Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Chicago
Justin is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Chicago. He holds a J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley (Boalt Hall) School of Law (1996). He also holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of California, Los Angeles (2004).
Professor Richland’s areas of research interest include linguistic anthropology and semiotics, anthropology of law, contemporary Native American law and politics, Native American cultural resource protection and maintenance, and North American colonialism. He is the author of several works on the contemporary legal systems and practices of Native American Nations, including two books, Arguing with Tradition: The Language of Law in Hopi Tribal Court (U. Chicago Press, 2008) and (with Sarah Deer) Introduction to Tribal Legal Studies. 2nd Edition (Alta Mira Press, 2009). His articles appear in numerous leading peer review outlets, including American Ethnologist, American Anthropologist, Law and Society Review, Law and Social Inquiry, Political and Legal Anthropology Review, Law and Literature, American Indian Culture and Research Journal, and Wicazo Sa Review.
In addition to his academic research, Professor Richland is co-founder and Member of the Board of Directors of The Nakwatsvewat Institute, a Native American non-profit organization that offers social justice and technical assistance services to native nations and their governments. From 2005-2009 Professor Richland served as Justice Pro Tempore of the Hopi Appellate Court, the Hopi Nation’s highest court. Since 2006 he has served as Evidentiary Hearing Officer for the Morongo Band of Mission Indians. In 2010 he became co-editor of PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review.
