Thom Brooks is an award-winning teacher and one of a small number of academics to hold a Principal Fellowship (PFHEA) of Advance HE — the highest level of recognition against the UK Professional Standards Framework for teaching and learning in higher education, held by fewer than 5% of fellowship holders.
His teaching awards include:
- Lecturer of the Year Award, Durham Students’ Union (2014)
- Law Teacher of the Year Award, Durham Law School — inaugural recipient (2015)
- Excellence in Learning and Teaching Award, Durham University (2016)
- Inspiring Academic Award — runner-up, Durham Students’ Union (2015)
- Shortlisted, Law Teacher of the Year, Northern Law Awards (2015)
He is currently Principal of Collingwood College, Durham University.
Taught areas:
Criminal Law
The foundations of criminal liability, modes of participation, inchoate offences, defences and selected offences including murder, theft and sexual offences from theoretical underpinnings through to practical application.
Evidence and Criminal Process
Criminal procedure and evidence across three parts: pre-trial process; the criminal trial (including proof, fair trial rights and the role of the jury); and sentencing (including guidelines, penal objectives and restorative justice).
Jurisprudence
An introduction to philosophy of law covering natural law, legal positivism, legal pragmatism and legal realism; practical reasoning; and key debates around authority, legality and rights drawing on both classic and contemporary contributions.
Law, Public Policy & Advocacy
An exploration of legal change, public advocacy and strategic communication, giving students the tools to examine any issue in law and public policy and to argue for or against it. Students engage with the Law School’s research centres and develop advanced socio-legal research skills. (See resources list)
Punishment
Theories of punishment and their application in sentencing, from single-purpose theories to hybrid and unified frameworks. Seminar-based, with discussion of leading figures and their contributions across consequentialist and non-consequentialist approaches.
Political Philosophy
Topics have ranged across the history of political thought — from Plato and Aristotle through Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau and Marx, to Kant and Hegel and contemporary issues including Rawls, global justice, equality, democracy, feminism and multiculturalism.
Student feedback:
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“Thom Brooks is an absolute asset to the Law School. He is unfailingly enthusiastic and always endeavours to explain convoluted ideas in as straightforward yet in-depth a manner as possible. He is fantastic.”
“The Punishment module has been the most engaging and enjoyable module I have experienced in my three years at law school. Thom is incredibly passionate about teaching, teaches in an interactive manner, and navigates sensitive subjects incredibly well.”
“This has genuinely been one of the most useful and stimulating modules of this year. The best aspect is Prof Brooks, who cannot do enough to help students.”
“Professor Thom Brooks has significantly enhanced the learning experience. His engaging and intellectually stimulating seminars foster an extremely positive learning environment.”
“I really feel like my interest in research was genuinely encouraged — being able to learn from someone with such depth and breadth of knowledge has been inspirational.”
“It has been the best module I have taken during my time at Durham.”
Peer observations:
“In 16 years of Higher Education — including six years as a student and ten years as a lecturer — this was clearly one of the best taught sessions I have witnessed. Dr Brooks is an outstanding lecturer and possesses excellent teaching skills.” — Prof Alex Hughes, Professor of Economic Geography, Newcastle University
“Professor Brooks is an excellent lecturer — lively, engaged and very popular among the student body. This lecture was compelling, I learned a lot, and time passed very quickly.” — Prof Deirdre McCann, Professor of Law, Durham University
“Legal Frontiers is a highly innovative course that draws on research from a range of disciplines and is of significant practical importance to law students. Professor Brooks ensures both a highly effective delivery of the material and an enthusiastic student response.” — Peer observation, Durham Law School
