Mitra Sharafi, Professor of Law and Center for South Asia faculty member, has been awarded a 2021 Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award. Students commend Sharafi for her classroom innovation — in particular, her carefully cultivated skill at facilitating classroom discussion. Over the years she has come to focus more and more on the importance of visual learning for many of her students and has developed a number of handouts with diagrams that depict difficult to follow concepts in the course. Sharafi links theory to practice and encourages students to think beyond the four walls of the classroom. While learning the traditional elements of contract formation, breach and remedy, she consistently reminds students that the “law on the books” often differs from the “law on the ground.” By sharing real-world business anecdotes and legal research findings, she encourages students to become thoughtful and practical client advocates. Read more.