Professor L. Michelle LeBaron joined the Allard School of Law in 2003. She directed the UBC Program on Dispute Resolution from 2003 to 2012. She is also a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies at UBC.
Professor LeBaron obtained a BA at Chapman University in 1977, an LLB at UBC in 1980, followed by an MA at Simon Fraser University in 1990. After obtaining her law degree, Professor LeBaron practiced as a mediator in the areas of family, commercial, and organizational law. In the early 1990s, Professor LeBaron transitioned to academia and became an Adjunct Professor in the MA in Dispute Resolution program and directed the Multiculturalism and Dispute Resolution Project at the University of Victoria. Prior to returning to her alma mater to teach at the Allard School of Law, Professor LeBaron was an Associate Professor at George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia from 1993 to 2003. Here, she taught courses in the Women’s Studies program and at the School of Conflict Analysis and Resolution.
Professor LeBaron’s interdisciplinary research focuses on the intersection between various forms of art and conflict resolution in a multicultural context. Her research examines creative perspectives to engaging with conflict and building resilience. She has many publications, including the books Bridging Cultural Conflict, The Choreography of Resolution: Conflict, Movement and Neuroscience and Conflict Across Cultures.