Faculty
At Faculty level, overall responsibility for the LLM students lies with the LLM Director, Professor Peter Harris.
Teaching: lectures, seminars and small group teaching
Each LLM subject is run as either a lecture course or a seminar course. A lecture course ordinarily has two hours of lectures a week. Students are expected to supplement this formal contact by extensive private reading and informal group discussion. Teaching is interactive, so some pre-reading before lectures is essential in order to take full advantage of the learning experience and the possibilities for engagement with the lecturer. Seminar courses are different, and described below – the term is used in a particular sense on the Cambridge LLM programme; it does not simply mean a small lecture group.
With lecture courses, special provision is typically made for additional small group teaching (in groups of 10-15 students) where the numbers taking the subject exceed 20. Where such small group teaching is provided, students can generally expect 5 small group classes in the subject during the course of the academic year.
These small group teaching sessions are provided because we know how much students benefit from lively interaction with their peers. We consider 10-15 to be the optimum size for discussing difficult and controversial issues: it is large enough to allow for different standpoints to be represented and expressed, and small enough to give all students the opportunity to participate in the debate and develop their own ideas.
In these small groups, students are expected to analyse complex legal materials, critically examine legal questions, apply their legal knowledge to 'problem' situations and consider underlying policy issues. Students are strongly encouraged to express and defend their own opinions. They can then benefit from informal discussion and feedback from both their lecturers and peers.
Students are also encouraged to submit written work (up to three pieces for each course they are taking). These might take the form of reflective essays or timed exam-practice essays. Students benefit from direct and individual feedback on their work, and can then hone their writing skills.