Joshua Nichols

Assistant Professor

Chancellor Day Hall
3674 Peel Street
Room 43
Montreal, Quebec
Canada H3A 1W9

514-398-4400, x00135 [office]
joshua.nichols [at] mcgill.ca (Email)

Professor Joshua Nichols


Biography

Joshua Nichols is Metis from Treaty 8 Territory in British Columbia. He teaches Aboriginal law, constitutional history, and legal theory.

His research centers on the legacy of British Imperialism and the conflictual constitutional relationship between Canada and Indigenous peoples. In particular, he is interested in how Indigenous constitutional practices have responded to the development of the centralized administrative state since the mid-19thcentury.

In his latest projects, he is exploring the historical genealogy of the administrative state within the British Empire and the possibilities for post-Westphalian forms of multinational federalism.

Selected publications

Monographs

Edited Collections

Journal Articles

  • “Reconciliation and the Straitjacket: A Comparative Analysis of the Secession Reference and Sparrow” (2021) 52:2 Ottawa L R. (co-authored with Robert Hamilton)
  • “In Search of Honorable Crowns and Legitimate Constitutions: Mikisew Cree First Nation v Canada and the Colonial Constitution” (2020) 70:3 UTLJ 341. (co-authored with Robert Hamilton)
  • “The Tin Ear of the Court: Ktunaxa Nation and the Foundation of the Duty to Consult” (2019) 56:3 Alta L Rev 729. (co-authored with Robert Hamilton)
  • “A Narrowing Field of View: An Investigation into the Relationship between the Principles of Treaty Interpretation and the Conceptual Framework of Canadian Federalism” (2019) 56:2 Osgoode Hall LJ 350.
  • “Figures of History, Foundations of Law: Acéphale, Angelus Novus, and the Katechon” (2017) 31:1 J Historical Sociology 98.
  • “A Reconciliation without Recollection? Chief Mountain and the Sources of Sovereignty” (2015) 48:2 UBC L Rev 515.
  • “Claims of Sovereignty-Burdens of Occupation: William and the Future of Reconciliation” (2015) 48:1 UBC L Rev 221.

Education

  • PhD, University of Victoria, 2017
  • JD, University of British Columbia, 2014
  • PhD, University of Toronto (philosophy), 2009
  • MA, University of Alberta (sociology), 2004
  • BA (Hons.) University of Alberta (political science), 2003

Employment

  • Assistant Professor, McGill University, Faculty of Law, 2021-
  • Assistant Professor, University of Alberta, Faculty of Law, 2018-2021
  • Assistant Professor, Dalhousie University, Public Administration, 2017-2018

Areas of interest

Aboriginal law and Indigenous constitutionalism, constitutional history, history of the British Empire, administrative law, multinational federalism, legal and political philosophy.

 

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