ABSTRACT
Outside of moot courts, simulations (or complex role-play) rarely feature within traditional doctrinal law curricula. This chapter provides an overview of a simulation that was devised for a curriculum in a Refugee Law course, which was designed to bridge what has been described as ‘the knowing–doing gap’. This chapter explores how this set of simulation-based experiential learning exercises assisted students to integrate course content on Australian and international refugee law with an understanding of the political dynamics underlying refugee policy and debates. It examines the strengths of this form of learning in the refugee context as well as some of the challenges it presents to educators and students. It evaluates anonymous student feedback on the activities to demonstrate how these role-play activities deepened students’ critical capacities and refined their ability to communicate to varied audiences and achieve specific policy or programmatic outcomes.
