We are pleased to announce that Professor Matthew Light has been appointed as Interim Director of the Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies, effective July 1, 2023, until December 31, 2023.
Matthew Light is Associate Professor at the Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies at the University of Toronto with a courtesy cross-appointment at the Centre for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies. Professor Light received his juris doctor (law) degree from Yale University in 1999 and his doctorate in political science at the same institution in 2006. From 2006 to 2008, he was employed as visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He was appointed Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto in 2008 and received tenure and promotion to Associate Professor in 2014.
Professor Light’s research focuses on migration, law enforcement, and criminal justice in the post-Soviet region. His book, Fragile Migration Rights (Routledge, 2016) was a comparison of the migration policies of regional governments in contemporary Russia. Other recent and ongoing research is devoted to policing and public safety in several post-Soviet states, including the Republic of Georgia, Armenia, Estonia, and Ukraine. Together with Aaron Erlich (McGill University) and Anne-Marie Singh (Toronto Metropolitan University), he administers an Insight Grant funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada to investigate the process of police reform in Ukraine since 2014. Professor Light’s publications have appeared in Post-Soviet Affairs, Europe-Asia Studies, Theoretical Criminology, and other journals. In addition, he currently serves on the international advisory board of Theoretical Criminology.
At the University of Toronto, Professor Light has served in a number of administrative capacities in the academic units with which he is affiliated, including as Undergraduate and Graduate Coordinator in the Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies and acting Graduate Coordinator in the Centre for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies.
Learn more about Professor Light's academic and professional background here.
Please join us in thanking Professor Audrey Macklin for her service as Director since January 1, 2017, and welcoming welcoming Professor Light to his new role.
As previously announced, Professor Kamari Clarke has been appointed as Director of the Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies, effective January 1, 2024, until December 31, 2028.