We are pleased to announce the following events for the CALT webinar series. Please click on each link for more details:

• Teaching Canadian Tort Law in Its Social Context (September 30)
• Critical Perspectives in Tax and Business Law: A Roundtable on Legal Pedagogy (October 21)

Teaching Canadian Tort Law in Its Social Context

Wednesday 30 September 2020, 11AM-12:30PM Eastern time

This session is organized jointly with the Law and Feminism Research Group and the Legal Education Seminar Series (both at Western Law).

The law of torts has the capacity to perpetuate and to exacerbate systemic social inequalities. In recent years, working from a variety of standpoints, such as feminism, critical race theory and disability theory, legal scholars have explored some of its impact on marginalized social groups. Yet tort law is still taught in Canadian law schools in a way that abstracts from its social context. It is presented in the major Canadian casebooks and textbooks as a neutral instrument for the promotion of general policy goals such as deterrence and compensation. This roundtable discussion aims to bridge the divide between tort law’s context-rich reality and its context-stripped pedagogy.

Chair:

• Zoë Sinel (Western)

Panelists:

• Elizabeth Adjin-Tettey (Victoria)
• Erika Chamberlain (Western)
• Sophia Moreau (Toronto)
• Melanie Randall (Western)
• Jean Thomas (Queen’s)

Register for “Teaching Canadian Tort Law in Its Social Context”

Critical Perspectives in Tax and Business Law: A Roundtable on Legal Pedagogy

Wednesday 21 October 2020, 1:00 to 3:00 PM, Eastern time

The session will begin with a presentation by Jeffery G. Hewitt (Osgoode) and Shanthi E. Senthe (Windsor) of their paper, “Disrupting Business as Usual: Considering Teaching Methods in Business Law Classrooms.” Following the presentation, tax commentators will reflect on how the pedagogical experiences and reflections of Hewitt and Senthe could be applied in tax law classrooms. We will then move into a roundtable format. Participants will be asked to share how they include critical perspectives in their own business and tax law classrooms. The focus will be on sharing current pedagogical practices, discussing ongoing challenges, and considering how to further include critical perspectives in Business and Tax Law.

Co-chairs:

• Allison Christians (McGill)
• Samuel Singer (Ottawa)

Presenters:

• Jeffery G. Hewitt (Osgoode)
• Shanthi E. Senthe (Windsor)

Tax Commentators:

• Bradley Bryan (Victoria)
• Emily Satterthwaite (Toronto)
• Samuel Singer (Ottawa)

Register for “Critical Perspectives in Tax and Business Law”

Past events

Law Prof Side Hustles

Monday, 10 August 2020, 2PM Eastern Time

This interactive online roundtable will explore ethical and institutional questions raised by full-time tenure-stream professors at Canadian law schools who take on additional paid work. Enterprising law professors have undertaken a wide range of additional paid work. While this is not a new phenomenon, some perceive a growth both in the number of law faculty taking on additional paid work and in the intensity of that work in recent years, and yet with little discussion within the Canadian legal academy.  The policy issues are many, raising questions related to the distribution of administrative duties, the impacts on teaching and learning dynamics, the impacts on research, the construction of collegial cultures, the roles of law professors in broader communities, and the protections related to tenure and academic freedom that law professors enjoy.  This interactive roundtable aims to prompt a discussion on these topics.

Co-Chairs:

• Benjamin Berger (Osgoode Hall Law School, York University)
• Sean Rehaag (Osgoode Hall Law School, York University)

Discussants:

• Andrew Botterell (Western University)
• Tina Piper (McGill University)
• Gemma Smyth (University of Windsor)

A Legal Journey Between Reality and Fiction : Pervasive Games in Law School

Friday, 7 August 2020, 2PM-3:30PM Eastern Time

Pervasive games blur the boundaries between the game world and the real world. In this workshop, we propose to share our experiences with the creation and the implementation of an educational pervasive game in two environmental law classes. We will discuss how we merged a semester long scenario, in which a professor is kidnapped during the class, with escape rooms, scavenger hunts, and other classroom activities. We will share the challenges we faced with the creation, engagement, and analysis of classroom activities. During the workshop, we will address the following questions: What type of resources are required to develop and implement pervasive games in class? What are the main components to consider during the development of a pervasive game? What are the risks of implementing a pervasive game in class? We want to demonstrate that the creation and the implementation of a pervasive game is not an impossible task but rather a very accessible way to transform a class.

Convenors:

• Thomas Burelli (Civil Law Section, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa)
• Alexandre Lillo (Civil Law Section, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa)

Thomas Burelli and Alexandre Lillo have also published a “cookbook” on online game-based “cookbook” on online game-based learning (click here for the English version).

Watch the webinar here:

“Hot” Topics in Online Law Classes

A ‘hot’ topic is one that has led to ruptures, upset, conflict in our classes in the past. It is not “anything that students disagree about”.  Rather it is something where the disagreements seem to hurt and fester, causing ruptures that linger. These two roundtables, one geared toward Large Online Classes and the other toward Small Online Classes, will focus on two main questions: How will our practices for dealing with hot topics in the classroom be affected by the move online?  Who is setting the rules/guidelines for conduct/participation and where will institutional responsibility lie for addressing challenges?

In order to enable all participants to contribute, registration is limited to 20 people per session and double-registration will not be permitted unless numbers allow.

“Hot” Topics in Small Online Law Classes: A Roundtable Discussion

Wednesday, 29 July 2020, 1PM – 3PM, Eastern Time  

This roundtable will invite exchange between law professors who will be teaching small classes (i.e.: seminar style, discussion based, < 25 students) in the online environment, and who are planning to use significant synchronous engagement in these classes.

The Convenors are feminist professors who teach, amongst other things, an intersectional course on gender, sexuality and the law, a course on race, racism and the law, and a course on feminist legal theory. These courses include nuanced treatment of subjects beyond doctrinal law, such as sexual assault, pornography, the sex trade, systemic racism, colonialism and prisons. For many students, these are difficult topics. We are interested in generating dialogue about best practices in moving “hot topics” discussions and teaching moments to virtual environments.

The Convenors will pre-circulate the session agenda, which includes some preliminary questions to guide the discussion. The session will open with brief remarks, and organizers will pose orienting questions. Discussions will take place between participants using a speaker’s list, and questions generated in the chat function of the online platform. One facilitator will take notes and provide feedback and notes to interested participants via email following the roundtable.

Convenors:

• Angela Cameron (Common Law Section, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa)
• Sonia Lawrence (Osgoode Hall Law School, York University)
• Jena McGill (Common Law Section, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa)
• Pooja Parmar (Faculty of Law, University of Victoria)

“Hot” Topics in Large Online Law Classes: A Roundtable Discussion

Monday, 27 July 2020, 1PM – 3PM, Eastern Time

This roundtable will gather people who will be teaching LARGE ONLINE CLASSES (i.e. > 30 students in mandatory or all-but-mandatory courses) over the next academic year with significant synchronous components and are interested in discussing approaches to ‘hot’ topics.

Classroom responses to critiques of contemporary Canada revolving around racism, in particular anti-Black racism, coloniality and the experiences of Indigenous nations and people are a significant focus of concern for many law teachers in regular in-person classes and will remain so, in similar and different ways, with the shift to online classes. 

The Conveners will circulate a more detailed agenda to participants and will moderate the discussion so as to ensure appropriate allocations of time to agenda items and participant contributions. The Convenors will also circulate a list of resources for sharing ahead of time and will take suggestions for additions to the list.  The Conveners are not acting as teachers or experts on this topic.  The Roundtable will not address the uses of online teaching platform technology.

Convenors:

• Jula Hughes (Bora Laskin Faculty of Law, Lakehead University)
• Sonia Lawrence (Osgoode Hall Law School, York University)
• Pooja Parmar (Faculty of Law, University of Victoria)

Civil procedure and racism : a virtual coffee hour

Monday, July 13, 2020, 2PM - 3PM, Eastern Time

CALT is honoured to host this event as part of its ongoing webinar series, on Monday, July 13, 2020, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m., EDST, via Zoom:

This session will bring together individuals teaching civil procedure and related subjects to discuss how they might address issues of anti-black and other racism during the 2020-2021 school year. The session aims to enable self-reflection and collaborative thinking. The listed contributors will not try to offer definitive answers. Instead, they will prepare a list of questions to guide the discussion, will seek to elicit ideas from the participants, and will offer some of their own ideas for how they plan to address these subjects. The session aims to foster a community of civil procedure teachers across Canada who are committed to race-conscious teaching and learning and who will continue to learn from one another.

Contributors:

• Anna Lund, Assistant Professor, University of Alberta (Convener and Session Co-Chair)
• Nayha Acharya, Assistant Professor, Dalhousie University (Session Co-Chair)
• Basil Alexander, Assistant Professor, University of New Brunswick (Discussant)

Forum on Law Teaching and Learning in the COVID Context

Tuesday, June 2, 2020 from 1PM - 3PM, Eastern Time

The Canadian Association of Law Teachers held two online fora (in “roundtable” format) on law teaching and learning in the COVID context.

The COVID pandemic of 2020 has compelled law faculties to move to online teaching and prompted other major changes, such as modified evaluation schemes. What lessons can law teachers draw from these unprecedented shifts? What further needs are arising, and how should we be trying to meet those needs? What is likely to be the lasting impact? While we lament the circumstances, have we gained any valuable insights or perhaps discovered new approaches that are worth preserving?

The English version took place on Tuesday, June 2, 2020 from 1PM to 3PM EDST.

Panelists included:

• Olabisi Akinkugbe (Dalhousie University)
• Lisa Cirillo (Downtown Legal Services, University of Toronto)
• Catherine Dauvergne (University of British Columbia)
• Craig Forcese (University of Ottawa)
• Sonia Lawrence (Osgoode Hall Law School, York University)
• Shauna Van Praagh (McGill University)

Watch the English version here:

The French version (jointly organized with the Association des professeures et professeurs de droit du Québec) took place on Wednesday, June 17, 2020 from 1:30PM to 3:30PM EDST. The panel was chaired by Dia Dabby (UQAM) and Sèdjro Hountohotegbè (Université de Sherbrooke).

Panelists included:

• Andrée Boisselle (Osgoode Hall Law School, York University)
• François Brochu (Laval University)
• Thomas Burelli and Alexandre Lillo (University of Ottawa)
• Adrien Habermacher (University of Moncton)
• Shauna Van Praagh (McGill University)
• Nathalie Vézina (Université de Sherbrooke)

Watch the French version here: