In this post, Lindsay Jack, Amy Lawton, and Elisabeth Barlow from Edinburgh Law School show the benefits of introducing extra-curricular projects, such as a book club, into Schools at the University. This post is part of our Learning and Teaching Conference Hot Topic.
The EFWiL Shelf Indulgence Project
The Edinburgh Foundation for Women in Law (EFWiL) is a foundation that bridges both our students studying at Edinburgh Law School and those who are working in the legal profession. The Foundation has two aims: to be a voice for change and an advocate of gender equality; and to empower women. To achieve its aims, the foundation holds events and runs projects to create spaces for women to talk.
In 2022, EFWiL launched the Shelf Indulgence project to bring together students and legal professionals over three feminist texts. The project recruited 15 students (with infrastructure for a prioritisation of widening participation students should the project be oversubscribed) and 15 professionals, many of whom were also alumni of Edinburgh Law School, with the three book club meetings taking place over Zoom.
Together we read:
- Helena Kennedy’s Eve Was Framed
- Kate Chopin’s The Awakening
- Alexandra Wilson’s In Black and White
The first book was chosen by the foundation, with the second two being two of the most popular suggestions on registration. One of the key elements of the project is that the books were funded by the foundation: we did not want cost to be a barrier to participation. Overall, the book club sessions were led by Lindsay Jack, Amy Lawton, and Elisabeth Barlow, with questions to get the conversation started.
Lessons moving forwards
Shelf indulgence has taught us a number of lessons about facilitating conversation and managing power dynamics, as well as project administration, including hosting events on Zoom. Two key lessons, however, emerged: first, that students can work well with professionals despite perceived nerves around networking; second, informal conversations can lead to learning about formal learning and teaching environments.
There is a clear power difference between professionals established in their field (or even those on the way to becoming established) and students who are hoping to enter that field in the future. When creating the project, we were worried that this power dynamic would limit the students’ participation and stilt conversation. Whilst conversation was sometimes stilted owing to use of an online platform, we found that the students felt comfortable and participated fully in the book club sessions. Whilst two of the books read had a legal theme, we were very much discussing books that were not set as course reading, thus providing a more informal environment for both the professional and student.
Law students have often said that they have little time to read outwith their course materials. This book club gave them permission to do so. It also demonstrated that we are perhaps not having as many conversations about women in law with our students as we might have thought we were; we are not widely sharing our own experiences or those of others to discuss gender equality as part of our curriculum. Both our students and professionals noted that they have not (or had not) had these conversations during their time at university, and the book club has therefore highlighted gaps in our learning and teaching in the Law School. Whilst Shelf Indulgence focused on gender equality, a book club could focus on other themes, such as mental health, wellbeing, and wider societal issues to explore any gaps in learning and teaching.
The future
We will continue this project and will be considering a hybrid delivery approach for future meetings as we move towards more in-person activity. We will continue to ask members for book suggestions, but may put the top suggestions to a vote to ensure fairness. Number of participants will likely remain the same (15 students and 15 professionals) because any more than this might make discussion difficult. If demand exceeds places, we will put into place our prioritisation for widening participation students.
In summary
To conclude, we found that by introducing extra-curricular projects, such as Shelf Indulgence book club, schools can:
- Effectively bring together their students with relevant professionals and alumni.
- Learn more about the teaching landscape within the school through broader discussions with students.
You can also watch the video of Lindsay, Amy’s and Elizabeth’s Learning & Teaching Conference presentation.
Lindsay Jack
Lindsay Jack is Edinburgh Law School’s Director of the Student Experience, with expertise in widening participation into legal education and into the legal profession in Scotland. Lindsay’s work engages learners from primary school to secondary school and college, and also spans the whole LLB experience and beyond.
Amy Lawton
Amy Lawton is a Lecturer in Tax Law in Edinburgh Law School and is passionate about clinical tax education. Amy is also the Director of Equality and Diversity and the Director of the Edinburgh Foundation for Women in Law, running projects with colleagues to raise awareness about equality issues in the legal profession.
Elisabeth Barlow
Elisabeth Barlow is the Head of Communications and Engagement at Edinburgh Law School. She is passionate about communicating Edinburgh Law School’s activities and research to a wide range of audiences and engaging its global community of alumni and stakeholders in the life of the School.