The Arts and the Legal Academy—Beyond Text in Legal Education

In Western culture, law is dominated by textual representation. Lawyers, academics and law students live and work in a textual world where the written word is law and law is interpreted largely within written and printed discourse. Is it possible, however, to understand and learn law differently? Could modes of knowing, feeling, memory and expectation commonly present in the Arts enable a deeper understanding of law's discourse and practice? If so, how might that work for students, lawyers and academics in the classroom, and in continuing professional development? Bringing together scholars, legal practitioners internationally from the fields of legal education, legal theory, theatre, architecture, visual and movement arts, this book is evidence of how the Arts can powerfully revitalize the theory and practice of legal education. Through discussion of theory and practice in the humanities and Arts, linked to practical examples of radical interventions, the chapters reveal how the Arts can transform educational practice and our view of its place in legal practice. Available in enhanced electronic format, the book complements The Moral Imagination and the Legal Life, also published by Ashgate.

Zenon BaA?kowski is Emeritus Professor of Legal Theory at the School of Law, University of Edinburgh and a community mediator. He was Principal Investigator of the AHRC Beyond Text in Legal Education Project, based at the School of Law, University of Edinburgh. Paul Maharg is Professor of Law at the Australian National University, and Professor of Law at Nottingham Law School. He has published extensively in the areas of legal education and legal critique. He has worked with regulators, law firms and law schools in England, Scotland, Canada, USA, Hong Kong and Australia. Maksymilian Del Mar is Reader in Legal Theory at the Department of Law, Queen Mary, University of London. He has a PhD in Law from the University of Edinburgh, and a PhD in Social Science from the University of Lausanne. He is Co-Convenor of the Legal Theory and Legal History Research Group at Queen Mary.