DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) 鈥� A South Dakota law professor typically teaches about dense topics like torts and natural resources. But next semester, he and his students are shaking things up by turning their attention to .
Sean Kammer wanted his legal writing course to draw on music and art to help his students reconsider legal language and craft persuasive arguments. The self-described 鈥淪wiftie鈥� thought a focus on the cultural icon was also a way to connect with his students.
Never in his did Kammer expect the attention that the announcement generated 鈥� the class filled up quickly and jealous alumni even reached out.
鈥淭he reaction from students has been exciting,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f we can have fun while we鈥檙e exploring some of these complex theoretical problems or issues, I believe students will be inspired to think deeper and to push themselves further.鈥�
at the University of South Dakota Knudson School of Law aren鈥檛 the only ones having fun. Law professors across the country are increasingly drawing on popular culture and celebritydom 鈥� sometimes with the help of celebrities themselves 鈥� to engage a new generation of students and contextualize complicated concepts in the real world.
Courses on Swift, Rick Ross and supplement traditional law school courses with fun and accessible experiences that professors say they often didn鈥檛 have themselves.
Students at the Georgia State University College of Law were hustlin鈥� everyday to get to class 鈥� especially on Tuesday when they got to hear directly from Ross for the final day of a course that chronicled the legal intricacies of the rapper, record executive and Wingstop franchise owner鈥檚 life.
Moraima 鈥淢o鈥� Ivory, director of the school鈥檚 entertainment, sports and media law program, wants her students to see for themselves what goes into the albums, television shows and movies they enjoy. She chooses a star each year and invites guest speakers from their world, along with the title character themselves, to bring legal deals, defenses and drama to life.
鈥淲e鈥檙e talking about critical legal principles, but we鈥檙e watching them as they happen and as they happened,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t really just turns that lightbulb on for law students.鈥�
Ivory said she could鈥檝e heard a pin drop in one class about mixtapes that featured guest DJ Drama.
鈥淚t was never my experience that I walked out of a law school classroom excited about what I had learned,鈥� Ivory said.
For third-year law student Luke Padia, the experience makes concepts feel more tangible than reading a textbook or case law, he said.
鈥淣o knock on the other courses,鈥� the 26-year-old from Lawrence, Kansas, said. 鈥淚 just find that my attention is more easily grabbed when I鈥檓 sitting in class listening to Steve Sadow talk about how he was able to get Rick Ross out of jail as opposed to sitting in constitutional law or torts or whatever it may be.鈥�
Frances Acevedo, a 25-year-old from Pembroke Pines, Florida, in her third year of law school, said she's walked away from the class with an understanding of how important a team is to an artist's success 鈥� a message Ross emphasized.
鈥淚 can sit at the table and talk money with multibillionaires," Ross said to students, faculty and guests gathered for the course finale. "But when it鈥檚 time for me to move forward, I sit down with my team.鈥�
Courses on A-list celebrities have captivated undergraduate and graduate students across the country for years, increasingly in courses analyzing race and gender. The attention on female artists and artists of color is a sign of growing respect for them and for different modes of artistic expression, said Kinitra Brooks, an English professor at Michigan State University.
Brooks鈥� course on Beyonce鈥檚 and Black feminism was so popular that she published a reader that other professors can use. The pop culture material offers 鈥渋mmediate relatability,鈥� which Brooks thinks makes students more likely to participate, allow their ideas to be challenged and be willing to challenge the artist, too.
Bella Andrade, a junior at Arizona State University, looks forward to her class on the psychology of Taylor Swift every week. The self-proclaimed 鈥渉uge Swiftie鈥� has been listening to her music for 鈥渇orever and a day,鈥� but the class includes a range of fans. There are 鈥�10 out of 10鈥� Swifties, along with people who barely know her music, which 鈥渓eads to some really great conversations,鈥� she said.
鈥淚 think I鈥檝e developed a much deeper understanding of different topics in social psychology,鈥� said Andrade, who is from Minneapolis. 鈥淭aking topics that I鈥檝e known about or heard about before but really applying them in a sense to something that I鈥檓 really invested in ... really solidifies meaning.鈥�
Courses that incorporate pop culture offer a different context for the fundamentals that students learn in their traditional courses, said Cathy Hwang, who co-taught a University of Virginia corporate law course last year inspired by Succession.
The class investigated the show鈥檚 prickly 鈥� and often duplicitous 鈥� legal matters, like hostile takeovers and securities law. Hwang said she was trying to engage and nurture a love of learning in students who 鈥済rew up with different interactions with technology and pop culture than what I did.鈥�
鈥淭o me, it鈥檚 not so much what鈥檚 my teaching style, but what鈥檚 the students鈥� learning style?鈥� Hwang said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important, I think, as a teacher to keep evolving and trying to meet students where they are.鈥�
___
Associated Press video journalist Sharon Johnson contributed from Atlanta.
Hannah Fingerhut, The Associated Press
