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With a newly minted Doctorate of Civil Law (DCL), Sandrine Ampleman-Tremblay found herself standing at the front of a lecture hall, preparing to teach her first class.

At the time, Ampleman-Tremblay had just completed a doctoral teaching fellow at McGill University, where she had pursued her doctoral studies in law. Although she’d done a handful of guest lectures, she was still finding her footing as a teacher.

“It was daunting — I had no idea what I was doing or if I would be good at it,” she recalls. “But I really fell in love with teaching.”

Two years later, Ampleman-Tremblay’s talent in the classroom is unmistakable and is now formally recognized by the º£½ÇÉçÇø Faculty of Law. Appointed as an assistant professor in 2023, she has been named this year’s recipient of the Hon. Tevie H. Miller Teaching Excellence Award. Established in 1998, the award is named for the late Chief Justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta and Faculty of Law alumnus, and recognizes teaching talent among full-time faculty members.

A human approach

For Ampleman-Tremblay, who is currently teaching an introductory course on criminal law and another on the legal history of women's rights, good teaching begins with authentic human connection.

“In a world of AI, I think being human is one of the most important things we can bring as educators,” she says. “I want my students to know I’m here for them if they want to build that relationship. When they do, it’s really the best part of my day.”

Good teaching is also a matter of meeting students where they’re at. Knowing that some students are shy—as she once was, as a first-year law student—Ampleman-Tremblay strives to be as approachable as possible. Since others are not keen on criminal law—which, ironically, also describes her own undergraduate experience—she strives to make the course as interesting as possible for them.

One strategy she employs is balancing lecture time with small group exercises and optional assignments that emphasize feedback. “Not everyone is comfortable speaking up in class, but these activities give them different ways to engage and improve,” she explains.

Excellence in both teaching and research

As a full-time faculty member, Ampleman-Tremblay balances teaching responsibilities with a burgeoning research program. For her, the two roles are deeply intertwined: classroom discussions often inspire her scholarship, and her research enriches what she brings to students.

Since completing a doctoral dissertation on police sexual violence, exploring questions of legal accountability (both civil and criminal), Ampleman-Tremblay has pivoted to criminal law and gender. Recently, she earned a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Insight Grant for 2025-2029, which will support research on criminal responsibility in the context of extreme intoxication. The project is intended to build a more nuanced and just legal framework that acknowledges both the risk of violence—particularly against women and children—and underlying social and mental health issues.

Ampleman-Tremplay is the fifth member of the Faculty of Law to receive this prestigious grant since 2001, a testament to the strength of her research program. However, as a newcomer to teaching, the Hon. Tevie H. Miller Teaching Excellence Award has special resonance as she began teaching without knowing if she would excel.

“I didn’t think I would get a teaching award this early in my career,” she says. “I still feel like I’m figuring so much out. But I really love my students, and knowing they appreciate what I do is very touching and motivating.”