Julie Bull (they/them) has been questioning expectations and forging new terrain since they were a two-year-old philosopher. Now an internationally renowned scholar, Julie almost quit their academic studies in their first semester of university. It wasn’t until they listened to their soul (and their mother, who encouraged them to try other fields) that Julie’s path became clear: They are meant to question existing systems, break the status quo, and guide others to find a better and different way.

 

Julie specializes in Indigenous research, especially related to policy and ethics. Currently based on Epekwitk (Prince Edward Island), Julie runs a consulting collective, projX, where they work with individuals at the systems-level to disrupt racist and discriminatory policies and practices.

 

A self-processed “recovering academic turned entrepreneur and artist,” Julie is also a poet and a spoken-word artist. In 2020, they were awarded a residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in the Indigenous Storytelling and Spoken-Word program. Using skills from their residency, Julie performed and was a top winner at the PEERS Alliance/PRIDE PEI OUTspoken Poetry Slam in the summer of 2020. They also performed in the Island Fringe Festival’s Pounding the Pavement: Celebrating and amplifying artists from the fringe (2020). Julie’s debut poetry series (h)in(d)sight 2020, the first book in the Spiritual Connection Collection, was published in 2020.

 

Whether re-writing standard operating procedures for research ethics boards or writing collective poems on a zoom meeting, Julie’s motivation and vision remain the same: justice for Indigenous Peoples. They are acknowledged and admired for their candid teaching style that bridges western and Indigenous ways of understanding the world using the lens of research, with a focus on social justice and a sprinkling of East Coast humour.

 

Julie loves walking through the woods, taking in the healing power of the ocean, pea soup, partridgeberry tarts, and all things winter. They have zero musical talent, and they dislike the heat.

 

As both an invited speaker to events all over the world and a spoken-word performer, Julie finds it amusing that they were once terrified of public speaking and is thankful to those who have pushed them beyond their comfort levels in order to experience growth.

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PHD

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An Inuk scholar from NunatuKavut, known internationally for their integrations and interdisciplinary research, Dr. Julie Bull has been working in innovative research areas since they were a graduate student examining the impact of the new national policy for Aboriginal health research. Dr. Bull focused their PhD studies on ethics and Indigenous policy at a time when few researchers were doing this kind of work.

 

In 2007, Dr. Bull received the Scientific Director’s Award of Excellence from the CIHR-Institute of Aboriginal (now Indigenous) Peoples’ Health, and in 2010, they were named a Vanier Scholar. In 2018, they received the Ontario Ministry of Education Emerging Scholar Change Maker Award for their work with Indigenous Peoples in Canada. In addition, Dr. Bull was the founding director of the Mawi’omi Aboriginal Student Resource Centre at the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) and has assisted several other program initiatives at other institutions.

 

As well as being an award-winning interdisciplinary researcher, ethicist, and educator, Dr. Bull is also a poet and spoken-word artist. They regularly integrate academic research and studies with creative elements, such as poetry and spoken-word art. Their PhD dissertation (Relational and reflexive research: Peoples, policies, and priorities at play in ethically approving research with Indigenous Peoples), which received the UNB Dean’s Medal of Merit in 2019, supplemented research with their own poetry.

 

Currently based on Epekwitk (Prince Edward Island), Dr. Bull runs the consulting collective, projX, where they work with individuals at the systems-level to disrupt racist and discriminatory policies and practices. They are also an adjunct professor in the Division of Community Health and Humanities in the Faculty of Medicine at Memorial University of Newfoundland and in the Department of L’nu, Political, and Social Studies at Cape Breton University.

 

As a philosopher with a specialization in ethics and policy, Dr. Bull consults and collaborates with communities, researchers, Research Ethics Boards (REBs), educators, and policy makers to identify and implement emerging, promising, and wise practices in research ethics and engagement with Indigenous Peoples. Their work is widely published in international journals and text-books, and they are an invited lecturer all over Canada and around the world. As such, Dr. Bull has been invited to serve as a board member for the International Advisory Board for the Collaborative Indigenous Research Archive and an advisor for the National Science Foundation (NSF) ER2 Project, An Indigenous Data Governance Approach for Enhancing Ethical Research Policies and Practices.

 

They are highly sought for their pragmatic and collaborative approach to research ethics policy, research governance, and Indigenous data sovereignty. Dr. Bull has a longstanding interest in and commitment to advancing the ethical and responsible conduct of research with Indigenous Peoples in Canada and was appointed to the Panel on Research Ethics (PRE) in 2019 and to the Research Ethics and Research Oversight (RERO) Technical Committee for the Human Research Standards Organization (HRSO) in 2020.

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POET

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Julie Bull has been a creator, a maker, and a philosopher since they were a young child. When other children were going through the asking why stage, Julie’s questions reached a sophistication level that both frustrated and impressed their mother. Growing up in a rural area where there weren’t many children to play with, Julie drew on their own imagination and storytelling abilities for entertainment. They’ve been creating poetry since they could speak.

 

In March 2020, Julie was awarded a residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in the Indigenous Storytelling and Spoken-Word program. This residency was cut short, due to COVID-19 restrictions, but Julie, ever the grand optimist, chooses to value the time they spent there, rather than focusing on what they weren’t able to experience. Using skills from their residency, Julie performed and was a top winner at the PEERS Alliance/PRIDE PEI OUTspoken Poetry Slam in the summer of 2020. They also performed in the Island Fringe Festival’s Pounding the Pavement: Celebrating and amplifying artists from the fringe (2020). Julie’s debut poetry series (h)in(d)sight 2020, the first book in the Spiritual Connection Collection, was published in 2020.

 

A PhD scholar with a research specialty in ethics and Indigenous research, Julie has long felt like they have two parts of themselves, navigating their academic side with their creative heart. Julie now recognizes that they are one soul and integrates both parts into their work and self. Their PhD dissertation included their own poetry to supplement their research.

 

When they’re not busy creating art or saving the world (or doing both at the same time), Julie can be found in nature, either hiking through the woods or taking in the healing power of the ocean’s waves. The East Coast is a big part of Julie’s identity, with their comfort food of choice including pea soup, Newfoundland baked goods (such as snowballs or partridgeberry tarts), and wild game such as moose, caribou, and seal.

 

Julie currently resides in Epekwitk (Prince Edward Island), where they run the consulting collective, projX. They are a winter enthusiast, who considers the perfect day at the beach to be December 15.

 

Julie is a poet, an educator, an ethicist, a scholar, an entrepreneur, a learner, a philosopher, a traveler, a curator, an orator, a trainer, a facilitator, a daughter, a granddaughter, a great-granddaughter, an auntie, a bit nomadic, a change-maker, a sh!t disturber, a loving light, an idea-generator, a deep thinker, a deeper feeler, a soul having a human experience... 

 

They have zero musical talent.

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