Faculty Forum is a monthly feature written by Teri Baxter highlighting the achievements of faculty at UT Law including publications in academia and the media, speaking engagements, interviews, awards, and other accomplishments.
Professor Eric Franklin Amarante’s article, Unregulated Charity, will be published in a forthcoming issue of the WASHINGTON LAW REVIEW.
Professor Brad Areheart spoke in June at the 2018 Law & Society conference. He presented his paper, the “Headwinds and Tailwinds of Workplace Equality.”
The UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA JOURNAL OF LAW & PUBLIC AFFAIRS will publish Professor Robert Blitt’s latest article, The Wolf Act Amendments to the U.S. International Religious Freedom Act: Breakthrough or Breakdown? in its Fall 2018 volume. The article takes a critical look at changes to the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) and highlights the legislative failure to secure meaningful updates to IRFA as it enters its third decade.
In July, Jurist published an op-ed by Professor Blitt responding to a State Department decision to hold an International Religious Freedom Summit. Despite the conference, Professor Blitt argues that the current administration is only perpetuating a longer history of ambivalence towards the promotion of international religious freedom, and that its treatment of this right is no exception to its overarching policy of antipathy towards human rights.
Professor Carol Collins participated on a panel discussing library systems at the annual meeting of the American Association of Law Libraries in Baltimore. She shared with participants her recent process and experience of evaluating library systems.
Professor Eliza Fink presented “25 Free Technologies for Law Librarians: Second Edition” at the American Association of Law Libraries conference in Baltimore, MD on July 16th. The program covered the use of educational technology programs including Flipgrid, Insert Learning, StoryMap and Nearpod.
Professor Fink wrote the chapter “The Millennial Job Market: Maintaining Confidence in the Face of Rejection” in the recently published Millennial Leadership in Libraries.
In late July, Professor Joan Heminway attended and presented at the 20th Congress of the International Academy of Comparative Law in Fukuoka, Japan as the U.S Rapporteur on The Legal Regulation of Crowdfunding, one of the legal regulatory projects featured at the Congress. Her written report will be published in book form with other national reports and a general report at a later date.
Professor Michael Higdon’s article titled The Quasi-Parent Conundrum will be published in volume 90 of the UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO LAW REVIEW.
Associate Dean Alex Long’s article, Abolishing the Suicide Rule, is forthcoming in volume 113 of the NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW.
The Inaugural Women’s Leadership in Academia Conference was held at the University of Georgia School of Law on July 19-20, 2018. Professor Joy Radice, Professor Paula Schaefer, and Dean Melanie Wilson led a workshop titled Leadership Challenges and Solutions Over the Course of a Career. Professor Joan Heminway spoke in a session titled Outside the Four Walls of the Law School: Law Faculty and Staff as Campus and University Service Leaders. The University of Tennessee College of Law is one of seven partner institutions that will coordinate efforts to develop and promote future Women’s Leadership in Academia conferences. Our other partner schools are Brigham Young University, J. Reuben Clark Law School, Michigan State University College of Law, UCLA School of Law, University of Georgia School of Law, University of Virginia School of Law, and Yale Law School.
Professor Glenn Harlan Reynolds’ The Third Amendment in the 21st Century, 82 TENN. L. REV. 491 (2015) was recently cited by Judge Don Willett of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in the case of Mance v. Holder.
Professor Glenn Harlan Reynolds published a News & Review Essay in the Wall Street Journal on August 17, entitled “When Digital Platforms Become Censors.” The essay discusses concerns about how “internet megaplatforms” such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, censor content they deem objectionable.
Professor Reynolds is an amicus curiae in Worman v. Healey, a Second Amendment case raising the question of whether states can ban weapons in common use. He is joined by Professors Randy Barnett of Georgetown University Law Center, Robert Cottrol of George Washington University, Nicholas Johnson of Fordham University, and Joyce Lee Malcolm of George Mason University, among others.
Professor Greg Stein’s article, Regulatory Takings in the State Courts: A Typical Case Offers Valuable Guidance to Lawyers, has been published in the August 2018 issue of ACREL NEWS & NOTES, a newsletter published by the American College of Real Estate Lawyers.
Professor Maurice Stucke’s work was cited in the Financial Express article “Why digital cartelisation will be a new challenge for the anti-trust regime” by Vaibhav Choukse.
Professor Valorie Vojdik’s article, Conceptualizing Intimate Violence and Gender Equality: A Comparative Approach, has been republished as a chapter in Catherine Mackinnon’s new three volume set, Gender in Constitutional Law, published by Edgar Elgin Press. The article compares the approach of the US and South Africa constitutional law on gender violence and inequality, and is included in the section on Gender-Based Violence with four other scholarly articles, including Kimberle Crenshaw’s foundational work, Mapping the Margins. Professor Vojdik’s article was originally published in volume 31 of the Fordham International Law Journal.
2018 Southeastern Association of Law Schools (SEALS) Conference Participation
Academic Success Director Renee Allen participated in the SEALS Writing Connections Workshop titled “The Helicopter Effect: Connecting with Students and Society.” She talked about how helicopter parenting affects Millennials’ generational learning style and proposed small changes law teachers can make to best educate current and future law students.
Professor Brad Areheart had a variety of speaking engagements at the 2018 iteration of SEALS. First, he co-chairs and coordinated the annual Prospective Law Teachers Workshop. The workshop takes place over three days and helps prepare aspiring law professors for the AALS Faculty Recruitment Conference in the fall. The official programming this year included: an introductory reception; mock interviews; mock job talks; a CV review session; several panels directed toward prospective law professors; and a closing reception. As part of this, Professor Areheart organized and moderated a panel entitled “Navigating the Hiring Market.” The Workshop had 12 workshoppers and over 100 unique faculty volunteers, including Professors Joy Radice, Michael Higdon, and Joan Heminway.
Professor Areheart also organized, moderated, and spoke as part of a discussion group titled, “Recent Developments in Disability and Health Law.” He was a discussant in a session entitled, “Becoming a Productive and Fulfilled Scholar,” and a commentator on a paper about racial bias for the “New and Existing Voices in Labor and Employment Law.”
Professor Ben Barton serves as the head of the SEALS legal ethics resource team and organized one panel and one discussion group at SEALS. The panel discussed Russ Weaver and Eli Wald’s forthcoming book “Good Lawyers Don’t Eat What They Kill.” Professor Barton and three co-panelists discussed the book. The discussion group covered the Ethics of Legal Education and Professor Barton moderated and kicked the discussion off. Professor Barton also served as Deputy Executive Director of SEALS for 2017-18.
Associate Dean Teri Dobbins Baxter organized and moderated a discussion group for associate deans for faculty development. The discussion focused on: (1) supporting mid-level and senior faculty members; (2) confronting challenges and benefits to fostering positive relationships with the university and other departments; and (3) addressing the emerging role of external funding in times of decreased enrollment.
Professor Zack Buck was a participant in the discussion group, “Health Law and Bioethics,” and a panelist for the workshop on health law, “Healthcare in the Era of the Trump Administration.”
Professor Heminway was appointed corporate compliance officer of SEALS. She also participated in three discussion groups as part of the business law workshop. She co-organized and co-moderated one of those discussion groups and organized and moderated another.
Professor Becky Jacobs moderated the panel: “Perspectives on the Future of Gender Equality in the Legal Profession” and participated in the discussion group: “Connecting to the Future: What’s In Store for Writing and Law?”
Professor Lucy Jewel was part of a panel/workshop entitled “Connecting with the Possible: Advancing Despite Hierarchies.” She also presented her forthcoming paper, Silencing Discipline Within Legal Education, which analyzes academic freedom issues in the context of both critical legal scholarship and legal skills teaching.
Professor Don Leatherman moderated a panel on various tax topics.
Professor Joy Radice moderated the discussion group: “New and Established Voices in Criminal Law & Criminal Procedure.”
Professor Paula Schaefer and Professor Joy Radice presented “Skills Exercises in Civil Procedure and Criminal Law Classrooms” in the Discussion Group: “Workshop on Teaching to Engage.”
Professor Valorie Vojdik moderated the discussion group: “White House – Department of Justice Relations: Executive Control or Independence?”
Dean Melanie Wilson was a panelist for two sessions: “Deans Giving Advice to Newer Law Professors,” and “The Role of the Law School Dean in Promoting Legal Writing.”
Professor David Wolitz gave a talk at the perspectives on teaching criminal procedure workshop. The talk was titled “Teaching Theory, Doctrine, and Practice – One Approach to Crim Pro.”