Teaching Philosophy

For two decades in graduate professional education—teaching in the legal academy and in interdisciplinary settings—I have used an interactive pedagogy to engage students. Across contexts, I employ forms of Socratic dialogue for sustained critical reflection, and I vary that discourse with in-class exercises and simulations that foster practical reasoning, client-centered thinking, and problem-solving. In my classes, I also emphasize methodological transparency, understanding that for graduate students, understanding why engaging a given topic in a given way is as critical as understanding the material.

For example, in my first-year property course—covering theoretical and practical fundamentals of real estate, land use, landlord-tenant law, and related topics—as well as in advanced classes on real estate transactions, land use and development, affordable housing, and state and local government, I weave three interrelated strands. First, I focus on substantive knowledge in the field, which is often a technical but necessary baseline in law. Next, I challenge my students to consider the social, economic, and other policy implications of the subject. My courses naturally raise issues of economic and racial equity, gender, religion, and other aspects of identity, as well as sustainability and related concerns. Finally, I imbricate our discussions and experiential work with reflections about professional roles, norms, and ethical obligations, leaning into the identity formation aspect of graduate education. 

My interdisciplinary courses deploy the same philosophy, even as I vary some of the threads. And central to my pedagogy has been a career-long commitment to equity, with my teaching drawing on my practice experience and scholarship focused on race, poverty, and housing.

Courses Taught:

Property

Real Estate Transactions

Land Use Planning

Affordable Housing Development

State and Local Government Law

Law of the City of New York Seminar

Cities, Suburbs, and the Law Seminar

Urban Lab:  Dynamics of Neighborhood Change

Legislation and Regulation

Urbanism and the Law, National Law School India (Bangalore), January 2013

Affordable Housing Law and Policy, Interdisciplinary Center, Hertzliya, Israel, April-May, 2013