Dr. Irehobhude O. Iyioha (Ireh Iyioha) is a leading expert on health law and policy and international human rights law. Her innovative, interdisciplinary work draws upon moral and legal philosophy to examine why the law works in some cases – and why it fails. She has a particular interest in law’s impact on marginalized populations, historically defined as ‘vulnerable,’ especially women and racialized groups.
A graduate of Allard Law’s PhD program, Dr. Iyioha is the inaugural holder of the UBC Professorship in Race and Access to Justice. We’re thrilled to welcome her back to the Peter A. Allard School of Law.
Tell us about your research. What are you currently working on?
My scholarship studies law’s limits and the conditions under which law is most effective for meeting the needs of historically disenfranchised populations. One of my projects is a study of vulnerability – what it means to be vulnerable and the implications of vulnerability when used as an organizing concept for distributive justice. As part of this project, I’m also exploring what vulnerability means in the context of access to justice and how ‘meanings’ shape policies, access to social goods and, of course, the goals of distributive justice.
I also continue to lead the project on Obedience and Legal Obligations, which has involved data collection internationally. This project evaluates citizen behaviour in emergency times and examines why people might disobey a health or other directive, even in scenarios where disobedience can lead to adverse consequences. The research, which started partly out of my curiosity about the impact of populism on healthcare behaviour, explores the age-old question of why we obey – and why we disobey. A better understanding of patterns in behaviour and the underlying reasons for those patterns will help policymakers make more informed decisions about how limited resources are allocated – especially in times when we are most vulnerable.
At their core, these two studies ask: How can we design health and justice systems that better address vulnerability, ensuring improved healthcare outcomes and, overall, improved responses to law?
What is it about teaching that inspires you?
I’m most inspired by the knowledge exchange embedded in teaching. I’m always as excited about seeing the light bulbs go off when I teach my students as I am when they say something that influences my thinking about a given subject.
Great teaching is like good-natured banter – a light-hearted exchange of great ideas that, even when there are divergent views, pushes the conversation into a space where there’s mutual recognition that knowledge and wisdom are not unidirectional and that we can forge new pathways even when we disagree.
How would you describe your approach to teaching?
My teaching style is eclectic, combining mixed media and methods. For example, I teach through diagrammatic representations of concepts or theories, pictures, videos and experiential methods, such as our first-semester field school exercise, which takes students to locations across campus to analyse fictional tort law scenarios.
There are preparatory exercises on problem-solving for every topic, and I sometimes employ group-based discussions to create learning bubbles where some students may feel more comfortable exchanging knowledge before transitioning into a full class discussion. Because students learn in different ways, the goal is to reach every type of learner.
You’re also a short story author and were nominated for a CBC Short Story Prize for your story Take Me Home With You. Can you tell us about what inspired your recently released book, A Place Beyond The Heart?
The stories in A Place Beyond the Heart have travelled with me for several years and, for a number of them, it has been a long journey of reflection and transformation. There isn’t one given moment of inspiration that explains the stories and how they came together. Rather, several of them are largely the result of a need – to tell stories that historically unfold as pressing, compelling news stories, but which disappear over time from our daily consciousness.
What happens to the families left behind after the storm? What happens to the individuals themselves? What do they do with the embers of an inferno? The collection asks – to borrow from the title of Whitney Houston’s song – Where Do Broken Hearts Go?
The works in the collection also reflect a need to tell stories of little-known places where life unfolds just as beautifully – even though precariously – as it does here in safer nations, thus exploring what it means to be human in spite of the pain we often carry, and to explore the idea of life and living after deeply transformative life events, like loss—especially loss.
You completed your PhD at Allard Law. What are you looking forward to most about being back?
Allard Law has always been a vibrant hub for an expansive range of academic activities. There was always something exciting to do and programs and initiatives to explore. None of that has changed. If anything, there has been significant growth in its offerings.
Allard has been through some significant transformation since I was last here. I’m looking forward to being part of the ongoing changes, contributing to its growth, reconnecting with friends and colleagues, and discovering new opportunities for advancing new and shared goals.
