Lura Forcum
Lura Forcum is a research associate at Arizona State University’s Center for an Independent and Sustainable Democracy and a strategic adviser at LEF Strategy.
Her research focuses on political identity, polarization, voter disengagement, social trust, and the role of relationships and belonging in civic life. Trained as a consumer and social psychologist, she has also studied consumer behavior, persuasion, social perception, and how people humanize brands and products while dehumanizing other people.
Before joining Arizona State University, Forcum was president of the Independent Center. Earlier, she served as director of marketing communications at the State Policy Network and spent seven years as an assistant professor of marketing at Clemson University. She previously held communications and public-affairs positions at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, the Mercatus Center, and the Consortium on Chicago School Research.
Forcum writes How to Human, a newsletter about relationships and the social fabric of everyday life, and co-hosts the We Made This Political podcast. She also serves on the advisory board of the Prohuman Foundation.
Forcum earned a Ph.D. in marketing from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business and a master’s in social service administration from the University of Chicago. She also earned a bachelor’s in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
