The Games We Play

Abstract

We Civil Procedure professors like to shake our heads and grimly note the unique difficulties we face in teaching Procedure to first year students. We use phrases like “alien and incomprehensible,” “abstract and alienating,” and “not the most spellbinding course in the first-year curriculum.” Students approach the “pamphlet “of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure with trepidation and a weary sigh. To fight against this predisposition and to demonstrate to students that they have read, interpreted, and employed “rules” for many years, I now begin the semester by playing board games. By spending some time in the first class with Monopoly, Jenga, and several other games, I hope to accomplish many of the objectives suggested in the pedagogical research. More specifically, by playing cards or Apples to Apples, I am able to raise important points about rules and how we interpret them while setting a less formal, collegial tone for the semester.