Chantelle Richmond, Associate Professor, Department of Geography
Director of the Interdisciplinary Initiative in Applied Indigenous Scholarship
Research Interests: Aboriginal health, social determinants of health, social support, health impacts of environmental change, community-based research, mixed methods
Chantelle Richmond (Bigitigong Anishinabe, Bear clan) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at Western University in London, Ontario (Canada), where she is Director of the Interdisciplinary Initiative in Applied Indigenous Scholarship. Her research is framed by community-based approaches that aim to understand how Indigenous heath is affected by processes of environmental dispossession. Through this work, she seeks to aid in the preservation of Indigenous Knowledge and the implementation of strategies that may foster environmental repossession efforts in affected communities. In 2013, Chantelle co-wrote and produced a 60-minute documentary “Gifts from the Elders,” which focused on the preservation of Indigenous Knowledge among Anishinabe communities on the north shore of Lake Superior. Her research is supported by funds from the CIHR, SSHRC and the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation. In 2015, Chantelle was inducted to the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars. In March 2016, she was named Faculty Scholar (2016-2018) by Western University’s Faculty of Social Science.
Brent [Ahnungoonhs] Debassige, Assistant Professor Director of Aboriginal Education Faculty of Education
Research Interests: Indigenous Knowledge, Indigenous research methodologies, and Aboriginal Education
Brent is an Ojibwe-Anishinaabe, originally from M’Chigeeng First Nation on Manitoulin Island (Ontario). He is Director of Aboriginal Education and Lead coordinator on the Master’s of Professional Education program with a focus on Aboriginal Educational Leadership at Western. Brent is guided by his learning in Anishinaabe traditional knowledge environments and by the research and scholarship in the areas of Indigenous Knowledge, Indigenous research methodologies, and Aboriginal Education. Collectively, these sources of knowledge provide the foundation for a decolonizing and critically engaged approach used in his teaching and research. Brent is a member of the Indigenous Strategic Initiatives Committee at Western.
Janice Forsyth, Assistant Professor, School of Kinesiology Faculty of Health Sciences
Research Interests: Social, political, and economic aspects of the Olympic & Paralympic Games, Sport, recreation, and health at Canadian Indian Residential Schools, Access and equity issues in Canadian sport, Aboriginal sport and health
Janice is an Ontario Early Researcher who belongs to the Fisher River Cree First Nation (Manitoba). Her innovative research program focuses on; 1) the social, political, and economic aspects of the Olympic & Paralympic Games; 2) Sport, recreation, and health at Canadian Indian Residential Schools; 3) Access and equity issues in Canadian sport; and 4) Aboriginal sport and health. Until July 2015, Janice held the position of Director of the International Centre for Olympic Studies.
Susan Hill, Associate Professor Department of History Director, First Nations Studies Faculty of Social Science
Research Interests: Cultural and linguistic perspectives on the First Nations through the standpoints and voices of Aboriginal people
Susan Hill is a Haudenosaunee Citizen (Mohawk Nation/Wolf Clan) residing on the Grand River Territory (Six Nations). Her research interests include Haudenosaunee land history, Indigenous research methodologies & ethics and Native education. Susan is a member of the Indigenous Strategic Initiatives Committee at Western.
Lina Sunseri, Associate Professor, Division of Sociology and Family Studies Brescia University College
Research Interests: Indigenous women’s issues in relation to colonialism and decolonialism; Gender and Nationalism; Representation of Indigenous Peoples and other racialized groups in mainstream media and popular culture; Gender and Sports; Gender and Popular Culture; Community Development; Critical Pedagogy; Law and Inequality
Lina Sunseri is an Oneida scholar and sociologist at Brescia University College. Her research focuses on Indigenous women’s issues in relation to colonialism and decolonialism; Gender and Nationalism; Representation of Indigenous Peoples and other racialized groups in mainstream media and popular culture; Gender and Sports; Gender and Popular Culture; Community Development; Critical Pedagogy; Law and Inequality.
Bob Andersen, Dean, Faculty of Social Science, Professor of Sociology, Political Science, Statistics and Actuarial Science
Robert Andersen is a political sociologist and social statistician with a primary academic appointment in the Department of Sociology. He is also cross-appointed in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Sciences and the Department of Political Science. Before being appointed as Dean of the Faculty of Social Science at Western in July 2015, Andersen was Distinguished Professor of Social Science and Chair of the Department of Sociology at the University of Toronto. He also previously held faculty positions at McMaster University, where he was the Senator William McMaster Chair in Political Sociology, the University of Oxford and Brock University. He often consults for government agencies and provides statistical training to faculty and graduate students at universities across the world.
Most of Andersen’s recent research explores the relationship between economic inequality and political attitudes and behaviours in a cross-national perspective. He is particularly concerned with how individual-level economic position—measured by social class or income—interacts with national economic conditions to influence outcomes considered important to the health of democracy, including tolerance, support for democracy, attitudes toward redistribution, and civic participation. His published research includes Modern Methods for Robust Regression (Sage, 2008), and more than 65 academic papers including articles in the Annual Review of Sociology, American Journal of Political Science, American Sociological Review, British Journal of Political Science, British Journal of Sociology, Journal of Politics, and Sociological Methodology.
