Coll Thrush

Coll Thrush is a Professor in the Department of History at the University of British Columbia, where he has been affiliated with the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies since 2005. His academic journey includes a B.A. from Western Washington University (1993) and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington (2002).

Thematic research areas include Indigenous History, Settler Colonialism, Environmental History, and Maritime/Oceanic Histories. He teaches courses like Global Indigenous History, Indigenous North America, and Maritime Histories.

His scholarship analyzes intersections between urban spaces and Indigenous identities, particularly through works like Native Seattle (2007) and Indigenous London (2016). Recent projects include Wrecked: Unsettling Histories from the Graveyard of the Pacific (2025), funded by the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council, which examines shipwrecks as sites for rethinking regional colonialism and Indigenous survivance.

Scientific Awards

• Killam Teaching Laureate (2021)

While not accepting new PhD students, Thrush welcomes MA applicants focusing on Pacific Northwest history. His narrative projects like The Train to Weeping Water (memoir/fiction) and SlaughterTown (fictionalized memoir) explore intergenerational trauma and serial killer narratives, respectively.