Gavin Furrey

Background

About Gavin Furrey

With family roots in the prairies of South Dakota, and an up-bringing in the desert of Arizona, I eventually found my way to Montreal, QC as a student of French and Political Science. My research so far as an independent scholar, and currently as a PhD student at the University of Ottawa, examines varieties of political interventions in schooling, notably in the wake of critical social movements that lay bare the racism and colonialism of the state. More broadly I am interested in settler colonial-Indigenous politics in a comparative lens, and in how citizenship subjectivities are crafted to salvage certain visions of society or to pursue new ones. While I am a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe with Lakota Sincangu ancestry, my scholarly positionality is that of a settler, due to my lived experiences and relationships. My work is oriented towards promoting Indigenous agency, autonomy, and futurity across Turtle Island in a spirit of allyship. My intention is to contribute to both theoretical and applicable research that aligns with my values of promoting epistemological diversity, self-determination for Indigenous peoples in matters of education (among others), social justice, transformative praxis, and radical optimism. I am also a second degree black belt in Jhoon Rhee Tae Kwon Do and have been actively training and teaching for 21 years. I am a four time Arizona state champion, and ranked in NASKA’s Top 10 in 2012. More recently I have taught tricking and sports karate, and have also run my own program in partnership with the Mistissini Sports and Recreation Department. My intention is to continue growing as a martial artist through teaching, training, and learning.