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w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m M A R C H 2 0 1 8 25 Another outwardly focused initiative that Sossin mentions for the law school is the Artist in Residence program, launched in 2013. This program welcomes artists to "explore representations of justice and legal education." The first artist in resi- dence was Cindy Blažević, who photo- graphed the Kingston Penitentiary and had a 600-square-foot installation of one of the photographs wrapped around the exte- rior of the law school. She also developed a series of video essays with law students. "If we're looking at the impact of a peni- tentiary, why would we tell that in print when we can demonstrate the power of those factors far more viscerally with pho- tography?" asks Sossin. "It's about telling the stories of justice or shaping approaches to advocacy that are exactly embracing the complexities, principles, big questions that law schools grapple with, but in more imaginative, often more provocative ways." Sossin's interest in art and bringing creativity to a sometimes staid and con- servative law school environment clearly highlights a desire to push boundaries, which he also had when trying to improve how the law school measured diversity. Osgoode, according to Sossin, was the first law school to do a mandatory demographic survey of its whole first-year class. "Lots of law schools did surveys, but they were voluntary and you might get 30 or 40 per cent filling it out, so you couldn't really say anything about your demographics because they're not universal." By making it mandatory, Sossin says, it helped "change the discussion because before that the answer was simply you can't do that" due to privacy concerns. "By doing it for the right reasons and doing it in the aggregate, of course, so no one's individual- ized information could be tracked back, I think we achieved something important about our commitments to inclusion." Despite Sossin's pride in Osgoode's achievements in opening itself to diversity and the wider community, though, he does point out one change that has closed doors: rising tuition fees. While he mentions the $1-million investment in financial acces- sibility the law school made in 2015 for various bursaries and loan programs as one instance of his drive to improve accessibil- ity, he does not deny the negative effects of Osgoode's steadily rising tuition. "We've got graduation bursaries and scholarships and great funded summer internships and, you know, just more and more opportunities for students to get a leg up financially, but none of it counters the corrosive effect of higher tuition [and] higher student debt," he says. "As much as I think we've moved the conversation importantly forward — and for a certain number of students it's been life-changing and will be career-altering — overall, I think it remains the most significant unfin- ished business maybe alongside decoloniz- ing and indigenization of legal education." While debates swirl about the prac- ticality of legal education and the need for innovation, Sossin's vision of openness and pushing boundaries may help provide grounding for law students that the tradi- tional insular approach did not. As for the future, Sossin intends to stay at Osgoode as a professor. But who knows where someone with an eye to openness and pushing boundaries could end up next? REACH ONE OF THE LARGEST LEGAL AND BUSINESS MARKETS IN CANADA! AVAILABLE ONLINE AND IN PRINT With more than 300,500 page views and 100,000 unique visitors monthly canadianlawlist.com captures your market. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT Colleen Austin: T: 416.649.9327 E: colleen.austin@thomsonreuters.com www.canadianlawlist.com Untitled-3 1 2018-02-12 10:09 AM

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