Research Assistantships

Infrastructure after Extractivism: Material Approaches to Restoring Indigenous Jurisdiction

Identifying Anishinaabe Standards for Evaluating Indigenous Persons Courts

Infrastructure after Extractivism: Material Approaches to Restoring Indigenous Jurisdiction

Researcher

Professor Dayna Nadine Scott

Description

This is a funded team research project bringing together leading Indigenous theorists, critical legal scholars and geographers, and land-based practitioners engaged in resisting extractivism. Our team seeks to get on with the work of investigating how alternative ways of building ‘vital infrastructure’ can enact and restore Indigenous jurisdiction.

We are working on various case studies across several bio-regions and Indigenous legal orders. We are seeking to recruit students with experience and connections to Indigenous communities implementing strategies for reclaiming and exercising inherent jurisdiction over lands and waters, and students with an interest in theorizing the relationship between settler and Indigenous legal orders in relation to extractive and/or vital infrastructures.

Examples of some of the duties and/or responsibilities expected of the successful candidate

  • Assist in research design and research ethics applications; legal research memorandum; literature reviews; qualitative data collection and analysis; assist with the drafting of articles and book chapters;
  • There will be opportunities to travel to partner communities and conduct collaborative research; there may be opportunities to assist in the design of land-based law and learning programs.

Additional Details for Applicants

We are seeking students incoming LLM/PhD students with experience and interest in:

  • community-engaged research methods, ideally alongside Indigenous communities;
  • Indigenous law;
  • Infrastructure and extractivism;
  • critical socio-legal studies;
  • interdisciplinarity; and/or
  • creative knowledge mobilization strategies in line with models of ongoing consent.

Students will work primarily with the co-PI, Professor Dayna Nadine Scott.

How to Apply

Contact the Research Graduate Program Office at RESGPA@osgoode.yorku.ca for more details.

Position Start Date

September 2023                       

Duration of Position

1 year – renewable             


Identifying Anishinaabe Standards for Evaluating Indigenous Persons Courts         

Researcher

Professor Karen Drake

Description

This project is a partnership between the Sarnia-Lambton Native Friendship and Professors Drake and Murdocca. The goal of the project is to develop a methodology and assessment criteria which will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of two Indigenous Persons Courts: the Bkejwanong (Walpole Island) First Nation Court and the Sarnia Indigenous Persons Court. This project seeks to understand the differences between western criteria and Anishinaabe criteria for assessing restorative justice initiatives, and to develop a methodology and assessment criteria that reflect the ways of knowing, laws, priorities, and goals of the Anishinaabe communities served by the two Indigenous Persons Courts. To do this, we held interviews and sharing circles with community members—including those who have appeared as accused or as parties before the two Courts—as well as the relevant staff, lawyers, and judges.

Examples of some of the duties and/or responsibilities expected of the successful candidate

We are seeking an RA to transcribe a small number of recordings of interviews, contact participants to verify their transcripts, code the transcripts, and then incorporate the results of the coding into an existing draft report in order to produce the final version of the report. Other research related duties may also be required.

Additional Details for Applicants

We are seeking a student who is currently registered in the Research Graduate Program whose research is related to this project, for example, research relating to research methodologies, study design, human participant research, Indigenous ways of knowing, Indigenous law, Indigenous research methodologies, Gladue, sentencing, restorative justice, or Indigenous persons courts. If you are not sure if your research relates to this project, please do not hesitate to contact Karen Drake

How to Apply

Please submit a résumé/CV, brief cover letter, and transcripts (if available; unofficial are fine) here. In your cover letter, please highlight any relevant experience, such as any experience coding transcripts and/or drafting reports.

Position Start Date

The contract is for 60 hours at $35/hour. The timing is flexible.                   

Duration of Position

It can be extended until as late as May 2023, or it can be condensed if preferred. (The amount doesn’t change).