Kadija Osei
Tenure Track Lecturer, Sociology
B.Sc. Hons (University of Toronto), M.A (University of Toronto), Ph.D, ABD. (University of Toronto)
Otonabee College 225, kadijaosei@trentu.ca
Classes I teach:
- SOCI 1001H – Introduction to Sociology: Critical Foundations
- CRIM 3617H – Criminological Data Analysis
Research Interests:
• Critical Criminology
• Corrections/Carceral Studies
• Black Canadian Studies
• Policing
• Criminal Justice Policy and Reform
• Race and the Criminal Justice System
• Community-Engaged Research
How does your research translate into your teaching, both through courses and supervision?
My research and teaching are deeply connected. As a Black woman scholar, my lived experience informs the questions I ask, the methods I use, and the ways I create learning spaces. The same commitments that shape my scholarship—foregrounding lived experience, challenging carceral logics, and amplifying voices historically excluded from criminological discourse—also guide my pedagogy. I draw on intersectionality, Afrocentric perspectives, and narrative approaches to help students critically examine how systems of punishment, surveillance, and institutional control operate in Canada and beyond.
These commitments translate into teaching practices that are anti-oppressive, experiential, and relational. I design courses on policing, incarceration, Black Canadian experiences, and community-engaged research to highlight connections between theory and practice, showing the relevance of scholarly inquiry to community life.
In supervision, I encourage students to see their positionality as a resource and to pursue work that is both rigorous and socially meaningful. Throughout my teaching, I strive to establish connections between disciplines, between the university and the community, and between academic and community-based knowledge.
Publications that exemplify my work:
Wortley, S., Owusu-Bempah, A. & Lodge-Tulloch, K. (2021). Crime & Justice: The Experiences of Black Canadians. In Perry, B. (Ed.), Diversity, crime and justice in Canada (3rd Edition). Oxford.
Osei, K., Husbands, C. (In Press). #Blackvoicesmatter: Defining “Lived-Experience” Through a Collaborative, Black Insider-Outsider Perspective. In Dum, C., Fader, J., LeBel, T., and Wright, K. (Eds.), DSC Handbook on Corrections and Sentencing: Lessons from Lived Experience (Vol 10). Taylor & Francis/Routledge
What achievements and/or contributions in research are you most proud of?
I am especially proud of my first co-authored chapter, Crime and Justice, which examined how Black bodies have long been constructed as the “dangerous other” in Canada. By tracing this trope through histories of migration, institutional exclusion, and systemic anti-Black racism, this work contributes to Black Canadian studies through the lens of crime and justice. It is meaningful to me because it represents my first collaboration with other scholars in producing research that documents, critiques, and challenges the structural forces shaping Black life in Canada.
Equally significant is my forthcoming co-authored piece, #BlackVoicesMatter, written in collaboration with a currently incarcerated colleague. This work challenges dominant narratives by centering lived experience and reflects my scholarly commitment to amplifying voices that have been historically excluded. Research should not only analyze systems of power, but also create space for new ways of imagining justice. Together, these publications reflect both my contributions to critical criminology and my commitment to scholarship that is rigorous, collaborative, and socially transformative.