Dr. Michelle Lam
As director of a research centre that focuses on rural and Indigenous community-engaged research, Dr. Lam is invested in developing partnerships and working collaboratively with community members, students, researchers, teachers, and leaders to ensure research knowledge is accessible, ethical, and useful to the community. She has managed multiple federal funding grants and has single-authored and co-authored national and international publications on areas such as equity, ethics, positionality, and research methodology. Her strong background in interdisciplinary collaboration and community-based research serves her well in carrying out community-engaged, participatory projects. She has received numerous awards as well as invitations to share her knowledge through keynotes, book chapters, articles, lectures, and presentations.
Dr. Lam co-hosts a podcast, Leaning In and Speaking Out, which connects university researchers with community members over topics of shared interest. She also created a board game, Refugee Journeys, which is an educational tool designed to promote discussions about newcomer integration in Canada. The game has been featured on CBC radio, in the Columbus Museum of Art, in Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees, and has been used for Peace Days Winnipeg. She wrote about the game for The Conversation and also was interviewed about the game for an article on Deconstructing Privilege. She also used the game as part of the data collection process for her dissertation.
More recently, Dr. Lam worked with a team of research assistants, scriptwriters, filmmakers, and advisors to create a series of four anti-racist education films based on the survey findings of 500 Manitobans about their experiences with racism in the province. The films have been used in professional development, training, workshops, learning circles, schools, newcomer serving organizations, and with UNESCO high schools and the Museum of Human Rights. She is currently developing a fifth film, and creating a series of learning workshops designed to facilitate and evaluate anti-racism training and impact. She is also working on a film and photography project exploring Indigenous identity and is collaborating with a school division to document the process and impact of a school and community-based reconciliation initiative. She is interested in pursuing projects relating to community-based education for reconciliation in rural areas.
Select Publications:
Lam, M. (2024). Suppression for the sake of survival: Multisectoral rural voices on belonging and anti-racism. In V. Tavares & M. Dodman (Eds.), Reconstructions of Canadian Identity. University of Manitoba Press. https://uofmpress.ca/books/reconstructions-of-canadian-identity
Lam, M., Humphreys, D., Maltais-Laponte, G., Mayuom, A., & Spence, S. (2023). The Realities of Racism: Exploring Attitudes in Manitoba, Canada. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 0(0), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/07256868.2023.2270927
Lam, M. (2019). Language Education for Newcomers in Rural Canada: Needs, Opportunities, and Innovations. Journal of Rural and Community Development, 14(1), 76-97. https://journals.brandonu.ca/jrcd/article/view/1596