Indigenous Studies

The essays in the fourth volume of The Annual Review of Interdisciplinary Justice Research reflect upon and examine critically the justice disciplines in Canada. In using this term, we refer to stand-alone postsecondary university degree programs and university research centres that are variously titled criminal justice, justice studies, police studies, as well as related programs such as law and security; indigenous people and law; criminal policy management; human justice; youth justice; community, crime and social justice; justice and public safety; indigenous people and justice and the like. The term ‘justice disciplines’ encompasses several scholarly perspectives that focus on aspects of crime and criminal justice and draws inspiration from John Crank’s (2003) argument that the problematic of justice itself ought to be the unifying concept at the heart of our scholarly endeavors. Thus, no matter what department we find ourselves in, and despite the challenges in defining justice, we are united by a commitment to “a broader, more open-ended investigation into the nature of justice itself” (Crank 2003: 14). We present this collection of essays as an inclusive dialogue on the state of the justice disciplines in Canada, reflecting critically on our collective history while identifying some of the challenges that we face as university educators.

Introduction

Educating Justice: Postsecondary Education in the Justice Disciplines, Steven Kohm, Kelly Gorkoff, Richard Jochelson, and Kevin Walby

Articles

Of Big Tents and Handmaidens: The Origins and Evolution of Criminology at Simon Fraser University, Curt T. Griffiths and Ted Palys

From Correction to Prevention: An Analysis of the Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 1958-1983, Sean Parys

Commentary: Programs and Centres of Justice Studies in Canada

Development of a Diploma and a Bachelor of Arts Major in Police Studies at Memorial University, Anne Morris and Sharon Barter Trenholm

A Tale of Three Programs: Reflections on Criminological Studies at Ryerson University, Tammy C. Landau and Kimberly N. Varma

From Studies in Justice and Law Enforcement to the Department of Criminal Justice: A Reflection from the University of Winnipeg, Michael Weinrath

A Justice Experience at the University of Regina: A History of an Interdisciplinary, Academic, Liberal Arts Program, Hirsch Greenberg

Personal Reflections on Justice Education at Mount Royal University, Doug King and John Winterdyk

Educating the Criminology Vanguard, R.S. Ratner

Bridging Gaps: Social Justice Studies at the University of Victoria, William K. Carroll

Educating Justice Up Close and From a Distance: Reflections on the First Ten Years of the BA Justice Studies Program at Royal Roads University, Michael G. Young

Reflections on Justice Education

Teaching and Learning about Justice through Wahkohtowin, Sarah Buhler, Priscilla Settee, and Nancy Van Styvendale

Complex Alliances: A Community- and Institution-based Project for Educating Justice-involved Women, Judith Harris and Jaqueline McLeod Rogers

Let Law be Law, and Let us Critique: Teaching Law to Undergraduate Students of Criminal Justice, Richard Jochelson

A Criminologist’s Journey: Embracing the Sociological Roots of Justice Studies, Courtney Waid-Lindberg

This paper analyzes interviews with students of an interdisciplinary community-based class in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The class— " Wahkohtowin " (" kinship " in Cree)—brought together university students with youth from Oskayak, an Indigenous High School, and members of STR8 UP, a community-based organization for former gang members. The course centred on the theme of " justice, " and students discussed legal and literary texts related to policing, criminal trials, and prison, and shared their own experiences and stories about justice and injustice. The students described the class as a profound experience of " community, " which caused them to reflect critically upon structures that create and reinforce inequality and estrangement and impact quality of life. This paper describes the class within the larger context of community-engaged pedagogy and Indigenous approaches to community engagement. We explore major interview themes centred on the complexities of creating community in the classroom. Participants discussed encountering " strangers " ; telling and witnessing traumatic stories; unsettling privilege; and enacting resistance and solidarity. Ultimately, the Wahkohtowin class intervenes in dominant models of engaged pedagogy and community-service learning, disrupting notions of a university-community binary, and creating a space where students began to practice solidarity and imagine a quality of life based on equality and justice for all.