THE ADVOCATE VOL. 80 PART 3 MAY 2022
423
PETER A. ALLARD
SCHOOL OF LAW
FACULTY NEWS
By Heidi Wudrick*
INDIGENOUS LEGAL STUDIES SUMMER INTENSIVE IN TORT LAW BUILDS
COMMUNITY, FOSTERS SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND PROVIDES INDIGENOUS
LEGAL PERSPECTIVES
This past summer, Indigenous Legal Studies (“ILS”) brought together Allard
Law faculty, Indigenous alumni and other members of the community to
offer an intensive course to incoming Indigenous first-year students: the
ILS Summer Intensive in Tort Law (sometimes referred to in this column as
the “Summer Intensive”).1
The pilot course focused on substantive skill development, community
building and mentorship, grounded in Indigenous perspectives and
approaches. The Summer Intensive offered the incoming Indigenous law
student cohort the opportunity to take a five-credit core curriculum course
over seven weeks, running from May to June 2021.
The objectives of the Summer Intensive included preparing students for
the demands of first-year law school, honing the academic legal skills necessary
to succeed at law school and building a community of learners who can
support one another as they navigate their legal studies. The course
included an examination of tort law through the lens of Indigenous perspectives,
including the perspectives of many in the Indigenous legal community
who informed and broadened students’ study of the curriculum. Students
also had an opportunity to engage with and reflect on the challenges of
studying colonial law and to learn more about Indigenous legal orders.
Gabriel George is a first-year law student and a member of the Tsleil-
Waututh Nation. This summer, he was among the cohort of Indigenous students
from across Canada and the United States who completed the course,
* Heidi Wudrick is the communications manager at the Peter A. Allard School of Law.