Elizabeth Steyn

Academic Degrees:
LL.D. (Université de Montréal), LL.M. (University of South Africa), BA/LL.B. (University of Johannesburg)
Email: | esteyn2@uwo.ca |
Phone: | 519-661-2111, ext. 81363 |
Office: | LB 31 |
Elizabeth Steyn has been appointed the Cassels Brock Fellow in Mining and Finance Law, beginning May 1, 2018. Her appointment runs through until June 2020.
Steyn will lead Western Law’s interdisciplinary sustainable development curriculum, including the Global Sustainability Certification and the Graduate Diploma in Mining Law, Finance, and Sustainability.
“Elizabeth is a terrific addition to our mining law and sustainability program,” said Dean Erika Chamberlain. “She’s a talented academic who also brings a breadth of practical experience to her work. We are delighted that she will be joining us.”
Steyn obtained her Doctorate in Law (LL.D.) at the Université de Montréal, where her research focussed on addressing conflicts that arise at the intersection of Indigenous sacred sites and natural resource development projects in Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand (2018: Dean’s Honour List and Mention of Excellence). Her research is a synthesis of comparative law, legal anthropology, Indigenous theory, and international law. Fluent in five languages, she is the author/co-author of 12 articles/book chapters in peer-reviewed publications.
In 2016, Steyn spent four months as a Visiting Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Department of Law and Anthropology in Halle (Saale), Germany, at the invitation of its Director, Professor Marie-Claire Foblets. She returned there for conference participation purposes in 2017, as well as in 2018. At present she is collaborating with Professor Foblets on two forthcoming books, one of which is the Oxford Handbook on Law and Anthropology.
Originally from South Africa, she received her LL.M. cum laude (Council’s Award) from the University of South Africa, and graduated with a BA/LL.B. cum laude from the University of Johannesburg, where she served on the Faculty of Law from 1994 to 2003.
Steyn was admitted as an Advocate to the High Court of South Africa in 1994 and practiced in the natural resources and energy law, corporate law, corporate governance law, commercial law, and international trade law fields.