The Department of Law and Legal Studies is pleased to announce that undergraduate student Samira Amid is a recipient of a 2021 Carleton University Student Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Award valued at $10,000. Congratulations!
Samira Amid
Samira’s winning research project is entitled A Qualitative Study of the Relationship Between Police and Racialized Male Youth Living in Canadian Social Housing Communities. She designed the research proposal as part of an assignment for her LAWS 3908 – Approaches in Legal Studies II. Professor William Hébert, the course instructor, is thrilled to be her EDI research supervisor this summer.
“The issue of systemic racism in law enforcement is one of the most pressing subjects of research to explore, and Samira’s project promises to provide nuanced insights into underprivileged youth of color’s encounters with police. It also acts as evidence of her dedication to improving the lives of persons who come into conflict with the law. I am honored to supervise this deserving and resilient student as she undertakes her important social justice-informed undergraduate research. Congratulations, Samira!” – Professor Hébert
This project is designed as the preliminary portion of a larger ethnographic study that would explore how policing shapes gang involvement among racialized youth in social housing communities, which Samira plans to continue researching as a Master’s student. This project emerges from professional and personal experiences that have influenced her awareness of how the policing methods used in social housing communities negatively impact racialized youth, a group already facing significant structural barriers and institutionalized oppression across social institutions. Samira explains “My intention with my research is not to further stigmatize these youth but instead, to redress their biased portrayal and underrepresentation in academic literature and broader society.”
Congratulations Samira!