categories part ii: the dark side of cognitive rhetoric lucy jewel, assoc. prof., univ. of tennessee...
TRANSCRIPT
Categories Part II:The Dark Side of Cognitive Rhetoric
Lucy Jewel, Assoc. Prof.,
Univ. of Tennessee College of Law
Elizabeth Berenguer, Assoc. Prof. and Director of Legal Skills & Professionalism, Savannah Law School
Biennial ALWD Conference, June 2015
A Cognitive Rhetorician’s Approach to Categories
1. Categories help us make sense out of the world.2. Categories seem fixed, the way things are and ought to be,
but often, they are arbitrary constructs based on social, cultural, and political processes.
3. Categories are produced by those in power; those who do not have power are often excluded from the dominant category and from the process of categorization.
4. Categories are often dichotomous. A dominant/desirable category must be viewed with its non-dominant/less desirable opposite. (deserving vs. undeserving poor).
5. Categories get wired into our brains.
Categories Part II – the Dark Side
Because of their unique power, categories can cause bad ideas to become entrenched in our minds.
We will briefly introduce the neuroscience concepts that underpin our research. Then we will address this topic from two perspectives: (1) law school and law school teaching and (2) contemporary social justice issues – poverty, criminal justice, and politics. We’ll conclude by sharing some strategies for addressing the problem.
How Categories Get WiredInto Our Brains – “Mother”
How Categories Get WiredInto Our Brains: Canalization
When Bad Ideas Get Wired Into The Brain: The Good Law Student
Law School: The Toxic Neural Loopof Categorical Thinking
Anxiety, Depression, Neuroticism, Unhappiness
Categories: The good law student and the good lawyer
Dichotomous thinking
Legal Formalism/IRAC
Hyper-Competition and Hyper-Hierarchy
Dehumanizing Teaching?“Bad Seventh Circuit Oral Argument”
Dehumanizing Legal Teaching“Bad Seventh Circuit Oral Argument”
LAW PROFESSOR
THUG
FELON
WELFARE QUEEN
MYTHS
• Colorblindness• Containment• Intrinsic Value
Strategies
• Slow down the thinking. • Look beyond Western rhetoric for other
perspectives on categories.• Explore mindfulness and other non-western
forms of thinking.• Construct learning communities, not hyper-
competitive boiler rooms.
Restructuring Categories
• Brown v. Board• Gideon v. Wainwright
