Prominent Toronto lawyer Edward Greenspan is headed to his home region’s university to teach a course. He won’t, however, be teaching at a law faculty; instead, he’ll be teaching political science.
Starting Jan. 7, Greenspan will teach a 12-week political science class at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont., that will include an examination of the link between crime and politics.
“We will use landmark cases and real events to look at the relationship between criminal law and politics,” he says.
“I don’t think there will be any comparable undergraduate course in any other university,” adds Greenspan, who notes the course will include discussions on how crime rates affect Canadian politics. “The purpose is a better awareness of not just what this current government is doing but what governments in general do with respect to crime.”
Besides presenting his own materials, Greenspan also plans to bring in criminologists, judges, and prosecutors as guest speakers.
Greenspan, originally from Niagara Falls, Ont., was the recipient of an honorary degree from Brock this spring. At the time, he noted he began university too early to attend Brock, which opened in 1964. Now, almost 50 years later, he has a degree from Brock is going to be teaching there.
For its part, the university hailed the news of Greenspan’s teaching position.
“This will be a seminar where students get to interact in a personal and direct way with Ed Greenspan and benefit from his insights as they develop their own positions on current legal questions,” said Pierre Lizee, chairman of the department of political science.
Brock president Jack Lightstone called Greenspan’s course “tremendous news, not just because of his international reputation for excellence in his field but also because he is from Niagara and Brock is proud to help him give back to our community.”
