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Robert A Williams

  • Professor, Law
  • Regents Professor
  • Chair, E Thomas Sullivan - Law / American Indian Studies
  • Professor, Social / Cultural / Critical Theory - GIDP
  • Professor, American Indian Studies-GIDP
  • Member of the Graduate Faculty
Contact
  • (520) 621-5622
  • Rogers Rountree Hall, Rm. RH308
  • Tucson, AZ 85721
  • williams@law.arizona.edu
  • Bio
  • Interests
  • Courses
  • Scholarly Contributions

Biography

Robert A. Williams, Jr. is the E. Thomas Sullivan Professor of Law and Faculty Chair of the University of Arizona Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program. Professor Williams received his B.A. from Loyola College (1977) and his J.D. from Harvard Law School (1980). He was named the first Oneida Indian Nation Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School (2003-2004), having previously served there as Bennet Boskey Distinguished Visiting Lecturer of Law. He is the author of The American Indian in Western Legal Thought: The Discourses of Conquest (1990), which received the Gustavus Meyers Human Rights Center Award as one of the outstanding books published in 1990 on the subject of prejudice in the United States.  He has also written Linking Arms Together: American Indian Treaty Visions of Law and Peace, 1600-1800 (1997) and Like a Loaded Weapon: The Rehnquist Court, Indian Rights and the Legal History of Racism in America (2005). He is co-author of Federal Indian Law: Cases and Materials (6th ed., with David Getches, Charles Wilkinson, and Matthew Fletcher, 2011). His latest book is Savage Anxieties: The Invention of Western Civilization (Palgrave Macmillan 2012). The 2006 recipient of the University of Arizona Koffler Prizefor Outstanding Accomplishments in Public Service, Professor Williams has received major grants and awards from the Soros Senior Justice Fellowship Program of the Open Society Institute, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the National Institute of Justice. He has represented tribal groups and members before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Peoples, the United States Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court of Canada. Professor Williams has served as Chief Justice for the Court of Appeals, Pascua Yaqui Indian Reservation, and as Justice for the Court of Appeals and trial judge pro tem for the Tohono O’odham Nation. He was named one of 2011’s “Heroes on the Hill” by Indian Country Today for his human rights advocacy work as Lead Counsel for the Hul’qumi’num Treaty Group of Canada before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.  

Degrees

  • J.D. Law
    • Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
  • B.A. English Literature/Journalism
    • Loyola College, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America

Work Experience

  • Harvard Law School (2004 - 2005)
  • Harvard Law School (2002 - 2003)
  • Harvard Law School (2000 - 2001)
  • Harvard Law School (2000 - 2001)
  • University of Washington, Seattle, Washington (1992 - 1993)
  • University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona (1987 - Ongoing)

Awards

  • UA Gerald J. Swanson Prize for Teaching Excellence
    • University of Arizona, Provost's Office, Spring 2020

Licensure & Certification

  • Member, Massachusetts Bar Association (1980)

Related Links

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Interests

Research

Federal Indian Law; Critical Race Theory and Practice; Indigenous Peoples' Human Rights; Legal History of Colonialism.

Teaching

Federal Indian Law; Critical Race Theory and Practice; International Law and Indigenous Peoples Rights; International Human Rights; Comparative Indigenous Rights; Tribal Courts and Customary Law; Property Law; Critical Race Theory and Practice International Human Rights Advocacy Workshop (2011-Present);Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Clinic

Courses

2022-23 Courses

  • Comp Lgl Sys & Nation Building
    LAW 631M (Spring 2023)
  • Dissertation
    LAW 920 (Spring 2023)
  • Independent Study
    LAW 699 (Spring 2023)
  • Dissertation
    LAW 920 (Fall 2022)
  • Independent Study
    LAW 699 (Fall 2022)

2021-22 Courses

  • American Common Law System II
    LAW 402B (Spring 2022)
  • American Common Law System II
    LAW 502B (Spring 2022)
  • Dissertation
    LAW 920 (Spring 2022)
  • Independent Study
    LAW 699 (Spring 2022)
  • Intl Hum Rght+Indig Peop
    LAW 527 (Spring 2022)
  • Comp Lgl Sys & Nation Building
    LAW 631M (Winter 2021)
  • American Common Law System I
    LAW 402A (Fall 2021)
  • American Common Law System I
    LAW 502A (Fall 2021)
  • Dissertation
    LAW 920 (Fall 2021)
  • Independent Study
    LAW 699 (Fall 2021)
  • Thesis
    LAW 910 (Fall 2021)

2020-21 Courses

  • American Common Law System II
    LAW 402B (Spring 2021)
  • American Common Law System II
    LAW 502B (Spring 2021)
  • Comp Lgl Sys & Nation Building
    LAW 631M (Spring 2021)
  • Dissertation
    LAW 920 (Spring 2021)
  • Honors Thesis
    LAW 498H (Spring 2021)
  • Independent Study
    LAW 699 (Spring 2021)
  • Intl Hum Rght+Indig Peop
    LAW 527 (Spring 2021)
  • Thesis
    LAW 910 (Spring 2021)
  • American Common Law System I
    LAW 402A (Fall 2020)
  • American Common Law System I
    LAW 502A (Fall 2020)
  • Dissertation
    LAW 920 (Fall 2020)
  • Honors Thesis
    LAW 498H (Fall 2020)
  • Independent Study
    LAW 599 (Fall 2020)
  • Independent Study
    LAW 699 (Fall 2020)

2019-20 Courses

  • Independent Study
    LAW 699 (Summer I 2020)
  • American Common Law System II
    LAW 402B (Spring 2020)
  • American Common Law System II
    LAW 502B (Spring 2020)
  • Comp Lgl Sys & Nation Building
    LAW 631M (Spring 2020)
  • Dissertation
    LAW 920 (Spring 2020)
  • Honors Thesis
    LAW 498H (Spring 2020)
  • Independent Study
    LAW 699 (Spring 2020)
  • Preceptorship
    LAW 491 (Spring 2020)
  • Preceptorship
    LAW 491H (Spring 2020)
  • Thesis
    LAW 910 (Spring 2020)
  • American Common Law System I
    LAW 402A (Fall 2019)
  • American Common Law System I
    LAW 502A (Fall 2019)
  • Comp Law/Indigenous Peop
    LAW 656G (Fall 2019)
  • Dissertation
    LAW 920 (Fall 2019)
  • Honors Independent Study
    LAW 499H (Fall 2019)
  • Independent Study
    LAW 499 (Fall 2019)
  • Independent Study
    LAW 699 (Fall 2019)
  • Thesis
    LAW 910 (Fall 2019)

2018-19 Courses

  • Independent Study
    LAW 699 (Summer I 2019)
  • American Common Law System II
    LAW 402B (Spring 2019)
  • American Common Law System II
    LAW 502B (Spring 2019)
  • Clinical Practice
    LAW 696C (Spring 2019)
  • Dissertation
    LAW 920 (Spring 2019)
  • Independent Study
    LAW 699 (Spring 2019)
  • Pre-Bar Professional Skills
    LAW 698A (Spring 2019)
  • Comp Lgl Sys & Nation Building
    LAW 631M (Winter 2018)
  • American Common Law System I
    LAW 402A (Fall 2018)
  • American Common Law System I
    LAW 502A (Fall 2018)
  • Dissertation
    LAW 920 (Fall 2018)
  • Independent Study
    LAW 699 (Fall 2018)
  • Preparing to Practice
    LAW 679B (Fall 2018)

2017-18 Courses

  • Independent Study
    LAW 699 (Summer I 2018)
  • American Common Law System II
    LAW 402B (Spring 2018)
  • American Common Law System II
    LAW 502B (Spring 2018)
  • Comp Lgl Sys & Nation Building
    LAW 631M (Spring 2018)
  • Critical Race Practice
    LAW 631H (Spring 2018)
  • Dissertation
    LAW 920 (Spring 2018)
  • Honors Thesis
    LAW 498H (Spring 2018)
  • Independent Study
    LAW 699 (Spring 2018)
  • NALSA Moot Court
    LAW 661C (Spring 2018)
  • Pre-Bar Professional Skills
    LAW 698A (Spring 2018)
  • Substantial Paper Smnr
    LAW 696N (Spring 2018)
  • American Common Law System I
    LAW 402A (Fall 2017)
  • American Common Law System I
    LAW 502A (Fall 2017)
  • Dissertation
    LAW 920 (Fall 2017)
  • Honors Thesis
    LAW 498H (Fall 2017)
  • Independent Study
    LAW 699 (Fall 2017)

2016-17 Courses

  • Independent Study
    LAW 699 (Summer I 2017)
  • Legal Internship
    LAW 493A (Summer I 2017)
  • American Common Law System II
    LAW 402B (Spring 2017)
  • American Common Law System II
    LAW 502B (Spring 2017)
  • Comp Lgl Sys & Nation Building
    LAW 631M (Spring 2017)
  • Critical Race Practice
    LAW 631H (Spring 2017)
  • Dissertation
    LAW 920 (Spring 2017)
  • Honors Thesis
    LAW 498H (Spring 2017)
  • Pre-Bar Professional Skills
    LAW 698A (Spring 2017)
  • Thesis
    LAW 910 (Spring 2017)
  • American Common Law System I
    LAW 402A (Fall 2016)
  • American Common Law System I
    LAW 502A (Fall 2016)
  • Dissertation
    LAW 920 (Fall 2016)
  • Independent Study
    LAW 699 (Fall 2016)

2015-16 Courses

  • Dissertation
    LAW 920 (Summer I 2016)
  • Independent Study
    LAW 699 (Summer I 2016)
  • American Common Law System II
    LAW 402B (Spring 2016)
  • American Common Law System II
    LAW 502B (Spring 2016)
  • Critical Race Practice
    LAW 631H (Spring 2016)
  • Dissertation
    LAW 920 (Spring 2016)
  • Independent Study
    LAW 699 (Spring 2016)
  • Pre-Bar Professional Skills
    LAW 698A (Spring 2016)

Related Links

UA Course Catalog

Scholarly Contributions

Chapters

  • Williams, R. A. (2020). Like A Loaded Weapon. In Carving Out a Humanity: The Derrick Bell lectures on Race in American Society(pp 171-189). Ch. 12: The New Press.

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