2023 law school teaching award winners announced

The Faculty of Law would like to congratulate the winners of the 2023 Teaching Excellence Awards!

Howard Tidswell Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence: Professor Rudiger Tscherning

The Tidswell Award is awarded based on teaching excellence having regard for, but not limited to, teaching excellence in a defined period, prolonged high-level teaching performance, teaching methodology, and/or contribution to curriculum. 

"I am delighted to receive the 2022-23 Howard Tidswell Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence and would like to thank all involved in the nomination and adjudication processes, as well as my colleagues for their collective commitment to teaching excellence at our school," said Tscherning.

"The Canadian legal market is becoming more and more global in scope and our graduates are pursuing opportunities further afield than traditional local markets. But even here at home, internationally-focused legal services are at the heart of a more connected Canadian economy as reflected, for example, in the response to the war in Ukraine by the North American energy sector to address an unprecedented energy crisis in Europe. This is the foundation of my approach to "teaching internationally", to offer our students the opportunity to explore and challenge alternative perspectives set within a truly global context. As an energy law teacher, in my courses, my goal is to deconstruct Albertan, Canadian, and international energy law and policy issues and to explore their broader regional and international implications with my students. My approach to teaching is also heavily influenced by the belief that in addition to acquiring knowledge and professional skills, one of the most important outcomes of law school is the ability to organize the acquired knowledge and to learn when and how to apply it. Finding practical responses to the challenges posed by an interconnected global economy is a key skill and there could be no better area of internationally-focused energy law studies than discussing new and exciting technologies to produce alternative energy sources, or to navigate the private international law issues arising from the transportation of energy. Throughout, my approach to "teaching internationally" is reflective of my own background as an internationally-trained lawyer, which has given me the understanding of what any young lawyer requires from their law school education so as to graduate “practice-ready”. I am happiest when former students tell me that putting an international focus on their law school experience made them feel more confident and ready to embark upon the next steps in their journey."  

Sessional Instructor Teaching Award: Caroline Magnan

First awarded in 2021, the Sessional Instructor Teaching Award recognizes high-level teaching performance, methodology, and contribution to curriculum, as well as innovative course design and/or delivery.

"I am honored to be nominated and selected for this teaching award and grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the unique and innovative legal education offered at the University of Calgary Law Faculty," said Magnan. "As the director of the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law Certification in French Common Law Program (CCLF), it has been wonderful to work closely with the visionary and dynamic team at the University of Calgary Faculty of Law in helping establish the CCLF at the University of Calgary. The students that I have had the privilege to teach are extraordinary. Many students have French as a second or third language and courageously pursue a part of their legal education in French to increase access to justice in both official languages. I am constantly amazed by the dedication, kindness, and brilliance of these students, and I am grateful to be a part of their learning journey."

"It’s an honour to work with our outstanding faculty members and instructors in the Faculty of Law," said Ian Holloway, dean of the law school. "Nominated by the students and their peers, Rudi and Caroline are top class, and the whole nomination committee felt a surge of pride when we realized that we work among such an extraordinary group of teachers."