Episode Notes

Research Interests

• Policing
• Police use of force
• Police oversight and accountability
• Corrections
• Criminal justice policy and reform
• Comparative criminal justice
• Race and the criminal justice system

Selected Publications

Learn about Erick’s influences

• • Christopher J. Schneider (Criminal Justice Professor, Brandon University)
  • Momin Rahman (Sociology Professor, Trent University)
  • Jack Nicholson (American actor)
  • Patrick Swayze (American actor and dancer)
  • Jim Lovell (American astronaut)
  • Amelia Earhart (Aviation pioneer)

Learn about Erick’s interests

• Dark tourism
• Biology (open-access textbook)
• Dopesick (podcast)

Transcript

Beth: Welcome to the Social Profs Podcast with your hosts Beth Torrens and Kristy Buccieri. This is the podcast where we attempt to turn teaching inside out by engaging in conversations outside the classroom with faculty, community members, and Trent student alumni. Our goals with these conversations are to learn more about the benefits of a criminology or sociology degree and to talk about the ways that students can get more involved at Trent and in the community. We will also do a deep dive with some Trent professors to learn more about their approaches to teaching, what drives their research, and a few fun facts you can only learn when you turn teaching inside out.

Kristy: Join us today as we talk with Dr. Erick Laming, assistant professor of criminology at Trent University. Professor Laming is often in the news discussing his research on police accountability but who are his greatest influences in this work? We dig into these questions to learn more about his interests in criminology, astronomy, aviation, and Emmylou Harris.

Beth: Welcome to the Social Profs. Today we are joined by Dr. Erick Laming, who’s a professor teaching a lot of our criminology courses. Welcome to the show Erick.

Erick: Thanks for having me.

Kristy: So, Erick we wanted to start with a general question for you and this is a big one but we’re wondering what is the one burning question that drives your research and what got you interested in trying to answer it?

Erick: Generally, and this is not a profound question that I, that other people might believe but you know, how can we improve systems that we have I mean that’s kind of what I base my research on. And in the context of my research, how can we improve our system of policing? How can we improve the systems that we have with the criminal justice system? Those are kind of the areas there. I mean, that’s the question that I start with, because there’s always issues within all of these institutions. So, you know, we always learn about that, but we don’t really have this kind of the stones to kind of put in to say we’ve completed those processes and in solving those issues, I don’t think it will ever get there. And that’s why the question is always going to be a work in progress for me. But that’s the point of doing the research, right? It’s kind of, you know, we want to get to an outcome of, of making things better for everyone who’s involved in these systems, but it’s always going to be kind of best practices on how to get there as well.

Beth: So, the idea that we always have to improve, or we’re never kind of fully there, um can be difficult, and especially with some of the topics that you deal with in your research. So how do you handle teaching or sharing research findings about those difficult topics and about kind of that never finished reality?

Erick: Well, because a lot of the topics are difficult to talk about and teach, I always approach it with kind of a balance of sensitivity and humor. And it might not always be blended properly, but I always kind of I read the room of when I’m presenting research and kind of getting the feel of it. And usually, I’ll use my intuition and, and I’m very sarcastic and have a dry sense of humor. And I don’t think a lot of people might get that at first. But over time, if they understand my style, and they,  they know who I am, they’ll get it eventually. So sometimes I have to be explicit and say I’m being sarcastic here. Um but I think the humor lightens things up, even though the topics are really difficult to talk about because some, you know, we all need a little bit of light moments, right, especially in these, the research areas. Now, not every single topic is going to allow for kind of that insertion. So, you always have to understand when to do it and when not to do it. But I just think of being kind of lighter and not taking everything so seriously is also important as well. And I, you know, I try and balance that in my research as well. And, you know, I’m only a very small fraction of this area right.

Like in my view, a lot of the work I do is meaningful, but it’s not going to do anything if other people aren’t there to help. So, I just think that I’m only one part of one piece of this whole conundrum that we’re trying to get at. And I guess just when I’m teaching these things and, in my lectures, especially when we’re doing asynchronous lectures, which can be tough as well. And I think just throwing in some videos that might just get off topic a little bit, but still might be we can talk about those and relate it to what we’re looking at or researching. I think it provides students with just a little bit of just the mood and the energy changes think it’s a little bit lighter. And I just think that’s what I’m always trying to aim for. And I think students receive it well in many aspects, I mean, that’s kind of what I listened to, and I try to respond to what students like, right. So that’s generally how I like to do it. And it might not be the greatest thing for some people, I understand it, but you can’t please everyone, right?

Beth: Yeah, you mentioned that you think that this is definitely something that students like, and I can certainly see how they enjoy some of that humor. In addition to the humor, what do you think a favorite topic for students is in some of the classes that you teach?

Erick: Well, I always ask students, so I always give an anonymous survey at the end of my courses, eliciting the feedback. And one of the questions is what was your favorite lecture topic? And it’s actually quite varied, especially in the theory class that I teach because the topics have so many different important and insightful components that it’s almost across the board. It’s even like students like pretty much most of the topics that we talk about, which is great, but there’s always one that just stands out a little bit more and anything that has to do with policing, students are interested in that. It doesn’t matter really the actual focus of that lecture because I try, you know, because the course it’s more general instead of specific, we have to pack a lot into like those types of lectures, right. So, I know that that’s the usually a popular lecture for students, as well as crimes of power. So, anything to do with organized crimes. And that’s where I also bring policing into it too. So, I think it’s jam packed with a lot of really cool interesting things that students enjoy. Usually that’s the top of the list for what students like to learn about the most in my experience.

Beth: And what about you? What is your favorite lecture or topic to cover in your classes? Is it the same?

Erick: I love every topic. [Laughs]. No, I do. I mean everything’s interesting, right?  But I would say any, yes, anything that has to do with my specific research focus, if I can use that in in the lectures, then that’s usually my go-to, my favorite one. So, anything to do with policing or corrections is really, really important and fun for me to do. But something else that I really like to talk about and teach about is that dark tourism. It’s something that I’ve been into for a long time and I’m only really getting into like more focused research on that area. So, and I know I’m pretty sure students enjoy that as well. It’s just I haven’t been able to teach it extensively yet, but I do know that it’s kind of just a different taste from everything else we learn about. But it’s interesting because you can connect it to everything that we’re talking about within crime and criminology generally.

Kristy: Fascinating, and perhaps a teaser for a future class.

Erick: Perhaps.

Kristy: So, a hypothetical for you. You’re having a dinner party. You can invite anyone you want, academic, celebrity, other people dead or alive. Who do you invite over?

Erick: This is a hard one. And I’ve thought about this for a long time. And my choices change every day. So, if we’re going like for one academic, I mean, I don’t have like, I’m not like, I like people’s work, but I’m not like a huge fan of like, I don’t, you know, people, I can respect everyone’s opinion and that whatever. But I do have one colleague that I work with a lot, and I don’t see him very often. So, I’d probably invite him. His name is Chris Schneider. He’s a professor at Brandon University. He’s very interesting. He has a huge, huge beard. So, if anybody ever looks him up, you’ll see an image of him and know. But as a special shout out, I might invite Momin Rahman from our department because he’s, he’s had me over to his place. And we’ve listened to Tracy Chapman. So, we could enjoy that maybe over dinner. In terms of like anybody else, dead or alive, again, it’s so hard. I don’t know if I can limit it to like three or four other people, but I’m a fan of like older actors. So, like Jack Nicholson would be somebody I’d be really interesting just to talk to. Emmylou Harris, I don’t know if these I might be dating myself for a lot of students. So, I’m sorry. But Emmylou Harris is one of the, in my mind, one of the greatest artists musicians ever. She crosses a lot of different genres from like the 60s. And she’s still currently is active. So, if you’re interested in her, I would suggest everyone to check out her music. Jim Lovell is somebody that I’ve always been interested in. He’s still around, I think. I think he’s in his 90s. If anybody is, again, dating myself, if anybody is, I’m barely into like space exploration, which is weird and strange. So, if students did something that might be just odd. But Jim Lovell was the commander of Apollo 8 and Apollo 13 missions. So, if you’re interested in that, you can look, look that up too. And then in terms of people who are no longer with us, always been a fan of Patrick Swayze. He left us way too soon. Just a really big fan of just he’s just seemed like a really nice person off screen. Obviously, you know, you don’t know, but, and then, and then one last one is Amelia Earhart because I like, like that exploration type. I think she’s a pioneer and I would really enjoy having a conversation with her and asking her what happened on her. If anybody is unfamiliar with her, she has never been found and she was trying to do the first around the world trip. And for a woman at that time, it was spectacular. And again, a pioneer. So those would be my choices. But again, my choices probably change weekly.

Kristy: Yeah, and a shout out to check the show notes because we will have links to learn more about all of these people. Another question for you, Erick, what would you serve at this dinner?

Erick: Oh, geez. Oh, I’d have a buffet. I would…, if I had unlimited money, I would just have a buffet of every different type of cuisine that exists of every different type of cuisine that exists. Not everything, obviously, but just different options and definitely sushi, because I think everyone likes sushi, right?  Maybe not, but I like sushi, so I’d be selfish, and I’d probably have that.

Beth: That sounds like a very fun dinner party with lots of variety, both in people and in types of food.

…..

Beth: So, our next set of questions are a few rapid-fire questions where we’re going to flip the script a little bit and we’re going to give you a bit of a pop quiz. These questions are going to come at you rapid fire and we kind of want your answers to be the same thing. So, you don’t have to elaborate on any of them. You can just give us kind of the first answer that pops into your mind.

Erick: Sounds good.

Beth: Are you ready to go?

Erick: Let’s do it. Yeah

…

Beth: All right. What is your favorite memory from when you were a student?

Erick: Finishing school.

Beth: What is your favorite thing to do on the weekend?

Erick: Uh, probably go for walks with my wife.

Beth: As an academic, what is something you can’t live without?

Erick: Support from my colleagues.

Beth: Is there a favorite TV show, podcast or movie that you have?

Erick: Tons, but to limit it to one, dope sick.

Beth: What advice would you give your past student self?

Erick: Don’t take things so seriously and relax.

Kristy: What course or subject did you not take as a student that you wish you could learn more about now?

Erick: Biology

Kristy: Who do you admire?

Erick: My father and my wife.

Kristy: Cat, dog, fish, bird, or a lizard?

Erick: A hundred percent cat.

Kristy: If you weren’t working as an academic, what would you be doing?

Erick: …probably delivery driver for Amazon.

Kristy: And any skill, party trick, or talent, what would it be?

Erick: To not have to sleep and just be alive for every moment of time.

Kristy: Thank you so much for joining us. We’ve been talking today with Professor Erick Laming. We really appreciate your time and getting to know you better.

Erick: Well, thanks for having me. I enjoyed every moment of this.