We’re delighted to welcome Dr. Moira Aikenhead back to the Allard School of Law in her new role as a lecturer.
A recent graduate of Allard Law’s LLM and PhD programs, Dr. Aikenhead will be teaching Law 241: Torts and Law 281: Legal Research and Writing. Her current research examines federal and provincial responses to technology-facilitated gender violence, including the non-consensual distribution of intimate images.
In this Q&A, Dr. Aikenhead discusses her approach to teaching, her recent research and why she’s happy to return to Allard Law.
What do you hope students take away from your courses?
I'm excited to be teaching both a traditional, "black letter" course in the first-year curriculum, alongside a more practical, skills-based course.
Legal Research and Writing is an absolutely foundational course that can set students up for success throughout law school, articling and their legal careers, so I hope students come away from that course with confidence in conducting legal research, evaluating sources, and effectively communicating their findings in writing to legal and lay audiences.
With Torts, I hope students come away from the course able to thoughtfully evaluate why and in what circumstances the law seeks to hold individuals responsible for the harm they cause to others, and how inherent biases in the Western legal system and in justice system actors have worked their way into these calculations. I also hope students come to appreciate how there are no certain answers in law, and ample room for evolution and experimentation in legal thinking.
How would you describe your approach to teaching?
I believe students learn best when they feel safe, respected and inspired, and I aim to cultivate these feelings in my classrooms.
I foster safety through encouraging connection and empathy between students, and in aiming to ensure students feel comfortable speaking up and working through difficult questions and topics. I communicate respect to my students through high expectations that they will be prepared for and actively engage in class, and will be respectful of one another even where their viewpoints differ substantially. I aim to inspire students by tying legal concepts to their and others’ lived realities, and constantly updating my course materials to incorporate interesting and challenging materials from a variety of legal and extralegal sources.
Your research looks at Canadian legal responses to technology-facilitated gender violence. Can you tell us about your recent work in this area?
The majority of my research has involved examining how the legal system is meeting or failing to meet the needs of survivors of technology-facilitated gender violence. I apply a feminist perspective in my research, considering the ways legal responses can combat or further entrench gender inequality. I have written articles and book chapters analyzing and critiquing the criminal justice system’s response to the non-consensual distribution of intimate images, voyeurism, and the abuse of digital technologies in the context of intimate partner violence.
More recently, I’ve been interested in how Canadian courts are treating digital evidence (such as videos, social media posts, and text messages) in cases of gender violence, as well as civil remedies to technology-facilitated gender violence such as B.C.’s new Intimate Images Protection Act. Generally, I hope my research can contribute to making justice more accessible to all survivors of technology-facilitated gender violence who wish to utilize the legal system on their path to healing.
You did your LLM and PhD at Allard Law. What inspired you to return? And what are you looking forward to most about being back at Allard?
Teaching at Allard has been a dream for me since starting my LLM. The quality of research produced by the faculty here is incredible, as are the opportunities for professional growth and development.
The students are driven, curious and talented, and I’m most looking forward to connections and discussions with students and faculty in the hallways and during my office hours, as well as the incredible views from the Terrace Lounge!
As an alum of the law school, what was most memorable about your time here?
The most memorable aspect of my LLM and PhD at Allard was the collegiality of the staff and faculty, as well as the opportunity to learn from and work alongside faculty doing innovative and inspiring work. I also appreciated the varied opportunities to hear from legal experts from around the world at lunchtime seminars, colloquia and guest lectures.
There are so many amazing opportunities to learn both inside and outside of formal classroom time at Allard, and these opportunities had an immense impact on my own scholarship and legal thinking.
