Carmen Gillies

Dr. Carmen Gillies (she/her) is a Métis Norwegian/Chinese Canadian Assistant Professor of Educational Foundations (EFDT) in the College of Education, University of Saskatchewan. Her critical race theory interdisciplinary research examines democratic, decolonial, and anti-racist education in Canadian schools and teacher education.

Building on her master's research on the history of race science and implications for Saskatchewan education policy, her doctoral work analyzed the racialized experiences of Métis teachers. Her current research responds to increasingly polarized anti-democratic socio-political conditions by investigating nonpartisan approaches to anti-racist education. Specifically, she examines how democratic education systems can be strengthened when they counter colonial, patriarchal, and racialized violence. Drawing on scholarship that has analyzed White nationalism, polarization, extremist ideologies, and digital disinformation, her work also explores why anti-racist education must protect Canadian institutions by enacting and expanding hard-fought rights and freedoms.

Dr. Gillies completed her B.Ed. (1996), B.A. in Indigenous Studies (2002), M.Ed. (2006), and Ph.D. (2017) at the University of Saskatchewan. Before entering academia, she taught high school in Saskatoon, coached cheerleading, and worked as an English as an Additional Language teacher in Taiwan. Born in Uranium City, Saskatchewan, and raised in Saskatoon, Dr. Gillies comes from a family of educators. Her father, Lee Baker, was among the first visibly Indigenous/Chinese Canadian high school teachers in Saskatoon. As a mixed-race Métis woman, her personal experiences and family history have informed her longstanding interest in how racism is reproduced, normalized, and can be challenged through schooling and teacher education.

Prior to her current appointment, Dr. Gillies served as faculty with the Indian Teacher Education Program (ITEP) and the Saskatchewan Urban Native Teacher Education Program (SUNTEP), and as a Research Associate with the Aboriginal Education Research Centre at the University of Saskatchewan. She also founded and facilitated the Student Teachers' Anti-Racism Society (STARS) and the Anti-Racist Education Mentorship (AEM) Project. From 2022 to 2024, she provided anti-racism professional development and consultation for Saskatoon Public Schools.

Dr. Gillies supervises numerous graduate students and has designed and taught six graduate courses focused on anti-racist education. She has also taught anti-racist/oppressive undergraduate courses for more than two decades, beginning as a sessional lecturer in 2003. Her scholarship has been published and presented nationally and internationally. She serves on numerous academic committees, leads the Anti-Racist Education Summer Institute, received the College of Education emerging researcher award in 2026, and has been invited to facilitate the University of Saskatchewan’s anti-racism and unconscious bias faculty development initiative.

Dr. Gillies welcomes inquiries from prospective graduate students interested in anti-racism, critical race theory, decolonial and democratic education, anti-oppressive digital/social media education, critical mixed-race studies, and qualitative, Indigenous, or mixed-methods research.

• Ph.D., University of Saskatchewan, Educational Foundations, 2018 A Critical Race Theory Analysis of Metis Teachers’ Counter-Stories: https://harvest.usask.ca/handle/10388/8449 
• M.Ed., University of Saskatchewan, Educational Foundations, 2007 Historical Racial Theories and Ongoing Racialization in Saskatchewan: https://harvest.usask.ca/handle/10388/etd-01162007-134258
• B.A. University of Saskatchewan, Department of Indigenous Studies, 2002
• B.Ed. University of Saskatchewan, Majors: Secondary Social Studies and English Language Arts, 1997

Undergraduate Courses

• EFDT 101 Introduction to Education
• EFDT 301 Educator Identity in Contexts Anti Oppressive and Ethical Beginnings
• EFDT 435 Critical Perspectives in Educational Thought and Values
• ECUR 265 Teaching for Reconciliation in the K-12 Curricula

Graduate Courses

• EFDT 844 Theory and Practice of Anti-Racist Education
• EFDT 898 Critical Race Theory: Foundations and Future Directions
• EFDT 898 Critical Race Qualitative Research and Education

 Special Topics Graduate Courses

• EFDT 898 Critical Race Theory and Special Education
• EFDT 898 Land-Based Pedagogy and Participatory Action Research

Research Interests:

• Current racialization patterns and impacts on education, society, and democratic rights
• Critical race theory and qualitative research in K-12 and teacher education
• Anti-racist teacher education and critical professional development and mentorship
• Critical mixed-race studies and multi-racial students’ experiential knowledge
• Métis informed anti-racist education and the positioning of White presenting Métis
• The history and reproduction of scientific racism and hybridity theories

Current Research Projects:

• Gillies, C., (PI), Bergen, J. & St.Denis, V. (2022 - 2023). Exploring the role of critical professional development in anti-racist teacher education, University of Saskatchewan SSHRC Explore Grant.
• Gillies, C. (PI). (2022 – 2023). Conceptualizing the anti-racist responsibilities and positioning of White-presenting Métis educators, College of Education John Ranton McIntosh Grant.     
• Gillies, C. (PI). St. Denis, V, Pocha, S. & Altenberg, J. (2022 - 2024). Imagining and Enacting Métis Informed K-12 Anti-racist Education, University of Saskatchewan SSHRC Exchange Grant.          
• Gillies, C. (PI). (2022 – 2023). Social Media as Anti-Racism Teacher Education: Implications and Possibilities, Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation, McDowell Foundation Grant.

• Gillies, C. (2021). Content integration and the missing Indigenous students: Learning from Metis teachers. In Education, 26(2), 4-23. https://journals.uregina.ca/ineducation/article/view/477.
• Gillies, C. (2021). Seeing Whiteness as property through Métis teachers’ K-12 stories of racism. Whiteness and Education. DOI: 10.1080/23793406.2021.1946842.
• Gillies, C., Burleigh, D., Snowshoe, A., & Werner, D. (2014). Walking in circles: Self-location in Indigenous youth violence prevention research. First Nations Perspectives, 6(1), 5-25.
• Kovach, M. Montgomery, M., Carrier, J., Barret, M., & Gillies, C. (2013). Stories of diverse identity locations in Indigenous research. International Review of Qualitative Research, 6(4), 487-509.
• Anuik, J., & Gillies, C. (2011). Indigenous knowledge in post-secondary educators’ practice: Nourishing the learning spirit. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 42(1), 63-79.  

• Gillies, C. (2022). Anti-racism and reconciliation. Invited panel presentation, Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, Panel on anti-racism, anti-oppression and reconciliation, July 5, 2022.
• Gillies, C. (2022). School-based deficit thinking and the preservation of White colonial power. Canadian Society for the Study of Education, virtual conference.
• Gillies, C. (2022). Social media and teacher professional development: Anti-racist implications and possibilities. International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, virtual conference.
• Gillies, C. (2021). Complicating trends in mainstream anti-racism. Canadian Society for the Study of Education, virtual conference. 
• Gillies, C. (2021). Critical race theory counter-storying and Métis teacher education. Canadian Society for the Study of Education. Edmonton, AB.
• Gillies, C. & Pocha, S. (2020). Pathways and obstacles to truth and reconciliation in teacher education: Anti-racist lessons. Think Indigenous Education Conference, Edmonton, AB.

Using critical race theory to form lawyers: Why teaching CRT encourages a more practical approach to practising law.

https://www.nationalmagazine.ca/en-ca/articles/the-practice/legal-education/2021/using-critical-race-theory-to-form-lawyers