Edward Greenspan (centre) receiving an honoray doctorate degree at Spring Convocation (June 2012)

Besides being Canada’s most famous criminal lawyer, Edward Greenspan has also made his mark as a journalist, author, television host, legal commentator and social advocate.

Now the Niagara native can add another notch to his resume: Brock University teacher.

Greenspan has stood before packed courtrooms to defend everyone from Premier Gerald Regan to Conrad Black, Karlheinz Schreiber, Robert Latimer and the leading death penalty case in Canada, Burns and Rafay.

Now he brings his passion to Brock, where he will teach a credit course in political science during the winter term. The weekly class will be offered to top students over 12 weeks, starting Jan. 7. And, as one might expect with Greenspan, the focus will include a strong and lively examination of the link between crime and politics.

“We will use landmark cases and real events to look at the relationship between criminal law and politics,” he said. In discussing public reaction to crime rates, the class will also examine how crime rates affect Canadian politics, especially at the federal level. Greenspan plans to supplement his own input by bringing in criminologists, judges and prosecutors as guest speakers.

“The purpose is a better awareness of not just what this current government is doing, but what governments in general do with respect to crime.”

The course comes seven months after Brock presented Greenspan with an honorary doctorate degree in its spring 2012 convocation.

“When I came to the campus I found it remarkable, a vital, vibrant, important university. I told them I’d love to teach a course here. It’s like coming home, and I’m excited about this.

“I don’t think there will be any comparable undergraduate course in any other university.”

University officials hailed the announcement.

“We are thrilled to be able to offer our students the opportunity to learn from and with one of Canada’s great legal minds and dynamic personalities,” said Thomas Dunk, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Pierre Lizee, chair of the Department of Political Science, said students “are extremely excited. This will be a seminar where students get to interact in a personal and direct way with Ed Greenspan, and benefit from his insights as they develop their own positions on current legal questions.”

Brock President Jack Lightstone called Greenspan’s course “tremendous news, not just because of his international reputation for excellence in his field, but also because he is from Niagara, and Brock is proud to help him give back to our community.”