Manjeet Birk

Manjeet Birk (she/her) is an interdisciplinary scholar whose work centers the lived experience of racialized and Indigenous girls and women in Canada. Her research focuses on women’s organizing, social justice and institutional racism using critical race, intersectional and decolonizing theories and methodologies. Her interests are grounded in her community activism working with women’s organizations locally, nationally and internationally.

Dr. Birk recently returned from a year in Aotearoa New Zealand completing a SSHRC postdoc focused on her project Pathways to Inclusion of Indigenous and Racialized Communities: A Comparative Analysis Between Canada and New Zealand. This project involved collaborating with a team in the Department of Public Health at the Auckland University of Technology, in Auckland NZ to think through systemic and institutional racism particularly as it relates to racialized and Indigenous communities in Auckland. This will form the basis of a comparative analysis between Canada and Aotearoa New Zealand. With a lifetime of experience organizing, troubling and challenging systems, Dr. Birk is always looking for new ways to re-conceptualize a more beautiful world. To learn more about Dr. Birk’s work, you can also check out this FASS interview.

Courses taught: CRST 2001, CRST 4001, WGST 2801, CRST 3801

Research areas of interest: Critical Race, Indigeneity, Storytelling

Selected Publications:

1. Birk, M. (2022). Do you hear me? A critical review of the Voice of Racism anti-racism education campaign in Aotearoa New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies. doi:10.1007/s40841-022-00239-2
   
2. Heke, D., Came, H., Birk, M. & Gambrell, K. (2022). Exploring anti-racism within the context of human resource management in the health sector in Aotearoa New Zealand. International Journal of Critical Indigenous Studies, 14(2), 114-132, doi:10.5204/2100
3. Birk, M. (2022). Time to disarm, defund, dismantle. Herizons Magazine. 36(2), 40.
   
4. Birk, M. (2022). Letter of love to bell hooks. Herizons Magazine. 36(1), 40.
   
5. Birk, M. (2021). The world is on fire. Herizons Magazine. 35(3), 40.
   
6. Birk, M. (2021, August 05). Critical race theory: ‘Diversity’ is not the solution, dismantling white supremacy is. The Conversation.
   
7. Birk, M. (2021). Inequities boost COVID fatalities. Herizons Magazine. 35(2), 40.
   
8. Birk, M. (2021). A braid called home. Te Ira Tangata: Women, Equity and Activism in Aotearoa. 1(1), 10-11.
   
9. Birk, M. (2017). Things that make you go hmmm: Unmaking of the racialized self in the graduate school classroom. Atlantis: Critical Studies in Gender, Culture & Social Justice. 38(1), 7-15. (PDF version)
   
10. Birk, M., Gill, H., & Heer, K. (2015). De-Islamizing Sikhaphobia: Deconstructing structural racism in Wisconsin gurdwara shooting 10/12. Education, Citizenship and Social Justice, 10(2), 97–106. doi:10.1177/1746197915583936
    
11. Birk, M. (2013). Brown acts of resistance: A glimpse into the lives of six activists. The International Journal of Diverse Identities, 12(3), 45–51.
    
12. Birk, M. (2013). Look into my eyes. Journal of Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education, and Society.

Projects:

1. EDI or Bust: Are university equity, diversity and inclusion policies working?
   
2. Anti-racist Pedagogies to Promote Racialized and Indigenous Student Wellness

In the Media:

1. New minors, faculty changes the direction of the Pauline Jewett Institute, The Charlatan (2022)
2. Challenging the status quo: Inequities in a pandemic, The Source | Forum of Diversity (2021)
3. Disrupting Discrimination. Carleton University’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (2021)