T. Brettel Dawson
Associate Professor
| Degrees: | LL.B. Hons (Canterbury), LL.M. (Osgoode Hall); Barrister and Solicitor, New Zealand |
| Email: | brettel.dawson@carleton.ca |
| Office: | D589 LA (Loeb Building) |
On sabbatical: July 1, 2024 – December 31, 2024
Current research
I am interested in the ideas of ‘good judgment’ and ‘wisdom’ particularly in relation to judicial decision-making. How do accepted ideas about judicial method (how judges decide) line up with social research (in business) about good decision-making process? Equally what does research on cultural cognition, implicit bias, motivated decision-making, and social context contribute to understanding the factors and processes involved in judicial decision-making? My research has a practical component too: how can this social research be explored by judges in judicial education settings? This focus area is closely aligned with a long-standing interest in curriculum design in law and judicial education.
My teaching in the area of persons and property law has sparked an interest in ecology and law – the transformative potential of approaches grounded in Earth Jurisprudence and indigenous world views to address the profound the environmental, economic challenges in our times.
My work is informed by a ‘law in context’ approach and feminist legal studies.
Teaching and Supervision interests
Persons and Property; Ecology and Law; Women and Law; Judging and Decision-making; legal/judicial education.
Selected publications
Gender and Judicial Education (UK: Routledge, 2017) [with Ulrike Schultz and Gisela Shaw]
“Marc Rosenberg: Judicial Education Leader,” chapter in To Ensure that Justice is Done: Essays in Memory of Marc Rosenberg, ed. Benjamin L. Berger, Emma Cunliffe and James Stribopoulos (Toronto: Carswell, 2018) [with Katherine Kehoe and George M Thomson]
“Social Context in Judging”/ “El contexto social en el juzgamiento”. (2017) Estudios de Derecho de la Judicatura, v. 2, pp. 265-285 <trans Soledad Pardo Vergara>
“Judicial Education: Pedagogy for a Change” (2015:1) Journal of Dispute Resolution 175
Persons and Property in Private Law, 3rd ed (Captus Press, 2019)