Four workshops were offered during the conference on Saturday, May 1.
Clinicians of Color Workshop
1 – 5 pm Eastern
Nermeen Arastu, City University of New York School of Law
Deborah N. Archer, New York University School of Law
Priya Baskaran, American University, Washington School of Law
Kimberley Basnight, Echos Design Agency
Amber Baylor, Texas A&M University School of Law
Chante Brantley, SMU Deadman Law
Sherley Cruz, American University, Washington College of Law, Co-Chair and Moderator
Lolita Darden, Suffolk University Law School
Nakia C. Davis, North Carolina Central University School of Law
Llezlie L. Green, American University, Washington College of Law
Norrinda Hayat, Rutgers Law School
Vanessa Hernandez, Suffolk University Law School
Susan R. Jones, George Washington University Law School
Carla Laroche, Florida State University College of Law
Tameka Lester, Georgia State University College of Law, Co-Chair and Moderator
Karla M. McKanders, Vanderbilt University Law School
Kim McLaurin, Suffolk University Law School
Ragini N. Shah, Suffolk University Law School
Nicole Smith Futrell, City University of New York School of Law
Julia Vázquez, Southwestern Law School
Anthony Eudelio Verona, University of Miami School of Law
Erika Wilson, University of North Carolina School of Law
This workshop will focus on community by exploring issues of race and implicit bias, navigating the unwritten rules of academia, balancing teaching/scholarship/service, demystifying the promotion and tenure process, maximizing the impact of scholarship, and identifying paths to leadership. These topics will provide the Clinicians of Color community with tools and calls to action that will strengthen our foundation and help us build for our future. The workshop will consist of a plenary welcome, two concurrent sessions, and a plenary closing session. Concurrent sessions will provide space for new and experienced clinicians discuss specific goals, needs, and obstacles.
Learning Law Through Experience and by Design Workshop
1 – 3 pm Eastern
Christopher Roberts, The University of Texas School of Law Carwina Weng, Indiana University Maurer School of Law
Margaret E. Reuter, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law
Danielle Cover , University of Wyoming College of Law
Do you hope your students will be justice-ready at the end of your semester together? Fearless problem solvers? Understand what it takes to be the best-prepared lawyer? Reflective learners? Once you, as a teacher, understand your goals for your students, you can construct an effective course to meet your vision. This workshop is targeted to clinical faculty who are ready to visualize what their students will have become (in skills, knowledge, and values) at the end of their course, and then how to build a clinic, field placement, or skills course to achieve that vision.
Consider our conference theme — Reckoning from our Past and Building for the Future. This workshop is designed with just that aim in mind. How do we teach the foundational and emerging lawyering skills that our students need to forge this future path? For experienced clinicians, our workshop enables them to retool their courses to better reach their aspirations for their students’ learning. For less experienced clinicians, the workshop provides the platform to discover how the sundry parts of a course, well-synthesized and sequenced, can deliver deep student learning.
The workshop introduces a design process for creating an effective, intentionally built instructional roadmap for any experiential learning course. It will help each participant identify the animating theory for their course, plus learning goals, final assessment, evaluation rubric, and learning outcomes. This process is particularly challenging as teachers shift from covering many laws, skills, and values to identifying one or two goals drawn from their animating theory about lawyering. But it is anchored in the mission to provide students with durable learning, as they can focus on the most essential content of the course and transfer that learning to different and more challenging contexts in their careers.
The workshop also will cover both formative and summative assessments; how they can help clinicians visualize the “successful student”; and how they can support a law school’s program assessment demands. Overall, the workshop addresses how clinicians can examine exactly what learning they wish to facilitate for their students and how to authentically identify the student characteristics that will demonstrate that learning.
Session Materials:
- Pre-workshop videos:
Navigating the Complexities of the Clinical Teaching Market
1 – 5 pm Eastern
Natalie Nanasi, SMU Dedman School of Law
Daniel M. Schaffzin, The University of Memphis, Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law
This workshop is intended to prepare those contemplating a career in clinical teaching for going on “the market.” The prospect of going on the market whether for the first time or having done so previously, is particularly intimidating in this environment of uncertainty for law schools and almost exclusively remote engagement. The market has changed significantly in recent years and continues to be dynamic due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many clinicians’ job searches span years and a great deal of hiring now occurs outside the formal AALS faculty recruitment system. There is no longer one “right path” to achieving success. Nor has the measure of success remained stagnant, as clinicians find themselves in a variety of different types of positions – temporary, permanent, fellowships, in clinics with hard or soft money, some with security and many without … and the list goes on and on. Our goals for this workshop are to demystify the process; to fill in the gaps for experienced candidates or those who come from well-established and resourced fellowship programs; to inform and advise those who are considering entering the market without the benefit of such resources; to expose participants to clinicians who have successfully navigated the market; and to provide information that will best position all candidates to secure the clinical teaching jobs they seek.
Session Materials:
Scholarship Support Workshop
1 – 5 pm Eastern
Michele Estrin Gilman, University of Baltimore School of Law
Jeffrey J. Pokorack, Suffolk University School of Law
The Scholarship Support Workshop is designed to support new and emerging scholars in identifying scholarly topics, developing writing strategies, gaining feedback on writing, and obtaining publication. This workshop is a safe space to ask questions, share ideas, and obtain support. The workshop has three components: (1) we consider the advantages clinicians have as scholars, and we brainstorm about ways to overcome writing barriers; (2) we discuss the nuts and bolts of the presentation and publication processes; (3) we ask each attendee to share a scholarly idea and receive feedback in a roundtable format. Attendees do not share written work or drafts. We provide attendees with many helpful handouts and takeaways. Prior workshop attendees have reported that the workshop motivated them to start and complete their scholarly projects.