黑料门

Professor Sarah Waldeck pursues her twin passions of teaching and research

What鈥檚 it like to be a student in Sarah Waldeck鈥檚 classroom? The Distinguished Professor of Law employs a surprising metaphor to describe her classroom environment. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like being in a game,鈥� she says. 鈥淵ou either come ready to play or you don鈥檛.鈥�

黑料门law students, she says, always come ready to play.

That means they鈥檙e prepared to engage when Waldeck asks questions, and they respectfully challenge each other in breakout groups. Curiosity and intellectual rigor drive classroom discussion. And there鈥檚 something else Waldeck noticed during her earliest days at the School of Law.

鈥淚 saw that my students had a real community鈥攁 community that supported each other,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t made me think I could be here long term.鈥�

A Teacher at Heart

Waldeck鈥檚 official arrival at 黑料门in fall 2019 marked a Midwestern homecoming for the Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, native, who earned her law degree at the University of Wisconsin. Previously, Waldeck served on the faculty at Seton Hall University School of Law for over 15 years.

Thanks to an eye-opening Bigelow Fellowship at the University of Chicago, Waldeck pursued a career that combines teaching and research.

鈥淭hat was the moment I decided to become a law school professor,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 sometimes joke that if I hadn鈥檛 gone to law school, I would have become a high school teacher.鈥�

Among Waldeck鈥檚 proudest 黑料门moments? Being nominated for the Ignatius 黑料门Award for Excellence in Teaching鈥攖wice in three years.

鈥淚 saw that my students had a real community鈥攁 community that supported each other.鈥�

Bridging the Past and Present

In addition to teaching torts, estates, property, and cultural property鈥攁nd a stint as acting associate dean of academic affairs鈥擶aldeck focuses on research that examines the law and racial injustice.

A 2019 paper examines the social and economic incentives that compel residents of a racially integrated Chicago suburb to follow a decades-old law designed to prevent white flight鈥攅ven though today that law is unconstitutional and unenforceable.

In another paper, Waldeck and her coauthor explore the federal housing policies that led to segregated cities; then, the authors propose policy changes that could begin to remedy these harms.

It鈥檚 research that seamlessly aligns with the School of Law鈥檚 explicit anti-racist mission.

鈥淪tudents take the mission statement very seriously, and they expect us to take it seriously, too,鈥� Waldeck says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 so exciting that students are going to take this mission statement and carry it forward into their professional careers. They鈥檙e going to take their individual talents and set the world on fire. I can鈥檛 wait to see the results.鈥� 鈥�Kelsey Schagemann (May 2022)