Embodied Law: Theatre of the Oppressed in the Law School Classroom.

Much of law involves embodied concepts, yet we rarely ask our students to put their bodies into the learning of law. The goal of this paper is not to rethink how we teach law in Canadian law schools but to complicate the way in which we approach legal teaching and learning as a predominantly intellectual pursuit where the teachers are the sole experts. Drawing on the work of educational and performance theorists, I explore Augusto Boal's observation "that the whole body thinks - not just the brain" and through the use of theatrical games and techniques in the classroom, open up embodied possibilities for law students and law teachers.This paper's primary goal is to provide the theoretical and practical context that informed a component designed and delivered in the first year orientation curriculum at the University of Victoria's faculty of law in September 2007. The paper's broader goals are to begin the process of exploring the transformative potential of engaged experiential learning, and in particular theatre in the law school classroom, as a means of understanding the power of law. Using exercises drawn from Theatre of the Oppressed and adapted particularly for the unique setting of the law school environment I aim to explore solutions to the kinds of challenges first-year law students face entering legal education in early twenty-first century in Canada, particularly the continued marginalization in the study and practice of law experienced by students of colour, women, queer students, students with disabilities and Aboriginal students, despite increased numbers and attention to diversity in the curriculum. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]