Adam Ellis

Assistant Professor
Dr. Adam Ellis

Contact information

Education

  • 2020    Ph.D. Faculty of Arts and Science -- Criminology & Sociolegal Studies, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON Supervisor: Dr. Scot Wortley
  • 2010    M.A. Immigration and Settlement Studies,Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, Supervisor: Dr. Anne-Marie Singh
  • 2009    B.A. Liberal Arts & Professional Studies -- Criminology, York University, Toronto, ON
  • 2007    CAAT Diploma – Community and Justice Services Program, Centennial College, Scarborough, ON

Research and Teaching Areas:

Research areas:

  • Gangs & Gang Violence
  • Trauma, Mental Health and Crime/Violence
  • Street Indoctrination
  • Underground Markets
  • Decolonizing Research
  • Lived Experience Scholarship
  • Autoethnography/Indigenous Storytelling
  • Neurodiversity and Disability Justice

Teaching areas:

  • The Sociology of Gangs
  • Organized Crime
  • Decolonizing Research Methods
  • Urban Arts/Hip Hop Pedagogy
  • Urban Arts/Hip Hop Research Methods

Research Agenda

I am currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology & Legal Studies. I am a decolonizing/arts/lived experience and justice impacted scholar. My unique and innovative research agenda focuses on two primary areas – Gang/Street Research and Arts-Based Research.

Gang/Street Research: First, building on my award-winning (SSHRC-Vanier Graduate Scholarship) doctoral work that focused on the interrelationship between trauma, memory and gangs/gang violence, I continue to develop research projects that challenge our understanding of ‘gangs’ specifically, and more broadly the ‘street life’. To challenge/disrupt the status quo and to paint a more detailed picture of gang/street life, I have moved away from traditional knowledge creation methods. Alternatively, and in recent months, I have begun to focus on “research creation”, including autoethnographic/Indigenous storytelling/arts-based approaches. In this context my knowledge creation process draws on my personal memory/experiences as a starting point for exploratory research. It is through this lens and/or ‘double vision’ that I am able to raise critical questions about the social issues that impacted me directly and/or the communities (marginalized areas in Toronto) I was raised in. From this personal standpoint I have also expanded outward to include and centralize the voices of other communities and peoples in my research with similar experiences/stories.

Arts-Based Research: In the second stream of my research agenda, I seek to explore and understand the utility of art as research/practice and pedagogy. My current research, anchored in decolonizing/arts-based/lived-experience scholarship, now strives to incorporate art (urban ats specifically) as a positive way for both self determination and knowledge creation that steps outside of the handcuffs of colonial/traditional education and research.

Pedagogy outside of academia

In 2021 I founded The Street Institute. The Street Institute is an international collective of critical scholars and community activists – with direct knowledge and experiences of life on the ‘streets’ – whose research interests and advocacy focuses on the structural factors that impact and manifest in the psycho-social harms and wellbeing of marginalized communities. Our work draws on participatory, community-driven research as a tool to drive social and political change. We are committed to transforming mainstream knowledge about the streets by drawing on, and utilizing, decolonizing/arts-based methods/methodologies as a mechanism to centralize the voices of those who are often silenced by the systems of control. As our work primarily focuses on community-based research projects we also seek to train/employ marginalized and criminalized youth as researchers, where we may also have the opportunity to mentor them toward an academic life.  Through this work we also support and mentor college/university students through field placements and volunteer opportunities.

https://www.thestreetinstitute.com/

Publications

Books

  • Ellis, A., Marques, O. and Gunter, A. (Eds.)2023 Thug Criminology: A Call to Action. Toronto: UofT Press (led the overall development of the book and contributed 4 co-authored peer reviewed chapters)Thug Criminology - University of Toronto Press

Chapters in Books

Articles in Refereed Journals

Submitted Books or Papers

Books

  • Ellis, A. Gunter, A. & Rumboldt, J. Know(the)Ledge: Taking on the University Industrial Complex: University of Toronto Press. Under Review. (led the overall development of the book and contributed 6 peer-reviewed chapters)

Journal Articles

Government Reports

  • 2022 Ellis, A. (w/ TNT Consulting). Youth Service Officer Review. Report submitted to the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services.
  • 2020 Ellis, A. and Luca Berardi. Street Organization Transformation Model: The Foundation. A report submitted to the City of Toronto’s Youth Development Unit.

Other Publications

Op Ed’s

2019    Will a public health approach reduce violence? Toronto Star Op-ed, Senior Writer, January 9.

2019    Take it from someone who has been in a gang: tackling the symptoms won’t fix the problem. CBC Op-ed, Senior Writer, January 14.

Interviews

2022    Youth Violence in the GTA. CBC News, February 10.

2021    Durham’s new Black-owned non-profit helps formerly incarcerated. Clarington This Week, August 19.

2020    Toronto police announce ‘neighbourhood teams’ in new gun violence plan, conceding years of major gang sweeps have been ineffective. Toronto Star, October 22.

2020    'You had to pick a side': Growing up in gangland. DurhamRegion.com, June 3.   

2019    Canada election brings call to arms against gun violence, AFP News. October 20.         

2019    Researching the root of gun violence. Breakfast Television, August 9.    

2019    The Year of the Gun. CBC Documentary, n.d.                           

2018    Gang Violence in Toronto. Guest, CBC Documentary, n.d.                                            

2014    Refugee Resettlement-Cambodia. Advisor, Phnom Phen Post, n.d.

Research Grants

Research Grants

Current

  • 2024-2026 Ellis, A (PI)., Singh, R., and Rumboldt, J. (Co-Pi’s). Challenging Mainstream Narratives About the Canadian War on Drugs through the Urban Arts: Stories of Survivors -- SSHRC IDG grant—Awarded $70,500 Award Recipients for Insight Development Grants: 2024 Competition
  • 2024-2026 Ellis, A. (PI) Hip Hop Healer(z): A Mixed-Methods Evaluation of Hip-Hop Therapy vs. Probation in Reducing Violence and Mental Health Problems Amongst Gang/Street-Involved Youth – UW Relations and Waterloo Regional Police – Awarded $25, 000
  • 2023 The Justice Fund – Community Book Publishing Grant – Know(the)Ledge: Taking on the University Industrial Complex—Awarded $5000 Justice Fund — Home
  • 2022 Learning Innovation and Teaching Enhancement (LITE) Grant (2022) -- Towards an Urban Arts Pedagogy: Exploring Students' Perspectives About Arts-Based Learning—Awarded $4900
  • 2016 Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship-SSHRC, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON—Awarded $150,000

Other Awards