Diversity is a core value of the AALS and is critical to our law schools, the legal profession and
the world. The topic has been a central feature of past and current AALS publications and
Annual Meeting sessions, including Section programming. Recognizing its importance, the
current and incoming AALS Presidents have joined together to launch a two-year focus upon
diversity, encompassing its many facets, starting with this call for papers for a Presidential
Program.
Much fine scholarship has, in recent years, addressed important diversity issues surrounding
gender, religion, race, viewpoint, disability, and sexual orientation. Tying in to recent events on
and off campus, our colleagues in the legal academy have addressed questions of racial equity
and inclusion in their teaching and scholarship. Many law schools are now engaged in
heightened and new forms of institutional attention on racial and other forms of equity. Some
of this heightened inquiry has been prompted by our own reflection on major social issues,
including highly visible racial disparity issues in our criminal justice system; however, social and
campus protests, including those of the Black Lives Matter movement, have also spurred
greater focus.
This President’s Program and associated papers will seek to answer questions, including:
- What are the challenges and opportunities for the legal academy in this social and
campus climate?
- Does our community have a special role to play as our schools, universities, and civil
society confront critical issues surrounding the various diversity issues of concern?
- Are there tensions or synergies between traditional academic values of academic
freedom and viewpoint diversity with heightened commitments to racial and other
forms of equity and inclusion?