Panel Discusses ‘Pedagogy of Rape’

Harvard Law School professors discussed the challenges of teaching rape law in a panel yesterday, emphasizing that students’ sensitive and personal experiences should be omitted in discussions of the law.

In a talk organized by the Women’s Law Association, Alan M. Dershowitz, Janet Halley, and Carol S. Steiker ’82 spoke on how concepts of gender, race, and feminism influenced the way rape law had been approached both in classroom and courtroom settings over the past decades.

During yesterday’s discussion, the panelists noted similarities in how divorce, homicide and rape are approached in law school classes because personal experiences often influence student opinions.

The talk was a follow-up to an event held last month looking at students’ perspectives on discussions of rape in the classroom, said Joelle A. Milov, a WLA member who helped coordinate the event.

But both Halley and Steiker emphasized that personal stories about rape hinder discussion.

Halley said while “personal experiences absolutely inform people’s perspectives,” references to personal histories often hinder productive legal discussion.

Halley recalled a particular class during which a law student burst into tears after telling students about her experience as a rape victim. Her classmates did not know how to react and fell silent.

Halley added she preferred to have students play the roles of prosecutors and attorneys, rather than draw on personal experiences.

“It’s not a therapy session, it’s a law school class,” she said.

Law School student Emily A. Wales said she saw this approach of limiting talk of personal experiences in one of her classes, and this led to productive discussions. Students inevitably brought up personal experiences, Wales said, but in her experience the professor did well in refocusing the discussion back to the law.