Professor picked for Fulbright

  Friday, September 2, 2016 2:00 AM
  News

Pittsburg, KS

Roy Janisch, a Pittsburg State University faculty member, has just begun another university academic year, but this year, it’s not on the Pittsburg State campus.

Janisch, an associate professor of justice studies in PSU’s Department of History, Philosophy and Social Sciences, is on a nine-month Fulbright fellowship at Vancouver Island University in Vancouver, Canada, where he has been named the university’s inaugural Fulbright Canada Jarislowsky visiting research chair in Aboriginal studies.

At VIU, Janisch plans to focus on restorative justice, an approach that emphasizes the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with victims and the community. For his research, Janisch will study the confluence of identity, Indian sovereignty and governmental forms on crime and justice in Native American communities.

“I’ll be looking at indigenous American Indian criminal justice philosophies and practices,” said Janisch, who is an associate professor of justice studies in PSU’s Department of History, Philosophy and Social Sciences.

As a member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, Janisch has a perspective that he believes will help him in his research.

“I will be gathering data in communities often suspicious of outsiders,” Janisch said.

Janisch also has a head start because he spent his sabbatical at VIU.

“The fact that I will be able to use the good offices of the university and its Department for the Study of First Nations to assist me in gathering data..is an invaluable research opportunity,” Janisch said.

Through interviews, Janisch will compare U.S. Native American and Canadian First Nations Peoples’ ideas of justice. He’ll examine incarceration rates in prisons and the laws, policies and procedures that affect the criminal justice systems in both countries.

Janisch said he was excited to be selected for the Fulbright not just because of the research opportunities, but because of what those opportunities can bring to his classes at Pittsburg State.

“Obviously, by expanding my knowledge and research skills, I can enhance my classroom performance,” Janisch said. “Specifically, students will benefit as I incorporate an international and cultural perspective into the classes I teach.”

Those classes range from “Introduction to Justice Studies” and “Community Policing,” to “White Collar Crime.”

Barbara Bonnekessen, chair of the Department of History, Philosophy and Social Sciences, said the university is proud to have a faculty member selected for this Fulbright and excited about what it means for PSU students in the future.

“Our department is very excited to have Dr. Janisch serve at Vancouver Island University,” Bonnekessen said. “Not only is this a very competitive honor to achieve, but Dr. Janisch’s research in restorative justice, specifically as it is handled in indigenous communities and First Nations, will be of great educational and professional value to our students here at PSU. Many of our justice studies students plan on careers in law enforcement. When Dr. Janisch returns, they will have the opportunity to learn almost firsthand of traditional justice systems that have immense applicability to current law enforcement concerns.”

Janisch’s Fulbright runs through May 2017.