Want to be a law professor? Mentorship and advice

Finally updated. Thanks for being patient. (Jan. 11, 2005)

Thanks to the CoLR board members who organized the faculty-student mixer for underrepresented students aspiring for careers in legal teaching. If you are a person of color, a woman, or an LGBT student, and want a faculty mentor, please contact CoLR. This is a wonderful opportunity for anyone even considering a future in legal academia.

Preparation and highlights from the night:

. We created signup sheets for students and faculty interested in the mentorship program.
. CoLR wanted to start the mentorship program to provide opportunities for underrepresented student populations to have formal and informal mentor relationships with interested faculty.

. Each professor in attendance talked briefly about his or her experience in the field and how s/he came to be a professor. Professors who spoke included:
--Rachel Barkow
--Kim Barry
--Kevin Davis
--Babe Howell
--Nancy Morawetz
--Smita Narula
--Cristina Rodriguez
--Meg Satterthwaite

Advice offered:

. Generally:
--Grades and performance while in law school are important.
--Join a journal or find other opportunities to produce some writing/scholarship while in school.
--Work as a research assistant and engage closely with faculty while in school.
--Apply for clerkships as a 3L.
--Look for fellowship opportunities, such as NYU's Furman and Alexander Fellowships.

. For students interested in clinical professorships:
--Work intensively in a particular field for several years before applying at schools. Some writing is important, but scholarship is less critical than teaching/lawyering ability.

. For students interested in academic professorships:
--Don't work for too long after graduation/clerkship before applying for teaching positions.
--It is vital to build up scholarship and be published.

2nd session of reading group: Critical Race Theory

Is there still theoretic space for Critical Race Theory? Aren't we beyond racial analyses of the law? If race is indeed a social construction, should we pursue 'colorblind' legal thinking?

Thanks to all the organizers for another successful, enriching meeting of the reading group (Wed., Oct. 20). Here is a list of the readings that were covered:

1. Crenshaw, Kimberlé. “The First Decade: Critical Reflections, or ‘A Foot In The Closing Door’” UCLA Law Review, June 2002. 49 UCLA L. Rev. 1343.

2. Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214, 65 S.Ct. 193, 89 L.Ed. 194 (1944).

3. McCleskey v. Kemp, 481 U.S. 279, 107 S.Ct. 1756, 95 L.Ed.2d 262 (1987).

4. Haney Lopez, Ian F. “The Social Construction of Race.” Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review, Winter 1994. 29 Harv. C.R.-C.L. L. Rev. 1.

5. Wendel, Bradley. “A Moderate Defense of Hate Speech” Harvard Journal on Legislation, Summer 2004. 41 HVJL 407.

6. Kastely, Amy H. “Out of the Whiteness: On Raced Codes and White Race Consciousness in Some Tort, Criminal, and Contract Law.” University of Cincinnati Law Review, Fall 1994. 63 U. Cin. L. Rev. 269.

7. Angela Harris’s introduction to the Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic’s Critical Race Theory: An Introduction (New York: NYU Press, 2001).

1st Asian-American faculty member--Professor Stephen Choi Nov. 18 event

Currently a visiting professor from UC Berkeley's Boalt Law School, Professor Stephen Choi has accepted the offer to join the full-time faculty at NYU Law! His research interests focus on the theoretical and empirical analysis of corporations and capital markets, and he is teaching Securities Regulation this semester. See his biography at http://www.law.berkeley.edu/faculty/chois/.
The community welcomes NYU Law's first Asian-American professor and mentor. To celebrate and welcome Professor Choi, CoLR and APALSA will co-host a brown-bag lunch on Thurs., Nov. 18 from noon-1. See you then!

Upcoming CoLR events--Oct. 12, 14, 15, 19, 20

Welcome to CoLR 2004-2005! This is a shot from the first general meeting in Golding.

Tues., Oct. 12, 4 p.m. in Greenberg Lounge
Esther Chavez Cano, 11th Sheinberg Lecture co-sponsored by CoLR
"En Juarez el Pecado Mas Grande es ser Mujer" (In Juarez the Biggest Sin is to be a Woman); Introduction by Eve Ensler, author of the Vagina Monologues

Thurs., Oct. 14, 6 p.m. in Snow Dining Room
Faculty-student mixer to kick off our mentorship program for underrepresented students aspiring to be legal academics.

Fri., Oct. 15, morning in FH
OUTLaw/CoLR protest against JAG military recruiting on the grounds of discrimination against sexual minorities.

Tues., Oct. 19, 1 p.m. in VH 216
CoLR general meeting

Wed., Oct. 20, 4:30 p.m. in FH 216
Second meeting of the reading group.

So, how does it feel in your classrooms?

Angelica Jongco (3L), former CoLR Chair, explains the history of CoLR, Sept. 2004.

Reading group 1Ls, after a fruitful first session on pedagogy and classroom dynamics, how has it felt in your classrooms?
Are you better equipped to perceive and analyze what the teacher is doing?
What about in terms of participation? Is there a balance among types of people speaking? Does the teacher engage all manner of students and opinions?
Are topics approached in an enlightening, nuanced manner? Do you feel comfortable with the way the material is being presented?

1st session of reading group: Pedagogy and Classroom Dynamics

In the first session of our reading group, we read excerpts from the following texts:

1) LEGAL EDUCATION AS TRAINING FOR HIERARCHY, Duncan Kennedy (http://freespace.virgin.net/suzanne.boyce/files/book1/2_3.htm)

2) BECOMING GENTLEMEN: WOMEN'S EXPERIENCES AT ONE IVY LEAGUE LAW SCHOOL, Lani Guinier, Michelle Fine, Jane Balin, Ann Bartow, and Deborah Lee Stachel (143 U. Pa. L. Rev. 1)

3) PEDAGOGY OF THE OPPRESSED, Ch. 2, Paulo Freire (http://www.marxists.org/subject/education/freire/pedagogy/ch02.htm)

4) MINORITY LAW PROFESSORS' LIVES: THE BELLDELGADO SURVEY, Richard Delgado, Derrick Bell (24 Harv. C.R.-C.L. L. Rev. 349)

Here are other suggested readings:

1) MAKING DOCILE LAWYERS: AN ESSAY ON THE PACIFICATION OF LAW STUDENTS (111 Harv. L. Rev. 2027)

2) A DIALOGUE ABOUT SOCRATIC TEACHING, Peggy Cooper Davis, Elizabeth Ehrenfest Stienglass (23 NYURLSC 249)

3) Review of Duncan Kennedy's new book, which includes the aforementioned essay: http://www.bsos.umd.edu/gvpt/lpbr/subpages/reviews/kennedy804.htm

4) Critique of Kennedy's aforementioned essay:
http://www.lsus.edu/la/journals/ideology/contents/shainarticle.htm



Professor Bryan Stevenson and members of NYU Law '06 at Yale Law's 2004 Rebellious Lawyering conference.

Reading group introduction

We are proud to have almost 70 students involved in our series:

Year Two of CoLR’s
Critical Approaches Progressive Reading Group

Welcome!! In conjunction with the reading packet, “Beyond the Box of the Legal Academy: Critical Approaches to Law School and the Law,” developed last year by members of CoLR and Radical Students of Color…

This reading group is for students who feel silenced in the classroom, particularly persons of color, women, and LGBT students. In the process of reading liberating texts and discussing our thoughts and feelings, we will equip ourselves with the tools necessary to bring neglected issues to the classroom.

While the group is no longer open to new members for this semester, we encourage all participants to spread the word about our efforts and the importance of adopting critical approaches to our legal studies. Please tell your friends, classmates and professors about both the reading group and reader.


Fall Semester Schedule (locations TBA)

October 6, Wed., 4:30-6:30, in FH 214, 216, 310, 334
PEDAGOGY and CLASSROOM DYNAMICS

October 20, Wed., 4:30-6:30
CRITICAL RACE THEORY

November 3, Wed., 4:30-6:30
QUEER and FEMINIST THEORY

November 17, Wed., 5:15-7:15 (due to the panel on first-year exams)
LAW AND DEVELOPMENT and GLOBALIZATION