Suzanne Bouclin

Biography

Suzanne Bouclin teaches in the areas of social justice, human rights and conflict resolution.  Her courses examine legal institutions and structures through the lexicon, theories and methods of critical legal studies, feminist jurisprudence and film/communications studies.  She holds a PhD from McGill University, two interdisciplinary MAs and has been a member of the Law Society of Ontario since 2002.

Dr Bouclin is the recipient of the University of Ottawa’s prestigious Young Researcher of the Year Award (2015) and an outgoing member of the Global Young Academy (2016-2021). Her first monograph Women, Film, and Law (2021) explores how fictional representations of women’s incarceration can illuminate the marginalization, social exclusion, and oppression experienced by criminalized women.  Her current projects include: a study of how social justice is constituted through popular culture; a practical guide to engaging in conflict resolution to advance the rights of equity-seeking groups; and an on-going partnership with the Ottawa Mission helping street-involved people document their experiences through digital storytelling. 

Professor Bouclin is highly regarded for her work in furthering social justice for marginalized people. From 2016-2018 she was appointed to the Ontario Human Right’s Tribunal. In 2014, she relaunched the Ticket Defence Program - a free mobile legal clinic providing legal services to homeless people in Ottawa.  Throughout her career, she has advanced substantive equality by working for and with organizations such as Court Challenges Program of Canada; the National Associations Active in Criminal Justice ; the National Association of Women in the Law ; ProBono Students Canada; and the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund.  Her advocacy was recognized by her peers in 2014 with the Faculty of Law’s Community Service Award.

Suzanne Bouclin is a well-respected mediator, conducts workplace investigations, and regularly trains decision-makers and members of the legal profession on implicit bias.

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Selected Publications
 

Monographies

Suzanne Bouclin, Women, Film and Law: Cinematic Representations of Female Incarceration (UBC Press, 2021).
 

Articles

• (With Teresa Scassa, Amy Salyzyn, Jena McGill), “Developing Privacy Best Practices for Direct-to-Public Tech Tools: Observations and Lessons Learned” (2020) 18:1 Canadian Journal of Law and Technology. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3464400
• Bouclin, S.,  «Exploiter des techniques cinélégales pour mieux ressentir les effets qu'a la règlementation sur les personnes en situation d’itinérance » Canadian Journal of Law and Society (2019) 34:2, pp. 227-41 : https://muse.jhu.edu/article/744472
• Bouclin, S., “Favela Law in City of God” Annual Review of Interdisciplinary Justice Research (IJR), Representing Justice, Volume 7: Winter 2018, pp. 42-67: https://www.cijs.ca/volume-7
• Bouclin, S., “Marginalized Law Students and Mentoring” (2017) 48:2 Ottawa Law Review 357: https://www.cijs.ca/volume-7
• (With Jena McGill et Amy Salyzyn), “Mobile and Web-based Legal Apps: Opportunities, Risks and Information Gaps” (2017) Canadian Journal of Law and Technology 229.: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2960207
• Bouclin, S. « Faire basculer le climat de profilage social à Ottawa : le Programme de contestation des contraventions », Profilage social et judiciarisation de la marginalité, 2016, volume 22, numéro 1, pp. 123-157.  Click here to access this article.
• Bouclin, S. “Identifying Pathways and Experiences of Street-Involvement Through Case Law”, Dalhousie Law Journal, 2015, volume 38, number 2, pp. 345-83.  Click here to access this article.
• Bouclin, S., “Regulated Out of Existence: A Case Study of Ottawa’s Ticket Defence Program”, Journal of Law and Equality, 2014, volume 11, pp. 35-83.
• (With Marie-Andrée Denis-Boileau) « La cyberjustice comme réponse aux besoins juridiques des personnes itinérantes : son potentiel et ses embûches » (2013) 31:1 Recueil annuel d'accès à la justice de Windsor, 25-45
• Bouclin, S "YouTube and Muslim Women’s Legal Subjectivities" (2013) Oñati Socio-Legal Series [online], Vol 3 (7), 1158-1183.
• Bouclin, S  “Women’s Suffrage: A Cinematic Study”, Literature, History of Ideas, Images and Society, Special Issue: Equality Rights – Myth or Reality in Contemporary English-Speaking Societies, 2014, volume 12, number 7, online < http://lisa.revues.org/6918 >.
• Bouclin, S.,  «  Une analyse de la règlementation des personnes itinérantes selon une perspective pothienne” (2013) » Canadian Journal of Women and the Law 25(1), 1-30 (with J Pastora Sala).
• “(With Priyanka Vittal), “The Insite Decision and the Case for Supervised Consumption Facilities in Ottawa” (2012) C.J. Poverty Law 91-120 1:1
• Bouclin, S. "Regulating Sex Work in Canada” (2012) 3 Public Law 387.
• “Producing Film as Legal Knowledge” (2012) International Journal of the Humanities 9, online 7 pages.
• “Women in Prison’ Movies as Feminist Jurisprudence”(2009) Canadian Journal of Women and the Law / Revue femmes et droit 9 (21:1).
• “Dancers Empowering (Some) Dancers: The intersection of Race, Class and Gender in Organizing Marginal Workers” (2006) Race, Gender and Class 98 (13:3). 

Book Chapters

• Bouclin, S., "Roderick Macdonald’s Andragogy: Producing Fairness Through Education" in a D. Jutras, R. Jukier and R. Janda (eds.), The Unbounded Level of the Mind: Rod Macdonald’s Legal Imagination, McGill-Queen's University Press, 2015, pp. 33-40.
• Bouclin, S., « Méthodologies ambidextres en droit »; (Éditions Yvon Blais, 2013) Les cadres théoriques et le droit, sous la dir. Georges Azzaria, pp.347-350.
• Bouclin, S., “Producing Legal Subjectivities through Online Media” (2013) in A. Poletti & J. Rak (eds.) Identity Technologies: Producing Online Selves, University of Wisconsin Press. 
• Bouclin, S., “Punishment in Film” in W. Miller and J.G. Golson (eds.) The Social History of Crime and Punishment in America: An Encyclopedia (London & New York: Sage, 2012).
• Bouclin, S., “Playing Games with Law” in Z. Bankowski, M. Del Mar and P. Maharg (eds.) (2011) Beyond Text in Legal Education (with Gillian Calder & Sharon Cowan.
• Bouclin, S., “Female Judges” Encyclopedia of Women in Today’s World (Sage, 2011).
• Bouclin, S., “Feminism, Law, Film” in K. Brooks and C. Mathen (eds.) Women, Law, and Equality: A Discussion Guide (Irwin Law, 2010) pp.119-176.
• Bouclin, S., “Bad Girls Like Good Contracts: Erotic Dancers’ Resistance over Three Decades” in E. Faulkner and G. MacDonald (eds.) (Fernwood Press, 2009) Victim No More? Women Resisting the Label of Law pp.46-60.