Lynn Lu | Transformative Learning in the Humanities

Courthouse at Court Square, Long Island City. Photo by Lynn Lu

Christopher Alford:

What I seek (from law school) is the proliferation of a community that is guided by more than just monetary gain. I believe there is an issue with many traditional schools wherein subjects of law are taught at face value, ignoring historical and political analysis behind the way things are—and the way things ought to be. Law school should be a means of birthing individuals that are people-centered. Further, it should create a means of creating individuals that seek to better the world they participate in.

Ranjana Venkatesh:

To create a professional community, as a 1L, [I] would love to see more community spaces/times for us as a cohort to meet in person, and discuss freely/openly. We need an opportunity to discuss our classes, court decisions, the profession, social movements/protests, etc. in an open forum that anyone can attend and is not directly related to our class times. A space & time just for us.

Ben Fisher:

I believe in the notion that a person is a person through other people. Therefore, in regards to the value or purpose of community in & out of the classroom I seek sources that are helpful in the development & expansion of my personhood & hermeneutic horizon. I seek diversity of knowledge, perspective, experience & culture, so that I can learn & grow through any community & hopefully contribute to positive growth for those around me.

Aimes:

How can lawyers cultivate build create community?

Listening. Learning. Organizing.

Lawyering is a tool that can be wielded to shore up power. Historically, it has been used to shore up power on the side of white supremacy & capital. I believe it can be used in the interest of equity, prying the hands of racism/white supremacy culture off of community, humanity, and mutual aid.

By meaningfully LISTENING to our clients and those around us a lawyer can LEARN how harm is perpetuated and also how healing can be enacted & helped to flourish. By not simply helping clients one by one in a vacuum but by connecting clients to a movement. Lawyers can participate in the formation of NEW communities & NEW futures. In law school this looks like listening & learning from our classmates & professors. Being willing to be wrong & being loving towards each other.

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On Dec. 1, 2023, Transformative Learning in the Humanities (TLH) hosted a Zoom panel discussion on “Community Inside and Outside of the Classroom” featuring student perspectives on learning with TLH Faculty Fellows Sarah Pollack (College of Staten Island); Sharon Jordan (Lehman College); Joseph Cáceres (Graduate Center); and Lynn Lu (CUNY School of Law). Each faculty fellow shared methods they used during the semester to empower students to share ideas, work together, and facilitate conversation and mutual learning. Students from each course shared their perspectives on the meaning and value of community in relation to their classrooms.

In her courses Spanish for Heritage Speakers andthe Contemporary Spanish American Short Story, Pollack invited students to engage in the global community through online video dialogues with native Spanish speakers across Latin America. In class, she explained, “I tried to focus on establishing a safe and caring and open learning community by giving students tasks to get to know each other and me well and really feel comfortable opening up about themselves and their experiences.” One of the students, Jessica, said: “It was easier for us to relate to each other. I feel like our professor was open to us. That made us be open to her and to our classmates.”

In Jordan’s online asynchronous course Public Art in the United States from the Civil War to the Present, ungraded discussion board prompts that foregrounded conversation and dialogue encouraged students to engage with differing opinions. One student, Mabel, explained: “When I started this class I immediately saw the difference between past classes where the professor’s focus is on discussion boards, but it is not really a way to communicate or relate with each other. That immediately surprised me, that it was highly encouraged to have a conversation. It showed me that it is okay to get out of your comfort zone and communicate with other people.”

Students in Cáceres’s Evolution and Expression of Racism classat Baruch Collegecollaborated to plan an imagined public protest on behalf of a literary figure whose internalization of systemic anti-Blackness and misogyny demanded action. A “major purpose [in] creating this campaign was having students do work in the classroom that is practical and useful in their every day lives, including how to advocate for themselves. Students learned that a powerful way to begin to solve and address problems is by building coalitions and solidarity for others.” According to one student, “This class as a whole got me to think about things we can do to change communities for the better …. The Bluest Eye [by] Toni Morrison … talks about how internalized racism can really impact and affect the most vulnerable person in society.”

Lu’s version of the required introductory Lawyering Seminar encourages students continually to reflect on how lawyers—and legal educators—can create and support alternate visions of community while learning the professional responsibilities attached to every effective attorney-client relationship. This requires a focus on people and a capacity for shared understanding.

Student Christopher Alford shared: “What I seek (from law school) is a community that is guided by more than just monetary gain. Law school should be a means of birthing individuals that are people-centered. Further, it should create a means of creating individuals that seek to better the world they participate in.”