UBC has a growing number of Aboriginal faculty members located across the University. These faculty members are actively involved in research, teaching, and administration, much of it with an Aboriginal focus and substantial community engagement. The Indigenous Academic Caucus, an informal association of faculty members who identify as Indigenous, currently has twenty-seven members from seven faculties.
If you are looking for Aboriginal-focused programs within the various UBC Faculties, click here.
| Faculty of Arts Faculty of Education Faculty of Land and Food Systems |
Faculty of Law UBC Library Faculty of Science |
Faculty of Arts
Dr Candis Callison: Assistant Professor
School of Journalism
Dr Callison received her Ph.D. from MIT’s Program in Science, Technology, and Society, and a M.Sc. from MIT’s Comparative Media Studies Program. Her research interests include media change, public engagement on complex science and environment issues, and how new media is shaping the efforts and practices of science journalists, scientists, and social movements. Candis is a member of the Tahltan Nation of northwestern B.C.
Ms Dana Claxton: Assistant Professor
Art History, Visual Art and Theory
Ms Claxton is of Hunkpapa Lakota ancestry and her family reserve is Lakota First Nations -Wood Mountain in southwest Saskatchewan. She works in film, video, photography, single and multi channel installation and performance art. Her practice investigates beauty, the body, the socio-political and the spiritual.
Dr Glen Coulthard: Assistant Professor
First Nations Studies and Political Science
Dr Coulthard has written and published numerous articles and chapters in the areas of Indigenous thought and politics, contemporary political theory, and radical social and political thought. Glen is currently writing a book on Indigenous peoples and recognition politics in Canada. He is a member of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation.
Mr Larry Grant: Adjunct Professor
First Nations Language Program
Resident Elder, First Nations House of Learning
Mr Grant is an Elder from the Musqueam First Nation in Vancouver, BC. He is an Adjunct Professor in the University of British Columbia First Nations Languages Program, the Language and Culture Consultant for Musqueam First Nation, and the Resident Elder for the First Nations House of Learning at UBC.
Dr Carl Johnson: Senior Instructor
Classical, Near Eastern and Religious Studies
A member of the Nhla7kapmx First Nation, Lytton Band, Dr. Johnson is a Senior Instructor in the Department of Classical, near Eastern and Religious Studies.
Dr Shelly Johnson: Assistant Professor
School of Social Work
Shelly Johnson (Mukwa Musayett) is Saulteaux from Keeseekoose First Nation in Saskatchewan. She is an assistant professor in the UBC School of Social Work. Her works focuses on Indigenous women in leadership, child welfare, Indigenous methodologies, trauma, race/culture, social justice and activism.
Dr Daniel Heath Justice: Associate Professor,
English and First Nations Studies
Chair, First Nations Studies Program
Daniel Heath Justice is a Colorado-born Canadian citizen of the Cherokee Nation. He specializes in Aboriginal Studies and Indigenous Native North American literatures, cultural studies and literary history, and speculative fiction.
Dr Linc Kesler: Associate Professor,
English and First Nations Studies
Director, First Nations House of Learning
Sr Advisor to the President on Aboriginal Affairs
Dr Kesler’s indigenous ancestry is Oglala Lakota. His research work focuses on the relationship between technological change and the representation of knowledge, a topic vital to strategizing the survival of Indigenous communities. He is also interested in developing uses of emerging technologies that serve the needs of Indigenous communities.
Dr Sheryl Lightfoot: Assistant Professor
First Nations Studies and Political Science
Dr Lightfoot is Anishinaabe, an enrolled citizen of the Lake Superior Band of Ojibwe, at the Keweenaw Bay Community in northern Michigan. Her research interests include global Indigenous peoples’ politics, Indigenous diplomacy, Indigenous social movements, and critical international relations. She publishes articles in both Indigenous studies and international relations venues.
Mr Duncan McCue: Adjunct Professor
School of Journalism
Duncan McCue is a national reporter for CBC-TV News in Vancouver. His current affairs documentaries are featured on the CBC’s flagship news show, The National, and the 6 o’clock news Canada Now. Duncan has also taught documentary journalism to Indigenous students at First Nations University and Capilano College. Duncan is Anishinaabe (Ojibwa), and a member of the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nations in southern Ontario.
Dr Charles R. Menzies: Associate Professor
Anthropology
Dr. Menzies, a member of Gitxaała Nation and an enrolled member of the Tlingit and Haida Tribes of Alaska, was born and raised in Prince Rupert, BC. His primary research interests are the production of anthropological films, natural resource management, political economy, contemporary First Nations’ issues, maritime anthropology, and indigenous archaeology. He is also the Director of Cultural and Heritage Research for Gitxaała Nation.
Dr Dory Nason: Assistant Professor
First Nations Studies and English
Dory Nason is Anishinaabe and an enrolled member of the Leech Lake Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. She holds a joint position with First Nations Studies and the Department of English. Her research focuses on contemporary Indigenous Feminisms and related Native women’s intellectual history and contemporary Native literature.
Dr Richard Vedan: Associate Professor
School of Social Work
Dr Vedan, from the Neskonlith Band of the Secwepemc First Nations, is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work and past Director of the First Nations House of Learning. His research interests encompass the development of practice methods relevant to First Nations issues as well as the establishment of service delivery organizations that integrate traditional First Nations values and healing methods.
Faculty of Education
Dr Mark Aquash: Assistant Professor
Education Studies
Dr Aquash is Thunder Clan, Potawatomi/Ojibwe Anishinaabe and a member of the Council of Three Fires, Walpole Island First Nation. His research interests include organization and leadership in education administration; culturally-based curriculum, instructional and evaluation; educational technology; Anishinaabe language curriculum; and First Nations control of education.
Dr Jo-Ann Archibald: Professor, Education
Associate Dean of Indigenous Education
Director, NITEP
Dr Archibald (Sto:lo) is a former director of the First Nations House of Learning and the Native Indian Teacher Education Program. She is currently the Associate Dean for Indigenous Education in the Faculty of Education and editor of the annual theme issue of the Canadian Journal of Native Education. Her main areas of research are Indigenous education, oral tradition & storytelling, Indigenous higher education, and Indigenous knowledge systems.
Dr Peter Cole: Assistant Professor
Curriculum and Pedagogy
Dr. Cole is a member of the Douglas First Nation (Southern Stl’atl’imx) as well as having Welsh/Scottish heritage. He has considerable experience as a researcher and educator in Indigenous education, with expertise in curriculum theory, Indigenous epistemology and pedagogy, research methodology, traditional indigenous technologies, and Indigenous perspectives in environmental and sustainability education.
Dr Tracy Friedel: Assistant Professor
Curriculum and Pedagogy
Dr. Friedel’s research interests include critical analysis of Aboriginal education policy and practice, First Nation and Métis experience concerning work and learning, and an enhanced understanding of Indigenous theories on place and what this offers to the transformation of education and society more broadly. Her Indigenous affiliation is with Region 4 of the Métis Nation of Alberta.
Dr Candace Kaleimamoowahinekapu Galla: Assistant Professor, Language and Literacy Education
Growing up in a sugar plantation town in Kaʻū, Dr. Galla was exposed to an array of languages and cultures from a young age and continued learning about her Hawaiian language and culture formally at Kamehameha Schools on Kapālama campus in Honolulu. She went on to study Linguistics at the University of Arizona and received a PhD in Language, Reading and Culture. Her research explores what types of technology initiatives Indigenous language communities are using to revitalize, maintain, and promote their language.
Ms Lucetta George-Grant: Instructor
On-Campus Coordinator, NITEP
Ms George, Coast Salish, is the on-Campus Coordinator for year three, four, and five students in the Native Indian Teacher Education Program.
Dr Jan Hare: Associate Professor
Language and Literacy Education
Jan Hare is an Anishinaabe from the M’Chigeeng First Nation. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Language and Literacy Education. Her research interests include the social practices of literacy in Aboriginal families, schools and communities. She has a particular interest in Aboriginal early learning and youth issues. She is mentoring doctoral students working on Aboriginal language revitalization and Aboriginal education.
Dr Michael Marker: Associate Professor
Educational Studies
Director, T’Skel Graduate Studies
Dr Marker (Arapaho) studies the ethnohistory of education and the politics of Indigenous knowledge, primarily in the Coastal Salish region. His research has foregrounded the ways that colonizing powers have imposed ideologies and cosmologies on Aboriginal communities and the remarkable resistance strategies of Native people.
Dr Rod McCormick: Associate Professor
Educational and Counselling Psychology
Dr McCormick is a member of the Mohawk Nation. His scholarly interests include cultural psychology, indigenous psychologies, spirituality and counselling, ecopsychology, gerontological counseling, trauma recovery, addictions counseling, career counseling, utilization of nature in healing.
Ms Marny Point: Adjunct Professor
First Nations Language Program
Urban Coordinator, NITEP
Ms. Point is a member of the Musqueam Band of the Coast Salish Tribes. As Urban Program Coordinator she is the program advisor for the first and second year NITEP students. She also teaches B.Ed. courses dealing with issues in First Nations education and the second year class for the First Nations Languages program, Intermediate Salish.
Faculty of Land and Food Systems
Dr Eduardo Jovel: Associate Professor
Botanical Garden & Centre for Plant Research
Director – Indigenous Research Partnerships
Dr Jovel’s research interests include ethnobotany, mycology, natural product chemistry and Aboriginal health. In the last 10 years he has taken an active role in Aboriginal health research, including Indigenous medicinal systems, food security, environmental health, research ethics, and Indigenous research methodologies.
Faculty of Law
Dr Gordon Christie: Associate Professor
Director, First Nations Legal Studies
Dr Christie has taught in universities in Canada and the United States, in Faculties of Law, and Departments of Philosophy and Indigenous Studies. Most recently he was an Assistant Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School (1998 – 2004) where he also acted as Director of the Intensive Program in Aboriginal Lands, Resources and Governments. Dr Christie’s research fields include Aboriginal legal issues, legal theory, and tort. His ancestry is Inupiat/Inuvialuit.
Ms Darlene Johnston: Associate Professor
Professor Johnston is a member of the Chippewa Nawash First Nation in Ontario. Her teaching areas include Indigenous legal traditions, Canadian Aboriginal and treaty rights, and law & colonialism. Her current research focuses on the relationship between totemic identity, territoriality and governance.
UBC Library
Ms Kim Lawson: Reference Librarian,
Xwi7xwa Library
Ms Lawson is from the Heiltsuk Nation of BC. Prior to joining UBC, she worked as the Archivist/Librarian for the Union of BC Indian Chiefs Resource Centre. Her MLIS research looked at First Nations Perspectives on archives, libraries and museums.
Faculty of Science
Dr David Close: Assistant Professor
Fish Centre / Department of Zoology
Director, Aboriginal Fisheries Research Unit
Dr Close has been working in Aboriginal Fisheries for over 10 years. His research is focused on answering biological questions directed towards sustainable Aboriginal fisheries. His current research focuses primarily on the Pacific lamprey, a culturally important food to west-coast Aboriginal peoples that is also important in evolutionary history. He is a citizen of the Cayuse Nation located on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.
