Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies

This research and teaching institute is unique in North America for its structural commitment to Critical Indigenous Studies, a cognate discipline to Critical Ethnic Studies that is rooted in global Indigenous decolonial, feminist, and antiracist scholarship and politics. Its primary purpose is not cultural education, but rather the robust and ethical engagement of Indigenous political, methodological, and ideological concerns and conditions. Attention is given to the structures of and relationships between domains of knowledge and power, and the ways that experience informs knowledge across and between categories of difference. The commitments shaping CIS are therefore focused on empowering Indigenous peoples and transforming Indigenous-settler relationships through sophisticated and engaged, collaborative, and mutually respectful research and practice.


Affiliated UBC Faculty & Postdocs

Name Role Research Interests
Callison, Candis Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) changes to media practices and platforms, journalism ethics, the role of social movements in public discourse, and understanding how issues related to science and technology become meaningful for diverse publics.
Coulthard, Glen Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) First Nations politics – national; political theory
Gaertner, David Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) Video and New Media, Artistic and Literary Theories, Indigenous Literature, Digital storytelling, Digital Humanities, Speculative fiction, Reconciliation
Galla, Candace Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) what types of technology initiatives (low-, mid-, or high) Indigenous language communities are using to revitalize, maintain, and promote their language
Justice, Daniel Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) Aboriginal, First Nations, Metis, Indigenous, Aboriginal literature, Aboriginal cultures, Aboriginal history, Aboriginal Studies, First Nations Studies, badgers, animal studies, cultural studies, GLBT issues, Queer Studies, sexuality, First Nations Studies Program, Indigenous Literature and Expressive Culture
Kesler, Roland Lincoln Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) First nations
Lightfoot, Sheryl Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) First Nations, international relations
Rosenblum, Daisy Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) multi-modal documentation and description of indigenous languages of North America, with an emphasis on methods, partnerships, and products that contribute to community-based language revitalization
Shaw, Patricia Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) First Nations languages; endangered languages, First Nations Languages
Thrush, Coll Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) First Nations history, Indigenous, cultural, and world history, colonial and Atlantic, Northwest Coast and Pacific, environmental, place-based histories
Turin, Mark Faculty (G+PS eligible/member) Cultural Institutions (Museums, Libraries, etc.), Lexicography and Dictionaries, Language Contact and Linguistic Changes, Language Rights and Policies, Language Interactions, Political Culture, Society and Ideology, Nepal, Tibet, Sikkim, Bhutan, First Nations, Bella Bella, Heiltsuk, Indigeneity