Ä¢¹½AV

 

Michelle Williams

Associate Professor of Law; Co-Chair, Ä¢¹½AV 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 (Ä¢¹½AV)
  • 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 AfricanĀ NovaĀ Scotians and the law and has served as an academic researcher on restorative justice. She served as a Ä¢¹½AV Provost Fellow and continues to co-lead the Universityā€™s African Nova Scotian Strategy. She served as the inaugural chair of Schulichā€™s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee. She served as Director of the award-winning Indigenous Blacks and Miā€™kmaq (IB&M) Initiative (2004-2020) and is a member of theĀ African Nova Scotian Access to JusticeĀ Judicial Committee, Watershed Legal Projects Board Ā (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 Coalitionā€™s 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).

°Õ±š²¹³¦³ó¾±²Ō²µĢż

  • 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 Ä¢¹½AV Provost Fellow (2020-2022)
  • Ä¢¹½AV Law Alumni Association and Law Studentsā€™ 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

  • ā€œAfrican Nova Scotian Restorative Justice: A Change Has Gotta Comeā€ (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, Ä¢¹½AV 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

  • ā€œFrom Reimagining to Reinventing Justiceā€ (30 July 2022) Moderator, National Black Canadian Summit, Michaelle Jean Foundatio
  • ā€œAnti-Black Racism v. African Nova Scotian Criminal Justice Innovationā€ Schulich School of Law Criminal Justice Series (March 3, 2022)
  • ā€œAfrican Nova Scotian Reparationsā€ keynote speech on reparations at the 40th Anniversary Conference of the Association of Black Social Workers (September 27, 2019)
  • ā€œHistorical Context of African Nova Scotians as a Distinct Peopleā€ International Black Health Conference  (8 October 2022)
  • Judicial Conference, ā€œBroadening our Horizons: Understanding African Nova Scotian Access to Justice,ā€ Black Cultural Centre, Cherrybrook, NS  (June 7, 2018) (panel)
  • National Black Canadians Summit, organized by the Michaelle Jean Foundation, Toronto
    ā€œAfrican Nova Scotian Education Concernsā€ (December 6, 2017) (panel)
  • United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent (UNWGEPAD), Halifax
    ā€œUnderstanding African Nova Scotians as a Distinct Peopleā€ (October 19, 2016)