DTA Michelle McKinley

Michelle McKinley

Michelle McKinley

Thomas F. Herman Award for Specialized Pedagogy in Undergraduate Legal Studies
Bernard B. Kliks Professor of Law, School of Law

Inclusive, engaged, research-led

"I really don’t teach. I curate an environment where I learn together with students."

Sharing a common goal

"It makes a difference that we are committed to establishing a common goal of reading and understanding a text, discerning where those ideas came from, what work they do for the reader’s understanding of the world, and what the reader will do with those ideas long after they leave my classes or the university."



Classes with McKinley

LAW 671

International Law

LAW 610

Gender & Justice

LAW 204

Immigration & Citizenship

Understanding personal impact

"I was teaching Immigration and Citizenship during the 2016 election. The day after the election, there were tears, recriminations, defensive postures, deflections. But no one came away from that class unchanged by the enormity of their choices and the impact those choices had on their classmates, peers, and their family members."

Inspired by perseverance 

"I’m a bookworm, so I find inspiration in novels and memoirs about people surviving against all odds and living with grace, humility, and humor in situations of precarity."