Biography
Aaron Larsen is a historian of space, place, and landscape, seen through the perspective of the early modern European witch craze. His work explores how people across early modern Europe interacted with and imagined the world around them, crossing disciplinary lines and utilizing elements of environmental, spatial, social, religious, and gender history. He is a passionate advocate for the digital humanities. His work has extensively used Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to map and visualize the human relationship with space, and among his latest projects is an exploration of AI LLMs in the field of art history and museum education.
Aaron just completed his doctoral studies (DPhil) in History at the University of Oxford, St. Hildas College, in late July of 2025. He is a three-time alumnus of the University of Northern British Columbia, attaining the degrees of Bachelor of Arts (History, 2017), Bachelor of Education (Secondary Education, 2019), and Master of Arts (History, 2021).
He was born and raised in Prince George, British Columbia (unceded territory of the Lheidli Tenneh First Nation), and is a high school teacher by trade. He has taught every age group from kindergarten to graduate students, and has previously worked at the oldest public museum, the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, on educational projects and teaching programs. Outside of the realm of history and teaching, he is an avid outdoorsman and can often be found hiking a mountain, paddling a canoe, fishing a lake, or hugging a tree.
Publications
Larsen, Aaron John Henry. Darkest Forests and Highest Mountains: The Witches Sabbath and Landscapes of Fear in Early Modern Demonologies. In The European Review of History 31, no. 1 (February 2024): 157-174.
Larsen, Aaron John Henry. Seeing the Unseen World: Countering the Vision-Centric Landscape in Narratives of the Witches Sabbath. In Network of Early Modern Senses (NEMoS), November 2024. DOI:
Larsen, Aaron John Henry. Review of Cloven Country: The Devil and the English Landscape, by Jeremy Harte. Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft 19, no. 1 (Spring 2024): 118-121.
Von Davier, Thomas erban, Aaron Larsen, Max Van Kleek, and Nigel Shadbolt. ArtBot: An Exploration into AIs Potential for Guiding Art Analysis. In Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA 25). April 26-May 1, 2025. Yokohama, Japan. (New York: ACM, 2025): 1-11.
Education
- Doctor of Philosophy, History, University of Oxford, St. Hildas College, Supervisor: Regius Professor Lyndal Roper. 2021-2025.
- Thesis Landscapes of the Witches Sabbath: Space, Place, and Fantasy in Early Modern Europe, 1500-1750
- Defended July 2025, awaiting corrections.
- Master of Arts, History, University of Northern British Columbia, Supervisor: Dr. Dana Wessell Lightfoot. 2019-2021.
- Thesis Mapping Maleficia: The Borders of Witchcraft and a Womans World Through the Witch Trials of Zug, Switzerland, 1737-1738"
- Bachelor of Education, Secondary Education, University of Northern British Columbia. 2017-2019.
- Bachelor of Arts, Major in History, Minor in Anthropology and Human Geography, University of Northern British Columbia. 2012-2017.
Teaching
As a career teacher, Aaron has taught every age from kindergarten to graduate students and will happily advise any student who wants to pursue a career in teaching. At 91心頭 this year, he will teach:
HIST 2001: Europe During the Medieval Era (Fall)
HIST 3991: The European Witch Craze (Fall)
HIST 2011: Europe During the Renaissance and Reformation (Winter)
HIST 3161: The Crusades (Winter)
Research
Aaron is working on several research projects:
- Landscapes of the Witches Sabbath: Space, Place, and Fantasy in Early Modern Europe, 1500-1750
- Exploring the spaces tied to the witches sabbath in the fantasies of early modern Europeans, this project (doctoral thesis) is in the process of being edited into a monograph.
- Cartography for the Commons: Economics, Environment, Resources, and Power in Everyday Early Modern Maps
- Using hand sketched amateur maps found in documents from across early modern Germany, this next project will explore how common people viewed and interacted with and controlled the environment, and will uncover the early modern origins of the present environmental crisis.
- The Compendium Maleficarum at 400
- This co-researched project with Olivia Garro (University of Coventry) will find new avenues to explore one of the most famous but poorly understood demonologies of the early modern witch craze, Francesco Maria Guazzos Compendium Maleficarum, published in its final form in 1626. Still in the early stages of research, this project will cover a new translation of the text and a series of secondary publications on its significance in the witch craze and beyond.
- RenAI/ArtBot
- This co-researched project with Thomas erban Von Davier (Carnegie Mellon University) will develop an AI LLM called RenAI (originally ArtBot) to test museum education efficacy and outreach in the specific field of Renaissance art. While one article has been published on this project, more research is forthcoming.
Grants, awards & honours
- SSHRC Canada Graduate Scholarship, 2022-2025
- K.O. Morgan Grant for Historians, 2022-2025