Assistant professor Anna Lund has won the Tevie. H. Miller Award for Teaching Excellence.
The award is the Faculty of Law's highest honour for an instructor and recognizes excellence by a full-time faculty member..
Lund teaches in the areas of bankruptcy and insolvency, debtor creditor law, civil procedure and access to justice. She began her teaching career at Simon Fraser University in the Department of Criminology, followed by stints at Osgoode Hall Law School and Western University's Faculty of Law. She was a sessional instructor at UAlberta before starting her current position.
Lund has developed a number of new course offerings while at the Faculty She put together a legal theory seminar where students study pro bono legal practice using a number of different approaches, including legal history, law and economics, and critical legal studies. She developed a seminar on international and cross-border insolvency law, where students take part in a multi-party negotiation and mock courtroom application.
Lund uses active learning methods to help her students engage with the course materials. She has practitioners take part in mock scenarios and accompanies her students on field trips to the courthouse to help demonstrate how legal concepts are applied in practice. She has developed games to reinforce concepts covered in class, including "Business Law Bingo" and "Snakes & Ladders: The Civil Procedure Edition."
After receiving the award at a ceremony on September 25, Lund reflected that she was first inspired to become a teacher while studying political science at the University of Alberta.
"I wanted to be the person at the front of the room, asking exhilarating questions." she said.
"My first few years of teaching were tough, because there was such a big gap between the teacher I wanted to be and the teacher I was. To the extent that I've been able to close that gap, it's due to the support and encouragement of my mentors at the Faculty of Law, my collaborators from practice, the students - who make it all worthwhile - and my friends and family who take good care of me so I can be my best self in the classroom"
The Tevie H. Miller Award for Teaching excellence is named in honour of the late associate chief justice of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta, who was also a chancellor of the University of Alberta and an alumnus of the Faculty of Law.
In addition to being a distinguished member of Alberta's law community, Miller was a devoted community leader. He was a founding member of the Edmonton Community Foundation and a longtime member and supporter of the Edmonton Jewish Community Council, the United Way and the Edmonton Symphony Society. He was also a director of the Edmonton Eskimos and a leader in organizing both the 1978 Commonwealth Games and the 1983 Universiade Games in Edmonton.