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view . spring2015
JASMINKA KALAJDZIC, LAW
The challenge for any teacher is toholda student’s attention.
Theeasyavailabilityof socialmediahasmade that infinitely
harder, saysUWindsor Lawprofessor JasminkaKalajdzic.
“It’s increasinglydifficult to capture the students’ attentionand
sustain it.Manyof themwill beon socialmedia, email or shopping
onlineduringanygiven class.”
So, Kalajdzicdecided that “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.”
Shebegan to incorporate suchvisuals asmovie clips to illustrate
aparticular questionof law. “Iwovea12-hour documentaryabout
aU.S.murder trial into the courseof the term.”
She says that the film clips helpbreak up the pace. “It’smuch
harder for them to shoponlinewhen there’s a documentary clip
playing at the front of the room.
“I’ve toldmy students that surfing the net andusing social
media in class are quite a distraction—not only for thembut for
their neighbours and the teacher, aswell. I can tell when they’ve
tunedout.”
Kalajdzic has even included a link in the course syllabus to
a study that confirms studentswhomultitask on their laptops
during class performmore poorly than thosewhopay attention.
“Theyhave significantly lower test scores and themarks of those
around them suffer aswell.”
The lawprofessor joinedUWindsor full-time in 2009 after three
years spent as a sessional and10 years practising lawwithSutts,
Strosberg inWindsor, Ont. Previous to that, shewaswith aBay
Street firm.
In 2006, Professor ReemBahdi, a friend from law school who
also teaches atWindsor Law, had invitedKalajdzic to guest lecture,
which ledher tobecome a sessional. Once she did, “Iwas hooked.
I enjoyed the process of preparingwhat Iwas going to say. It forced
me to think about lawmore deeply. I enjoyed the luxuryof being
able to think outside the box. To consider bigger legal questions and
policy ramifications.
“Interactingwith students opens your eyes todifferent
points of view. Theyquestion receivedwisdoms and itmade
me a better lawyer.”
Windsor Law students selectedKalajdzic for a teaching and
mentorship award in 2007. “I tried to create a spacewhere people
felt comfortable discussing sometimes controversial issues.”
Her researchhas involved surveying some of Canada’s
top, class-action lawyers to learn about how such cases are
selected, how settlements are reached andhow lawyers are
compensated. Her other areas of research focus are access to
justice and legal ethics.
In addition to teaching and research, Kalajdzic has served as
the articles editor for the
Windsor Yearbookof Access toJustice
, the
faculty’s refereed law journal. In July 2014, shewas appointed toher
second, three-year term as amember of theLawFoundation
of Ontario’sClass ProceedingsCommittee, and in 2013, to the
LawCommissionof Ontario’sAdvisoryGroup for itsClass
Actions Project.
Butwhat stands out for Kalajdzic is “when I see that students
are immersed in thematerial and are askinghardquestions.
That is intoxicating. I love to see studentswho are engaged and
want to learn. Topushback. Thatmakesme a better teacher.”
