The Research Cluster for The Study of Racism and Inequality (CSRI) announced the 2026 Awards for projects which develop novel opportunities for academic research that exposes forms of systemic racism and inequality and supports those looking to institute material changes that improve life in their communities.
The CSRI is a student-inspired initiative that strives to demonstrate how academic research on racism and inequality — when conducted in collaboration with communities who face these harms and with public sector partners — can be profoundly transformative. To date, the CSRI has supported or participated in more than 36 projects and events with collaborators across Canada and in 11 countries around the world
This year the CSRI received more applications than ever and was able to fund approximately 15% of the projects. Congratulations to each of the awardees, who will share their knowledge with the Cluster community during the 2026-2027 academic year.
The Right to Burn: Oral Histories of Indigenous Fire Law │Emma Feltes (Assistant Professor, CrimSL, University of Toronto)
Emma Feltes’ research examines the structure and operation of Canadian colonialism, with a focus on critical constitutionalism, international law and transnational decolonization, environmental crisis, and climate justice. A settler scholar, writer, and anticolonial activist, she draws on more than a decade working in alliance with Secwépemc and Tŝilhqot’in Peoples in interior British Columbia. Her current book project (forthcoming, Minnesota) examines the “Constitution Express,” a 1980s movement that opposed the patriation of Canada’s Constitution from the UK without Indigenous jurisdiction and consent. Her new research looks at state and Indigenous jurisdiction in times of emergency, focusing on decolonial responses to the climate crisis that spring from Indigenous legal orders. Her scholarship has been published in Anthropologica, BC Studies, and the Canadian Journal for Law and Society, and her public writing appears in The Conversation, The Breach, and the Globe and Mail. She has written numerous submissions to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in support of Indigenous land defenders. Previous to joining the University of Toronto, she was an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at York University, and a Fulbright Scholar and SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow at Cornell.
Networks of Remembrance: Creative Approaches to Antiracist Solidarities in the Wake of Anti-Muslim Violence │Sophie Marois (PhD Candidate, Sociology, University of Toronto)
Sophie Marois is a PhD candidate in sociology at the University of Toronto. Her dissertation research focuses on public responses to anti-Muslim violence in Canada, with particular attention to commemorative practices, legal proceedings, and solidarity networks. She also contributes to collaborative projects on critical terrorism studies, creative research methods, memory studies, and the sociology of emotions. Off campus, she is involved with the Ligue des droits et libertés-section de Québec and grassroots commemorations of the Québec City mosque shooting.
Decolonizing Sound: Collective Memory of Colombia’s 2021 Social Uprising through the Cacerolazo │Ricardo Medina-Rico (PhD candidate, Universidad de Salamanca, Spain, and Research Assistant, CrimSL, University of Toronto)
Ricardo Medina-Rico is a Colombian lawyer with degrees in Criminal Law and Administrative Law from Universidad del Rosario (Colombia). He holds a postgraduate degree in Criminal Law from Universidad de Salamanca (Spain), a master’s degree in Criminal Justice from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Spain), and a Master of Arts in Education from Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (Mexico).
His expertise includes Human Rights, Transitional Justice, Criminal Law, and societal equity. He has served as a delegated representative Ombudsman in Human Rights in Bogotá, overseeing compliance with policies, plans, and projects to promote and defend human rights and international humanitarian law. His work focused on verifying actions promoting human rights with a differential approach, emphasizing special constitutional protection for various groups in Bogota City.
With three years as a Senior Legal Officer at the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, he worked on Cases 05 and 02. In the academy, Ricardo has lectured and conducted research in various Colombian universities. He has written books and papers on human rights, constitutional law, criminal law, and transitional justice.
In his earlier role as a young researcher at Universidad del Rosario and in subsequent roles, including Academic Secretary at the School of Law, Universidad del Rosario, he was involved in internal reviews and data analysis to assess the effectiveness of Law and postgraduate programs. He implemented improvements, ensured compliance with Colombian law, and maintained quality assurance procedures.
Currently, Ricardo serves as a Research Officer at the University of Toronto in the Transnational Justice Project and the Transformative Memory Project. Simultaneously, he works as a Research Analyst for the UTQAP Process at the Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies. He is pursuing his PhD at Universidad de Salamanca (Spain) and is President of the Universidad del Rosario School of Law Bar Alumni Association.