Iván Vargas Roncancio
Assistant Professor
Law and Society (LASO)
Office: 722 Ross Building South
Email: ivandvr@yorku.ca
Accepting New Graduate Students
Iván Darío Vargas-Roncancio acted as associate director for the Centre for Indigenous Conservation and Development Alternatives (CICADA) and held a post-doctoral position with the Leadership for the Ecozoic (L4E) program at McGill University (2021 – 2023). He worked for the Everyday Peace Indicators Project as an institutional ethnographer (George Mason University, 2017-18) and was a “Francisco José de Caldas” scholar (COLCIENCIAS, 2013-2016).
He is currently co-PI for the intercultural project “A Community Path to Higher Education: The Biocultural Indigenous University of the Inga People of Colombia” (Spencer Foundation, Research-Practice Partnership Grant Program, 2022-2025).
His research focuses on Earth law and the rights of nature; Indigenous legal cosmologies in Amazonia; anthropology of plant-human relations, and critical pedagogies.
Publications
He has published in the Journal of Human Rights and the Environment, the Australian Feminist Law Journal, Sustainability, and the Boletín de Antropología, among others. Books: Pedagogies for the Ecozoic. Ecologies of Learning (co-author) (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming), Law, Humans and Plants in the Andes-Amazon: The Lawness of Life (Routledge Law, Justice, and Ecology book series, 2024); Posthuman Legalities: New Materialism and Law Beyond the Human (co-editor) (Elgar, 2021).
Degrees
Ph.D. in Natural Resource Sciences (2021), McGill UniversityJ.D (2008) and an LL.M in Law and Bioscience (2011), National University of Colombia
Research Interests
Vargas Roncancio, ID. (2024). Law, Humans and Plants in the Andes-Amazon: The Lawness of Life. Routledge (Law, Justice and Ecology Book Series).
Vargas Roncancio, I.D., & Sterlin, J. Grear A., Boulot, E., (Eds) (2021), Posthuman Legalities: New Materialism and Law Beyond the Human.” Cheltenham UK/ Northampton-USA: Edward Elgar Press: https://www.elgaronline.com/view/edcoll/9781802203332/9781802203332.xml
Vargas Roncancio, ID & Brown, P. (Forthcoming). Pedagogies for the Ecozoic. Cambridge University Press.
Vargas Roncancio, I.D. (2023). “Law as Relation and the Co-emergence of Beings: Towards a Paradigm Shift in Legal Education for Socioecological Transitions.” In Thomas Giddens and Dundee Luca Siliquini-Cinelli (Eds). Life and the Structures of the Law School: The Biopolitics of Legal Education. Vol. 2 (Resisting the Law School). London – NY: Routledge.
Vargas Roncancio, I.D and Mutumbajoy., S. (2023). “Indigenous Community” and "Indigenous Rights" in Haddad B. and Solomon B (Eds), Dictionary of Ecological Economics, Cheltenham UK/ Northampton-USA: Edward Elgar Press.
Vargas Roncancio, I.D., (2022) “Unas palabritas de ayer. Despertando a la Conversa. On Connections, Free Associations and Political Possibilities in Latin America.” In Molano P., Rocha-Vivas, M., & Rojas-Sotelo, M., (eds). Mingas de la Imagen. Estudios Ecocríticos, Indígenas e Interculturales, Bogotá: Pontificia Universidad Javeriana.
Vargas Roncancio, I.D. (2021). “Conjuring Sentient Beings and Relations in the Law: Rights of Nature and a Comparative Praxis of Legal Cosmologies.” In Anker, K., Burdon, P., Garver, G., Maloney M., & Sbert, C. (eds.). From Environmental to Ecological Law, London – NY: Routledge.
Vargas Roncancio, I.D., and Chindoy, H. (2021). “Indigenous Legalities.” In Zelle, A., Wilson, G., Adam, R., Greene, H., (eds.). Earth Law: Emerging Ecocentric Law. A practitioner’s Guide. Aspen Coursebook Series. Wolters Kluwer.
Vargas Roncancio, I.D.; Biemann, U.; Del Hierro, S.; Hernández Bello, A.; Micarelli, G., and Ramírez, J. (2022). “An Indigenous University.” In The Architectural Review, Fall 2022.
Vargas Roncancio, I.D. (2022) "A World Where Many Worlds Fit" in: Journal for Architecture and Urbanism - ARCH+ 250 The Great Repair – Politics of the Repair Society (December 2022), Page 154–159.
Vargas Roncancio, I.D. and Gagliano, Monica. (2020). “Why would the fish pain debate be so contentious?” Forum Letter in response to Vettese T. et al (2020) “The Great Fish Pain Debate: What happens when scientists get hooked on a question that could be argued forever?” In Issues in Science and Technology, Summer, 49-53.
Vargas Roncancio, I.D., Temper, L., Sterlin, J., Smolyar, N.L., Sellers, S., Moore, M., Melgar-Melgar, R., Larson, J., Horner, C., Erickson, J.D., Egler, M., Brown, P.G., Boulot, E., Beigi, T., Babcock, M. (2019). “From the Anthropocene to Mutual Thriving: An Agenda for Higher Education in the Ecozoic.” Sustainability 11, 3312.
Current Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall/Winter 2024 | AP/SOSC2350 6.0 | A | Law and Society | LECT |
| Fall/Winter 2024 | AP/SOSC4350 6.0 | C | Law and Society Honours Seminar | ONLN |
Upcoming Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter 2025 | AP/SOSC3376 3.0 | M | Legal Pluralism | SEMR |
| Fall/Winter 2024 | AP/SOSC2350 6.0 | A | Law and Society | LECT |
| Fall/Winter 2024 | AP/SOSC4350 6.0 | C | Law and Society Honours Seminar | ONLN |
Iván Darío Vargas-Roncancio acted as associate director for the Centre for Indigenous Conservation and Development Alternatives (CICADA) and held a post-doctoral position with the Leadership for the Ecozoic (L4E) program at McGill University (2021 – 2023). He worked for the Everyday Peace Indicators Project as an institutional ethnographer (George Mason University, 2017-18) and was a “Francisco José de Caldas” scholar (COLCIENCIAS, 2013-2016).
He is currently co-PI for the intercultural project “A Community Path to Higher Education: The Biocultural Indigenous University of the Inga People of Colombia” (Spencer Foundation, Research-Practice Partnership Grant Program, 2022-2025).
His research focuses on Earth law and the rights of nature; Indigenous legal cosmologies in Amazonia; anthropology of plant-human relations, and critical pedagogies.
Publications
He has published in the Journal of Human Rights and the Environment, the Australian Feminist Law Journal, Sustainability, and the Boletín de Antropología, among others. Books: Pedagogies for the Ecozoic. Ecologies of Learning (co-author) (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming), Law, Humans and Plants in the Andes-Amazon: The Lawness of Life (Routledge Law, Justice, and Ecology book series, 2024); Posthuman Legalities: New Materialism and Law Beyond the Human (co-editor) (Elgar, 2021).
Degrees
Ph.D. in Natural Resource Sciences (2021), McGill UniversityJ.D (2008) and an LL.M in Law and Bioscience (2011), National University of Colombia
Research Interests
All Publications
Vargas Roncancio, I.D. (2023). “Law as Relation and the Co-emergence of Beings: Towards a Paradigm Shift in Legal Education for Socioecological Transitions.” In Thomas Giddens and Dundee Luca Siliquini-Cinelli (Eds). Life and the Structures of the Law School: The Biopolitics of Legal Education. Vol. 2 (Resisting the Law School). London – NY: Routledge.
Vargas Roncancio, I.D and Mutumbajoy., S. (2023). “Indigenous Community” and "Indigenous Rights" in Haddad B. and Solomon B (Eds), Dictionary of Ecological Economics, Cheltenham UK/ Northampton-USA: Edward Elgar Press.
Vargas Roncancio, I.D., (2022) “Unas palabritas de ayer. Despertando a la Conversa. On Connections, Free Associations and Political Possibilities in Latin America.” In Molano P., Rocha-Vivas, M., & Rojas-Sotelo, M., (eds). Mingas de la Imagen. Estudios Ecocríticos, Indígenas e Interculturales, Bogotá: Pontificia Universidad Javeriana.
Vargas Roncancio, I.D. (2021). “Conjuring Sentient Beings and Relations in the Law: Rights of Nature and a Comparative Praxis of Legal Cosmologies.” In Anker, K., Burdon, P., Garver, G., Maloney M., & Sbert, C. (eds.). From Environmental to Ecological Law, London – NY: Routledge.
Vargas Roncancio, I.D., and Chindoy, H. (2021). “Indigenous Legalities.” In Zelle, A., Wilson, G., Adam, R., Greene, H., (eds.). Earth Law: Emerging Ecocentric Law. A practitioner’s Guide. Aspen Coursebook Series. Wolters Kluwer.
Vargas Roncancio, ID. (2024). Law, Humans and Plants in the Andes-Amazon: The Lawness of Life. Routledge (Law, Justice and Ecology Book Series).
Vargas Roncancio, I.D., & Sterlin, J. Grear A., Boulot, E., (Eds) (2021), Posthuman Legalities: New Materialism and Law Beyond the Human.” Cheltenham UK/ Northampton-USA: Edward Elgar Press: https://www.elgaronline.com/view/edcoll/9781802203332/9781802203332.xml
Vargas Roncancio, ID & Brown, P. (Forthcoming). Pedagogies for the Ecozoic. Cambridge University Press.
Vargas Roncancio, I.D.; Biemann, U.; Del Hierro, S.; Hernández Bello, A.; Micarelli, G., and Ramírez, J. (2022). “An Indigenous University.” In The Architectural Review, Fall 2022.
Vargas Roncancio, I.D. (2022) "A World Where Many Worlds Fit" in: Journal for Architecture and Urbanism - ARCH+ 250 The Great Repair – Politics of the Repair Society (December 2022), Page 154–159.
Vargas Roncancio, I.D. and Gagliano, Monica. (2020). “Why would the fish pain debate be so contentious?” Forum Letter in response to Vettese T. et al (2020) “The Great Fish Pain Debate: What happens when scientists get hooked on a question that could be argued forever?” In Issues in Science and Technology, Summer, 49-53.
Vargas Roncancio, I.D., Temper, L., Sterlin, J., Smolyar, N.L., Sellers, S., Moore, M., Melgar-Melgar, R., Larson, J., Horner, C., Erickson, J.D., Egler, M., Brown, P.G., Boulot, E., Beigi, T., Babcock, M. (2019). “From the Anthropocene to Mutual Thriving: An Agenda for Higher Education in the Ecozoic.” Sustainability 11, 3312.
Current Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall/Winter 2024 | AP/SOSC2350 6.0 | A | Law and Society | LECT |
| Fall/Winter 2024 | AP/SOSC4350 6.0 | C | Law and Society Honours Seminar | ONLN |
Upcoming Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter 2025 | AP/SOSC3376 3.0 | M | Legal Pluralism | SEMR |
| Fall/Winter 2024 | AP/SOSC2350 6.0 | A | Law and Society | LECT |
| Fall/Winter 2024 | AP/SOSC4350 6.0 | C | Law and Society Honours Seminar | ONLN |
