Top Five Tips for Using Pop Culture in the Law School Classroom

Abstract

Law school is deeply rooted in an ahistorical, text-based and non-visual pedagogy. While today it is not uncommon for law teachers to incorporate references to and images from popular culture into the curriculum, it is still a novel enough practice to merit some principled ground rules. This chapter borrows the popular “Top Five” format to offer some tips for using pop culture in the law school classroom. Despite the pervasively visual world of information today’s law students inhabit, law schools are academic latecomers to employing visual material in class and sometimes still struggle with its integration. In addition, despite the widespread cultural shift loosening boundaries between so-called “high” and “low” culture, law school pedagogy often fails to take advantage of the opportunities that this cultural fluidity creates. While pop culture references and images can be deployed in the law school classroom simply to respond to contemporary students’ attention spans and expectations, more thoughtful uses of pop culture can more deeply enrich the study of law and even help students hone their critical thinking skills.

Keywords: Legal Pedagogy; Law and Popular Culture; Popular Culture Studies