Dr. Kristen Thomasen is an Associate Member of the University of Ottawa Centre for Law, Technology and Society, and an Associate Professor and the Senior Chair of Law, Robotics and Society at the University of Windsor’s Faculty of Law.
Dr. Thomasen’s research agenda focuses broadly on a critical analysis of the legal, social, and ethical implications of robotic and automated technologies. She’s especially interested in the role that law and regulation play in how automated technologies shape shared and public spaces and information. She teaches courses on Law, Robotics, & Society and Tort Law.
Dr Thomasen has also served as an Assistant Professor at UBC’s Peter A. Allard School of Law (2021-2024) and previously as an Assistant Professor of Law, Robotics & Society at the University of Windsor’s Faculty of Law (2017-2020). She held the first North American law faculty position specifically in Law & Robotics.
Dr Thomasen completed her JD and PhD at the University of Ottawa. Throughout both degrees, she was an active member of the Centre and credits her 1L techno-ship with Ian Kerr for shaping her future legal career trajectory. She completed her PhD under the guidance and supervision of Ian Kerr, Jennifer Chandler, Teresa Scassa (supervisors), Jane Bailey and Carlisle Adams (advisors). Her SSHRC Joseph-Armand Bombardier-funded research articulated a theory of public space privacy harm to support the recognition of public space privacy violations in Canadian common law tort law. Her thesis engaged privacy, feminist, and legal geography theories to critique the history and current structure of the Canadian privacy torts. It calls for legal reform, particularly in light of the growth of automation-enabled interpersonal surveillance.
Prior to starting her Ph.D., Dr Thomasen clerked for the Supreme Court of Canada (2013-2014) and the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench (2012-2013). She is a member of the Law Society of Alberta.