News

Ronald Niezen appointed 2018-2019 William Lyon Mackenzie King Chair for Canadian Studies at Harvard

Image by Lysanne Larose.
Published: 24 July 2018

The Faculty of Law is pleased to congratulate Professor Ronald Niezen on his appointment as 2018-2019 William Lyon Mackenzie King Chair of Canadian Studies at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University. During his one-year leave from McGill, Professor Niezen will continue his research on the popular communication of human rights claims, while teaching courses in the Department of Anthropology on The Anthropology of Law and on Indigeneity, Rights, and Identity.

Professor Niezen holds the Katharine A. Pearson Chair in Civil Society and Public Policy in the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Arts and a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in the Anthropology of Law. He is a former chair of the Department of Anthropology. He researches and teaches in the areas of political and legal anthropology, Indigenous peoples, and human rights. He is an anthropologist with wide ranging research experience with the Songhay of Mali, the Cree communities of Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba, and the Sami of northern Europe.

The William Lyon Mackenzie King Chair for Canadian Studies is part of the Canada program at Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University. Made possible by the William Lyon Mackenzie King endowment, it presents rich intellectual opportunities for Canadian studies at Harvard.

“Combining perspectives from social sciences, anthropology, and the law, Professor Niezen casts a unique interdisciplinary light on pressing contemporary issues,” said Dean Robert Leckey. “We’ll miss him during the coming year, but I am delighted to see this prestigious international recognition of his scholarship.”

Back to top