Teaching Law and Criminal Justice Through Popular Culture

This volume shows how university and college professors can create an engaging environment that encourages students to take a deep approach to learning through the use of popular culture stories in law school and in criminal justice classrooms. The use of popular culture (films, TV shows, books, songs, etc.) can enhance the deep learning process by helping students develop cognitive skills, competencies, and practices that are essential for the professional practice of law and criminal justice and which are often neglected in traditional law school and criminal justice curricula.


The book covers such topics as:

critical thinking skills in legal and criminal justice education

the role of popular culture in educating for rapid cognition

factors that foster intrinsic motivation

using storytelling in law and criminal justice

teaching with popular culture stories

popular culture and media literacy in the classroom

lawyers and criminal justice agents and their dealings with the press

influence of popular culture stories in the legal and criminal justice fields

regulations for the use of media texts in the legal and criminal justice fields

how stereotyping is influenced by popular media

how to prepare a promising syllabus or course outline



This unique book is the result of the author’s many years of teaching as well as of many meaningful discussions in seminars and teaching and learning workshops that he facilitated. This very easy-to-read and entertaining volume will show readers how to enhance their classes by creating a motivating and engaging environment that will foster students’ deep learning experiences.