Events Calendar

Learn about the basics of blockchain smart contracts, and their future viability for fundraising, legal records, and transactions.

Full event information: https://law.utexas.edu/calendar/2018/02/13/36304/

Guest lecture by Professor Dietrich Thränhardt, University of Münster, Germany. Prof. Thränhardt's talk will be on the refugee crisis in Europe and German and European responses to it. Dietrich Thränhardt is a political scientist and one of the most renowned European immigration scholars. He has published extensively on immigration both in Europe and in Canada and the US. His recent work focuses on European and German asylum policies. Bio: https://www.uni-muenster.de/IfPol/personen/thraenhardt.html

Full event information: https://law.utexas.edu/calendar/2018/02/13/36404/

A Celebration of Diversity

February 15-16, 2018

Current Schedule:

Thursday, February 15, 2018

11:45 a.m. - Lunch with Chief Judge Diane Wood '75,United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, Presented by The Center for Women in Law in the Wright Classroom 2:00 p.m. – "Sweatt versus Painter Reconsidered" with Professor Randall Kennedy from Harvard Law School in Eidman Courtroom 3:30 p.m. – Reception and Heman Sweatt Portrait Unveiling in Atrium 6:00 p.m. – Dinner at the Etter-Harbin Alumni Center

Friday, February 16, 2018

TMLS Symposium in Eidman Courtroom 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Full event information: https://law.utexas.edu/calendar/2018/02/15/34908/

Lunch with Chief Judge Wood, United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

Full event information: https://law.utexas.edu/calendar/2018/02/15/35844/

Friday, February 16

8:00 – 8:30am: Breakfast for everyone and Registration for Teachers

8:30 – 9:00am: Welcome by Dean Farnsworth and Setting the Stage by Sanford Levinson

9:00 – 12:15pm: On "Introducing" Constitutional Law--and the Casebooks We Use to Do That. A host of editors of leading casebooks on the US Constitution will address two central questions: 1. What aspects of the Constitution should American undergraduates and/or law students be “introduced” to in 2018, given the high unlikelihood that even the law students will actually "practice" constitutional law in any capacity other than citizens? 2. What do you see as the principal point(s) of your own casebook relative to whatever answer you gave to the first question? Each person will make a short presentation, followed by presumably intense conversation including participation by the audience. There will be a brief break around 10:30 Panelists: Josh Blackman, Erwin Chemerinsky, Richard Fallon, Mark Graber, Gary Jacobsohn, Sanford Levinson, Pam Karlan, Mark Tushnet Chair: Richard Albert Location: Francis Auditorium

1:45-2:00pm: Introduction to the general topic of civic education (and the remaining panels): Meira Levinson

2:00 – 3:30pm: Historical Perspectives. As educators and citizens try to make sense of contemporary political and ideological divisions in the United States, it can be useful to see how educators and policy makers addressed profound division and civic upheaval in the past. This panel brings together historians of education to provide perspectives and insights into prior approaches to civic education in times of upheaval. Panelists: Jarvis Givens, Julie Reuben, Jonathan Zimmerman Chair: Lorraine Pangle Location: Sheffield-Massey Room

3:50 – 5:35pm: Civic Education in Divided Societies. Partisanship in the United States is at higher levels than we’ve seen in decades, and increasingly tracks other divides such as education level, income, and place of residence. Not only are we more extreme in our beliefs, therefore, but we are also more likely to be disconnected from those who have different perspectives. We are not the only country to face profound civic division, however; nor is this the first time that the United States finds itself ideologically driven. This panel brings together scholars and educators who work around the globe in deeply divided countries. Panelists: Michelle Bellino, Thea Abu El-Haj, Michael Karayanni, Adam Strom Chair: Michael Stoff Location: Sheffield-Massey Room

Saturday's Conference Schedule can be found here.

Please RSVP to the conference, here.

Note: Teachers can get Continuing Education credit through the State Bar of Texas. Please pre-register with the RSVP and register in front of the desk at TNH 2.111.

Full event information: https://law.utexas.edu/calendar/2018/02/16/34284/

Please join the Thurgood Marshall Legal Society as we present: Justice Marshall’s Legacy – A Look at Modern School Segregation, How Far We’ve Come and How Far We Need To Go. Panelists will include distinguished professors from UT's College of Education, recent Texas Law alumni, and current Texas Law students. The symposium will conclude with a panel retrospective on Justice Marshall's career and legacy led by Texas Law's own Professor Jordan Steiker and including former Justice Marshall clerks and biographers.

Full event information: https://law.utexas.edu/calendar/2018/02/16/34924/

Friday's Conference Schedule can be found here.

Panels will be located all day in the Eidman Courtroom.

Note: Teachers can get Continuing Education credit through the State Bar of Texas. Please pre-register with your RSVP.

Saturday, February 17

8:15 – 8:50am: Breakfast for everyone and Registration for Teachers. Location: Jamail Pavilion.

9:00 – 10:30am: Teaching Civic Contestation in Schools. How can and should educators teach controversial issues in schools? This is a perennial question, but one that has heightened salience in these unsettled times. What principles and practices should guide educators’ choices about what to include in the curriculum, and what to leave out as either “too hot to handle” or inappropriate to be treated as something open to debate? How have educators tried to protect themselves or their students when investigating contested topics, and what happens when things go wrong?

Panelists: Curtis Acosta, Dafney Blanca Dabach, Diana Hess

Chair: Randall Kennedy

10:45 – 12:15: Fault Lines in the Constitution. To the extent that the Constitution is taught in middle schools and high schools today, focus is generally placed on two areas: (1) the genius of the Framers in creating a government of divided and balanced powers, and (2) the perfection of the rights accorded to citizens, particularly those embedded in the Bill of Rights. Such anodyne and uncritical approaches to our founding document, however, diminish students' civic capacities. As the panelists will explain, celebratory approaches to teaching the Constitution are both inadequate and inaccurate. Cynthia Levinson and Sanford Levinson, authors of Fault Lines in the Constitution: The Framers, Their Fights, and the Flaws that Affect Us Today, a book for young readers, explain an alternative perspective on the Constitution, focusing on the ways that the structures of our government contribute to dysfunctionalities in American political life. In addition, an educator will provide insights into ways to make civics education more complex and comprehensive.

Panelists: Cynthia Levinson, Sanford Levinson, Aaron Hull, Katherina Payne

Moderator: Meira Levinson

1:30 – 3:00: Schools as Civic Actors. Civic education is traditionally thought of as a subject (like math or science), a set of pedagogies (such as in-class discussion or action civics), or extracurricular learning opportunities (such as student government or debate). But schools also educate civically by modeling civic values and engagement themselves as civic actors. This can prove challenging when teachers, administrators, students, and parents are divided about what their obligations should be. Should schools create “sanctuary campuses” intended to disrupt the school-to-deportation pipeline? How should they respond when students stage school walkouts over civic and political issues, or when students who merely repeat politicians’ statements run afoul of anti-bullying laws? This session will immerse participants in case study discussions about how educators and policy makers are addressing schools’ responsibilities as civic actors in times of upheaval.

Full event information: https://law.utexas.edu/calendar/2018/02/17/36587/