In both her teaching and research, Angela Cameron has been a tireless advocate for Indigenous Peoples, women, the 2SLGBTQI+ community and for individuals underrepresented in or unprotected by law. Her efforts to integrate social justice into her teaching practices have encouraged students to explore a broad range of possibilities for bringing real change to the world. One assignment in her Property Law class, for example, invites students to visit specific sites in Ottawa to answer substantive legal questions through the lenses of Indigenous law and Crown-Indigenous relations. Students then complete a creative project which allows them to bring their property law learning to an interpretation of a site they have visited. Students have presented poems, sculptures, music, board games and a variety of other creative outputs. By introducing experiential learning elements into her classes, Dr. Cameron not only enables students to develop a variety of skills but affords them the space to make meaningful discoveries through unique experiences. Through this hands-on engagement, students learn to devise practical solutions that can make a tangible difference for vulnerable populations.
Dr. Cameron has been a driving force on multiple levels in adding Indigenous legal content to the core curriculum at the Common Law Section. As a most recent example, she has been a crucial part of the Common Law Section’s efforts to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action 28, which calls upon law schools in Canada to require law students to take a course in Indigenous laws and legal traditions. As a longstanding member of the Section’s Indigenous Legal Traditions Committee, Dr. Cameron played a crucial role in Common Law’s pilot project in the winter of 2023, teaching a module to all first-year students to help them understand the history and origin of the TRC and their responsibilities to the TRC’s recommendations as law students and as future lawyers. She continued these efforts in the 2023-2024 academic year and has been integral in the creation of a mandatory 3-credit course, which will become a permanent part of the first-year curriculum in 2025.
Dr. Cameron’s teaching is informed by an active and prolific research and publication agenda. As a researcher, Dr. Cameron has explored a variety of themes such as gendered violence, third-party reproduction and Indigenous-settler relations through feminist approaches and critical feminist perspectives, often integrating elements of this research inside the classroom. Throughout her research, Dr. Cameron dares to ask how law might evolve if traditionally marginalized voices were equal partners in its conception and application.
The University of Ottawa Award for Excellence in Teaching is overseen by the Association of Professors of the University of Ottawa (APUO) which aims to annually recognize teaching staff for outstanding contributions to university teaching. The award recipient receives an honorarium of $5,000.
Congratulations to Professor Angela Cameron on this well-deserved distinction!