Dr. Ashley Glassburn
Associate Professor
Email: Ashley.Glassburn@uwindsor.ca
Dr. Ashley Glassburn (she/her/they/their) is an interdisciplinary scholar who uses feminist analysis of power and knowledge production to understand the role of historical narrative in shaping Indigenous subjectivity, political rights, and belonging. She has been a faculty member in Women's and Gender Studies since 2018. Glassburn is a member of the Miami Nation of Indians of Indiana with whom she serves as a research consultant and Myaamia language educator.
Her book manuscript (in-process) “Settling the Past: Epistemic Violence and the Making of Indigenous Subjectivities” draws on Miami's historical narratives and contemporary political projects to explore the dynamics of race, land, and historical evidence in constituting contemporary Indigenous identity. Glassburn approaches the archives from a Miami feminist standpoint, which critically interrogates the relationship of power and knowledge through a distinctively-Miami-informed perspective.
What do you like most about the program of Women's and Gender Studies (WGST)?
Ashley: I love that the Women’s & Gender Studies program at the University of Windsor prepares students to speak up for justice and use their voices. There are lots of opportunities for students to take on leadership opportunities and participate in cool projects.
What do you like most about the University of Windsor?
Ashley: The University of Windsor has tons of opportunities for students to get involved in student organizations and there is amazing original research that students can participate in too. In WGST students can learn to lead Bystander workshops, take courses with incarcerated students, or work on a number of major research projects.
What do you find most rewarding about your current role?
Ashley: I love working with students on original research and right now I have five students working with me on research projects. I love seeing students think through research problems and figure out how to move forward.
What projects are you currently working on?
Ashley: I am currently working on 2 sets of research projects. The first is historical nature – trying to understand how historical narratives about the Miami Nation of Indians impact contemporary Miami identity and sovereignty. This coming summer I will have students helping me to plan, gather, and analyze interviews with the Miami about history, how it is learned, and how it feels. The second is a series of projects related to learning and teaching Myaamia, the ancestral language of Miami. Some students are working with me to develop new resources for teaching Myaamia and other students are going with me to Indiana to teach workshops in Myaamia.
Why did you choose to become a professor?
Ashley: When I first went to graduate school, I was driven by a series of questions about social justice and how to build social structures that are sustainably reaching toward liberation for all. Quickly I realized that I am something of a research head. I love research. I love asking big questions and figuring out how to learn the answer. I love teaching research methodologies and watching students explore the curiosity and surprises of doing original research. Nearly nothing is as it seems when you start asking good questions about the world around you.
What is your educational background?
Ashley: I have a bachelor’s degree with a triple major in Religion, Philosophy, and Sociology, a master’s in Philosophy, and then a master’s and PhD in Women’s & Gender Studies.
What is a fun fact about you?
Ashley: In general when I get interested in a topic, I take a deep, deep dive into it. So, over the years I have had many side-obsessions. At one point I was really into moss. I hiked and harvested lots of mosses and grew a giant moss carpet in my backyard. Mosses have six different ways that they can reproduce and sexual reproduction is just one of them.