An article from last year from Sara Berman and Barrett Schreiner (both from USC Gould School of Law) on Teaching Strategies For Building Belonging and Creating Community in Online and In-Person Legal Education has been published in the St. Mary’s Law Journal. From the introduction:

Community and belonging are interrelated yet differ in important ways; belonging is foundational to community. When individuals feel they do not belong, they see their differences rather than their commonalities and often no longer view themselves as full-status community members. In both the online and in-person law school contexts, fed by stratifying factors including curved grades and limited opportunities for elite jobs, even students who have a lot in common with one another can feel like outsiders or lone wolves.

To foster true learning communities in online and in-person law school contexts, faculty institutions, and students themselves, must intentionally combat factors that create alienation. They must also employ strategies that bolster belonging. This piece largely focuses on the role of law faculty in working to combat students’ sense of alienation and bolster their sense of belonging.

Sara J. Berman & Barrett L. Schreiner, Teaching Strategies for Building Belonging and Creating Community in Online and In-Person Legal Education, 57 St. Mary’s L.J. 1 (2025).