AALS Arc of Career Program

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Session Type: AALS Arc of Career Programs

Session Capacity: N/A

Hotel: Hilton New Orleans Riverside

Room: Grand Salon Section 6

Floor: First Floor

In this session, current and former law faculty members will discuss being “called” to more fully embrace advocacy roles, reform efforts, and racial justice work outside of traditional or expected law school frameworks, and share lessons learned from their experiences.

Participants will consider the limits of traditional legal academic roles and institutions as sites of activism, as well as unique opportunities offered by these settings. We will further explore the question of whether legal clinics are, or should be, the central location within the academy for reform work and discuss a range of formats for advancing racial and social justice reform, including centers, labs, and interdisciplinary institutes.

The session will further reflect on attrition, asking who seems to be leaving the academy to take on activist and advocacy roles, and consider possible implications for the future composition and complexion of the law school professorate in the days ahead.