Colin Goff

BA, MA, PhD

Throughout Dr. Colin Goff’s 27-year teaching career, he has nurtured students, faculty, and visiting lecturers — and is known for creating a warm, lively, and intellectually engaging space where genuine learning flourishes. 

As associate professor, and more recently as chair of the sociology department, he has established (and encouraged other faculty members to create) innovative new courses that reflect current issues, such as Animals in Society; Green Justice; Globalization and Families; and the Sociology of Genocide. Such innovative courses tap into students’ yearning to make a difference in the world by connecting learning goals to social justice issues. In addition to numerous publications, his best-selling textbook, Criminal Justice in Canada, is now in its eighth edition. 

Dr. Goff has inspired several generations of students by challenging them to explore important theoretical questions with originality and creativity. His lectures are stimulating and well-prepared, with video clips and guest speakers. To better teach modern policing, Goff went with RCMP officers on patrol in First Nations communities in northern Manitoba. To understand Aboriginal policing, he reached out to First Nations Elder Art Shofley, attended sweat lodges, and invited Elder Shofley to share his knowledge with his students. The two became fast friends. 

His students describe an atmosphere in which there is always a steady stream of people knocking on Goff’s door, and he always takes the time to assist in a highly professional, compassionate, and respectful manner. “Knocking on his door was a pivotal moment for me,” said one student who would go on to obtain a PhD. “That door truly opened opportunities for me that I did not know existed beyond the north end of Winnipeg.” That memory is echoed by another student who wrote “Dr. Goff was the first professor who gave me the confidence to apply for graduate school. I can confidently say that his have been some of the most influential classes of my university career.” Goff emphasizes to all his students that he is “just one email away.” 

For his nearly three decades as a motivated, enthusiastic, upbeat, and generous educator and colleague, UWinnipeg is proud to bestow upon Colin Goff the Clifford J. Robson Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence.