Polarization in the Legal Academy: A Conversation on Looking Inward to Break New Ground

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Session Type: Concurrent Sessions

Session Capacity: N/A

Hotel: N/A

Room: Franciscan C

Floor: Ballroom Level

This session looks at the polarization between clinical and externship programs, the reasons for and barriers created by that polarization, and opportunities for breaking down those barriers. The panel includes experiential faculty from two schools, one live-client clinician and one externship clinician from each, as well as a moderator. Participants will be asked to reflect on some thought-provoking questions about their own experiential programs, interrogating what efforts have been made to increase inclusion and decrease the unintended effects of hierarchical systems. They will come away with information to help them assess their own programs, suggestions for ways to build collaborations, ideas for curricular innovations, and discussion of internal and external obstacles along with strategies for overcoming them. Externship and clinical faculty at UC Irvine and Seattle University School of Law will describe their concrete challenges and successes and show how breaking down polarization in the legal academy itself can benefit clients, students, staff, and faculty alike.