Glenn Morris

photo of glenn morris
J.D. | Associate Professor
Department of Political Science

Office Location:
Student Commons Building #3227

Expertise Areas:

Indigenous Peoples; Race & Gender in Law and Policy; Civil Liberties and Constitutional Law; Indigenous Peoples, United Nations, and International Law; Human Rights; Ethnic Conflict

Professor Morris' areas of expertise are indigenous peoples in the international legal and political arena, public law, civil liberties, and race/gender and the law. He has been active in the development of international legal standards for the defense of the rights of indigenous peoples for over thirty years. In the area of indigenous peoples' rights, he teaches "Indigenous Peoples' Politics," "Indigenous Political Systems," "Indigenous Peoples in International Law," and "Advanced Indigenous Politics." As a graduate of Harvard Law School, he also teaches a variety of law-related courses for the department, including "Race, Gender, Law and Public Policy," "Contemporary Issues in Civil Liberties," "Judicial Politics," and a freshmen seminar, "Law 101." Morris serves as the pre-law advisor for the department, and is one of two pre-law advisors for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Professor Morris directs the Fourth World Center (FWC), for the Study of Indigenous Law and Politics at CU-Denver, www.fourthworldcenter.org. The FWC provides resources, research and other opportunities for the examination of the condition of indigenous peoples in a global context. For the past five consecutive years, Morris, through the FWC, has trained, sponsored and supervised the participation of dozens of indigenous students with the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York. An example of this work was featured in Indian Country today, the largest American Indian newspaper in the United States: http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/95123249.html

Professor Morris has been awarded the permanent designation of President's Teaching Scholar (the highest peer-nominated teaching/scholarly award bestowed by the University of Colorado). He has also been the recipient of the Rosa Parks Civil Rights Award, the Cesar Chavez/Cinco de Mayo Human Rights Award, Native American Educator of the Year Award, and the Martin Luther King Peace Award. He serves as a board member, advisor and/or consultant to several boards, commissions and councils at the local, state and national level, in both the Native and non-Native communities.

Harvard University Law School - Juris Doctor, Law
University of Colorado - B.A., Political Science

Native Voices: American Indian Identity and Resistance, Richard A. Grounds, George E. Tinker, David Wilkins, eds., (Lawrence: University of Kansas Press). Book Chapter: "Vine Deloria, Jr. and the Development of a Decolonizing Critique of Indigenous Peoples in International Relations."

"In Support of the Right of Self-Determination for Indigenous Peoples Under International Law," 29 German Yearbook of International Law  277, University of Kiel, West Germany. Cited in International Political Science Abstracts, International Political Science Association, Paris.

Indigenous Peoples' Politics (Undergradute and Graduate) 
Advanced Indigenous Peoples' Politics (Graduate) 
Race, Gender, Law and Public Policy (Undergraduate) 
Indigenous Political Systems (Undergraduate)
Contemporary Issues in Civil Liberties (Undergraduate)
Indigenous Peoples and International Law (Undergraduate and Graduate)
The National Question and the Right to Self-Determination (Graduate)
Critical Race Theory (Graduate)
U.S. Law and American Indians (Undergraduate)
Introduction to Amerian Government (Undergraduate)
Environmental Politics (Undergraduate)
Judicial Politics (Undergraduate)