College of Law, where she was a Harno Scholar and an Editor of the Law Review. Prior to joining Columbia College, Dawn was an attorney at the law firms of Sidley & Austin and Merchant & Gould. She has more than twenty years of experience in intellectual property and entertainment law, and has represented such clients as AT&T, Nestle, Aveda, Vera Wang, Don King Enterprises and the Illinois Film Council. Dawn has also served as a member of the Board of Directors of Reading in Motion, a non-profit organization that improves children’s reading skills using an innovative, arts-based curriculum.Dawn teaches the graduate Arts, Media and the Law course and the undergraduate Entertainment Law and introduction to Management courses. She has lectured extensively in the areas of copyright and trademark law, including guest lectures for the International Center for Culture and Management in Salzburg, Austria, and InterStudio in St. Petersburg, Russia. Her current research interests include copyright licensing and fair use issues and internet privacy and neutrality.Dawn is very active in faculty governance at Columbia, and currently serves as the Chair of the Graduate Policy Council. She has previously served as Vice-Chair of the Columbia College Council and Vice-President of the Columbia College Faculty Organization, and as a member of the Budget and Priorities Committee, the School of Fine and Performing Arts Curriculum Committee, the All-College Tenure Committee and the Provost’s Task Force on Rank and Promotion, among others.
Instructional Areas
Entertainment Law, Intellectual Property Law, Copyright Law, Trademark Law, First Amendment Law
Creative Practice and Research Interests
Copyright Infringement and Fair Use on the Internet, Online Privacy and Publicity, Net Neutrality and Freedom of Speech, Moral Rights of Artists
Degrees
B.A., Sociology University of Illinois-Champaign 1985
J.D., Law University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 1990