Peter A Allard School of Law

Research Groups

Allard Hall is home to many research groups, composed of faculty, staff and students who collaborate in their areas of shared interest. While these groups represent disparate areas of inquiry, they share the conviction that we can accomplish more when we work together. Explore the research groups below, and see how they propose to address global challenges through collaborative efforts.    

 

Law and Cities

Cities are legal places. They are constructed by law and they produce law. Faculty and students in the Law & Cities Research Group take law and cities, and the interaction between them, as productive sites of inquiry. Through examination of urgent issues — housing and homelessness, development and economic security, civic participation and democracy, sustainability and climate change — we ask how cities are shaped by law, and law by cities.

For more information about the Law & Cities Research Group, or for notification about upcoming events, please contact law.cities@allard.ubc.ca.

City Street

The Law & Cities Research Group, based at the Allard School of Law, welcomes faculty members and graduate students from other disciplines who are engaged with law and cities.

Sam Beswick

Samuel Beswick
Assistant Professor 

Brenna Bhandar

Brenna Bhandar
​​​​Associate Professor

Prof Alexandra Flynn

Alexandra Flynn 
Associate Professor

Doug

Douglas Harris
Professor and Nathan T. Nemetz Chair in Legal History

Hoi

Hoi Kong
Rt. Hon. Beverly McLachlin, P.C., UBC Professorship in Constitutional Law

Ngai Pindell

Ngai Pindell
Dean and Professor

Graham

Graham Reynolds
Associate Professor

Kristen Thomasen

Kristen Thomasen
Assistant Professor

Margot

Margot Young
Professor  

 

Research Activities

The Law & Cities Research Group is a loose knit collection of scholars and students working to understand and explain the many ways that law and cities interact. Members of the Group work with several cross-cutting themes, including: 

  • Business Organizations & Entrepreneurial Activity
  • Climate Change & Sustainability
  • Colonialism & Reconciliation
  • Democracy & Civic Participation
  • Housing & Homelessness 
  • Indigenous Governance & Intergovernmental Relations
  • Poverty & Inequality
  • Property & Land Use Regulation
  • Technology & Privacy

Members of the group organize seminars, speakers, workshops, and conferences. 

Teaching Law & Cities

In addition to their diverse research activities, members of the Law & Cities Research Group teach a range of courses that engage extensively with cities and law. The list of recent offerings includes:

  • LAW313 Legal History: Property and the City
  • LAW343 Topics in Public Law: Law and the City
  • LAW431 Condominium Law

Publications by group members are listed by year of publication under the cross-cutting themes.

     

          at UBC:

          in Canada:

          around the globe:

          Law and Humanities

          The Canadian Network of Law & Humanities (CNLH) brings together a community of scholars interested in the cultural, imaginative, and embodied aspects of law. The goal of CNLH is to be a flagship for law and humanities research and teaching in Canada by fostering collaborative research, sharing teaching resources, and organizing events. 

          For more information, please visit cnlh.ubc.ca or contact info@cnlh.ubc.ca

          Landscape art

           

           

          Joel Bakan

          Joel Bakan
          Professor 
          Peter A. Allard School of Law

          Brenna Bhandar

          Brenna Bhandar
          Associate Professor
          Peter A. Allard School of Law

          Carol Blackburn

          Carole Blackburn
          Associate Professor
          Department of Anthropology, UBC

           

          Julen Etxabe

          Julen Etxabe
          Assistant Professor, Canada Research Chair in Jurisprudence and Human Rights
          Peter A. Allard School of Law

          Denise Ferreira Da Silva

          Denise Ferreira da Silva
          Professor
          Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice, UBC

          Mark Harris

          Mark Harris
          Associate Professor
          Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice, UBC

           

          Mary Liston

          Mary Liston
          Associate Professor
          Peter A. Allard School of Law

          Michelle LeBaron

          Michelle LeBaron​​
          Professor
          Peter A. Allard School of Law

          Renisa Mawani

          Renisa Mawani
          Professor & Canada Research Chair, Colonial Legal Histories
          Department of Sociology, UBC

           

          Dylan Robinson

          Dylan Robinson
          Associate Professor
          School of Music, UBC

           

           

          Law and Humanities is an interdisciplinary approach that emphasizes the cultural, literary, and imaginative aspects of law, without forgetting its ethical and political implications. As a field of research, law and humanities encompasses diverse areas of study, including law and literature, legal storytelling, law and film, law and language, critical race theory, feminist approaches to law, law and emotions, etc. In addition, law and humanities scholars seek to reflect on law as an embodied and sensorial practice and welcome experiential and creative pedagogies in the classroom, such as theatre-based teaching and the arts (painting, graphic novels, music, etc.)

          In addition, members of the Canadian Network of Law & Humanities teach a range of courses that explore this intersection. Some recent offerings include: 

          • LAW300 Jurisprudence and Critical Perspectives 
          • LAW312D Law and Literature
          • LAW312D Justice, Diversity, and Legal Legitimacy 

          Representative publications of our members are listed on the Canadian Network of Law & Humanities website

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