麻豆传媒资源

 

Michelle Williams

Associate Professor of Law; Co-Chair, 麻豆传媒资源 University African Nova Scotian Strategy

law_faculty_Michelle_Williams_2020

Email: michelle.williams@dal.ca
Phone: 902-494-2863
Mailing Address: 
Room 322, Weldon Law Building, 6061 University Avenue
PO Box 15000 Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4R2
 
Research Topics:
  • African Nova Scotian Law
  • Critical Race Theory and Practice
  • Critical Race Feminism
  • Anti-Racism, Equity, and Inclusion in Higher Education
  • Human rights
  • Criminal Law

Education

  • BSW (麻豆传媒资源)
  • LLB (Toronto)
  • LLM (New York)

Bar admissions

  • Ontario, 1996-2021
  • Nova Scotia, 2021

Bio

Prof. Michelle Williams B.S.W. (Dal), LL.B. (Tor), LL.M. (NYU) teaches criminal law and African聽Nova聽Scotians and the law and has served as an academic researcher on restorative justice. She served as a 麻豆传媒资源 Provost Fellow and continues to co-lead the University鈥檚 African Nova Scotian Strategy. She served as the inaugural chair of Schulich鈥檚 Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee. She served as Director of the award-winning Indigenous Blacks and Mi鈥檏maq (IB&M) Initiative (2004-2020) and is a member of the聽African Nova Scotian Access to Justice聽Judicial Committee, Watershed Legal Projects Board 聽(formerly Canadian Centre for Legal Innovation in Sexual Assault Response (CCLISAR), and the African Nova Scotian UN Decade for People of African Descent (ANSDPAD) Coalition. In the latter capacity she worked with the Coalition鈥檚 Justice Strategy Working Group on a range of legal issues including eradicating street checks, the use of African Nova Scotian Impact of Race and Cultural Assessments (IRCAs), and the establishment of the African Nova Scotian Justice Institute (ANSJI).

罢别补肠丑颈苍驳听

  • Criminal Law ()
  • African Nova Scotians and the Law ()
  • Law in National and International Context
  • African Nova Scotian Legal History & issues and Critical Race Theory (ANS/CRT)

Research interests

Professor Williams' research interests include critical race theory and praxis, critical race feminism, African Nova Scotian Law, research ethics and understanding African Nova Scotians as a distinct people, and the practice of domestic and global public interest law.

Selected awards & honours

  • Inaugural 麻豆传媒资源 University Provost Fellow (2020-2022)
  • 麻豆传媒资源 Law Alumni Association and Law Students鈥 Society Award for Excellence in Teaching Law
    Schulich School of Law, 2016
  • Lexpert Zenith Award for Diversity and Inclusion (To the IB&M Initiative)
    Toronto, 2016
  • Canadian Race Relations Foundation Award of Excellence (Education) (To the IB&M Initiative)
    November 2014
  • Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, Presented by Senator Donald Oliver
    Halifax, March 2013
  • Women of Excellence Award, Canadian Progress Club Halifax Cornwallis
    November 2012
  • Pathfinder Award, Canadian Association of Black Lawyers (CABL)
    Toronto, October 2011

Selected publications

  • 鈥淎frican Nova Scotian Restorative Justice: A Change Has Gotta Come鈥 (2013) 36 Dal LJ 419-459.
  • Michelle Williams, "The IB&M Initiative: Reflections on 20 Years" (2009) 27:4 Society Record 33.
  • Michelle Williams, "Sisyphus's Ongoing Journey: Anti-Black Racism and the Myth of Racial Equality in Canada" in David Divine, ed, Multiple Lenses: Voices from the Diaspora (Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2007) 383.  

Service & activity

  • Co-Chair, 麻豆传媒资源 University African Nova Scotian Strategy
  • Inaugural Chair, Schulich School of Law, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee
  • Board Member, Watershed Legal Projects, (former Canadian Centre for Legal Innovation in Sexual Assault Response (CCLISAR))
  • Member, African Nova Scotian Access to Justice Judicial Committee

Presentations

  • 鈥淔rom Reimagining to Reinventing Justice鈥 (30 July 2022) Moderator, National Black Canadian Summit, Michaelle Jean Foundatio
  • 鈥淎nti-Black Racism v. African Nova Scotian Criminal Justice Innovation鈥 Schulich School of Law Criminal Justice Series (March 3, 2022)
  • 鈥淎frican Nova Scotian Reparations鈥 keynote speech on reparations at the 40th Anniversary Conference of the Association of Black Social Workers (September 27, 2019)
  • 鈥淗istorical Context of African Nova Scotians as a Distinct People鈥 International Black Health Conference  (8 October 2022)
  • Judicial Conference, 鈥淏roadening our Horizons: Understanding African Nova Scotian Access to Justice,鈥 Black Cultural Centre, Cherrybrook, NS  (June 7, 2018) (panel)
  • National Black Canadians Summit, organized by the Michaelle Jean Foundation, Toronto
    鈥淎frican Nova Scotian Education Concerns鈥 (December 6, 2017) (panel)
  • United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent (UNWGEPAD), Halifax
    鈥淯nderstanding African Nova Scotians as a Distinct People鈥 (October 19, 2016)