Abstract
This is an auto-ethnographic article in which the author reflects on her research in art and law, the legal academic culture, and the ways in which her art practice (painting and photography) informs her teaching pedagogy. The author uses theoretical works of scholars like Paulo Friere and bell hooks as foundational texts to address how an emotional and care-based approach to teaching can be developed through engagement with art in law classrooms. This theory is substantiated with anecdotes from the author's experience of teaching electives on art and law and core courses like Criminal Law and Intellectual Property Rights. By using specific photographs, cinema, and paintings, the author delves into their value in helping her and her students interpret intricate socio-legal concepts and confront our pre-existing biases and complex emotions such as vengeance, anger, violence, fear, and frustration. The essay also portrays how a classroom becomes a site for collective memory and resistance by discussing cartoons and photographs used for political dissent and propaganda. The author ends her reflections by delving into the fluidity of a classroom space and how movement (through photo walks) and exhibiting creative assessments play a cathartic role in learning.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.55496/RFKY5156
Included in
Law and Philosophy Commons, Law and Politics Commons, Law and Society Commons, Legal Education Commons
