James W. St.G. Walker

  • James W. St.G. Walker
  • Professor
  • History
  • Office Location: HH 112 (UW)
  • E-mail Address: jwwalker@uwaterloo.ca
  • Phone Number: 519.888.4567, ext. 33706

Background

James Walker is Professor of History and Associate Chair (Graduate Studies) at the University of Waterloo, where he specializes in the history of human righs and race relations. In 2003-2004 he was the Bora Laskin National Fellow in Human Rights Research. He has written four books and co-edited another, and he has published numberous articles and book chapters analysing campaigns for human rights reform.

In the 1960s he served as a CUSO volunteer with a Gandhian association in India, engaging in community development projects. As a student in Toronto he participated in the local support group for the US civil rights movement ("Friends of SNCC"), and later as a graduate student in Halifax he was a founder and teacher in the Transition Year Program for African-Canadians and First Nations students at Dalhousie University.

Returning to Ontario, he was a founder and long-time board member of the Global Community Centre of Kitchener-Waterloo, and has served on the boards of several NGOs with an international focus including CUSO and the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute. He is currently working on a book to be entitled "Look Over Jordan: The Canadian Journey Toward Racial Equality". 

 

Select Publications

  • “‘ Race’ and the Law”, in Maria Wallis and Augie Fleras, eds., The Politics of Race in Canada, Oxford University Press (Canada), 2009, 5-23.
  • "On the Record: The Testimony of Canada's Black Pioneers," in A. W. Bonnett and C.B. Holder, eds., Continuing Perspectives on the Black Diaspora, University Press of America, 2009, 89-126.
  • “Approaching African-Canadian History”, in David Divine, ed., Multiple Lenses: Voices from the Diaspora, Cambridge Scholar Publishing, 2008.
  • “Forty Years in the Wilderness: The Indian Diaspora and Canadian Citizenship”, Directions: Research from the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, Vol. 4 (2008), 64-76.
  • Critical Mass: The Emergence of Global Civil Society, edited by James W. St.G. Walker and Andrew S. Thompson. Centre for International Governance Innovation and Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2008. Pp. v-299.

Academic/Professional Awards

  • Bora Laskin National Fellowship in Human Rights, 2003-2004