At a time when clinicians are being called to both teach and resist, this session invites conversation about priorities for clinical legal education through the lens of decolonizing pedagogy — with a focus on the clinical seminar. Across the U.S., we are witnessing an unprecedented attack on the rule of law, a sharp rise in authoritarian and fascist tendencies in government, and a coordinated campaign of intimidation targeting lawyers, students, and legal organizations who dare to challenge state violence, racism, settler colonialism, or genocide.
Simultaneously, we are witnessing a fierce attack on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives across university campuses — a veiled but deliberate attempt to undermine the leadership and scholarship of women and faculty of color, to delegitimize non-hegemonic epistemologies, and to silence critical, abolitionist, and decolonial perspectives in the academy. This backlash seeks not only to erase histories of systemic violence but to re-entrench white supremacist, patriarchal, and neoliberal ideologies within higher education — including legal education. As state actors escalate attacks on environmental justice movements, criminalize protest, and expand carceral and surveillance systems, clinical seminars can serve as sites for collective grounding, imagination, and solidarity.
Building on past sessions on Decolonizing Rounds and Decolonizing Supervision, this third session will turn to the clinical seminar. We will begin with a mapping of key theoretical frameworks — abolitionist, Indigenous, decolonial, and critical race theories — as they relate to the mission of law clinics as adaptive, community-accountable spaces. We will then shift to participatory breakout groups, guided by prompts and hypotheticals, to explore how seminars can become fertile ground for deeper inquiry into law’s role in both oppression and liberation.
Participants will be asked to bring authenticity, openness, and critical curiosity to the session, as we explore the potential and limitations of the clinical seminar. We see this as a continuation of a larger arc in our collective work to reimagine clinical legal education as part of a broader struggle for justice, liberation, and community repair. We welcome fellow travelers, co-conspirators, and skeptics alike to join us in this critical conversation.