Since joining the Pitt School of Law faculty in 2020, Andrele Brutus St. Val, associate professor of legal writing, has been a dynamic presence deeply engaged in teaching, scholarly pursuits and service to the institution and the legal education community at large. She cocreated a unique course, titled Thriving in the Law: Tools for Academic, Professional, and Personal Well-being, aimed at equipping students with resilience skills, habits and routines in different areas of their lives to minimize stress and optimize well-being.
In her recent scholarly publication, St. Val discussed the course and addressed common barriers faced by law students, such as high demands on their time and the pressure to conform to a single “right way” of being a law student and lawyer. She also described the conceptualization of her Thriving in the Law course, which was the product of a collaboration with psychology researcher Omid Fotuhi, a group of law students and her School of Law colleague Ann Sinsheimer. The course helps students to cultivate a resilience toolbox using science-based strategies to boost motivation, manage distractions, form meaningful connections and improve performance, ultimately guiding students in developing their professional identity.
In her most recent publication, St. Val also explored the historical roots of distance education and drew parallels to the current debate on online legal education. She discussed how the historical evolution of distance education can help to create an equitable, technology-forward legal academy. She believes that robust frameworks for effective online legal teaching can be built, fostering a more inclusive and modernized legal profession. Her research and innovative courses are helping to improve the experiences of law students to enable them to thrive.