Conference Description
The Third National People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference fulfills the promise that the six regional People of Color scholarship conferences—the Mid-Atlantic, Midwestern, Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, and Western—made in 1999 to come together approximately every five years to examine and support the role of faculty of color in the teaching of law.
The theme of the conference is Our Country, Our World in a “Post-Racial” Era. The conference will address critical national and global issues through the lens of legal scholarship that explicitly and implicitly examines contemporary racial context.
The Honorable Cory Booker, Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, will deliver opening remarks to kick-off the conference. The conference will feature panels on the “war on terror,” urban revitalization, criminal law, health care, education, immigration, human trafficking, voting rights, international and comparative law, judicial nominations, environmental justice, and corporate responsibility, among others. A media plenary session will explore the meaning of a “post-racial” society and its relevance to legal scholarship and teaching.
The conference will also include a Junior Faculty and Development Workshop to assist emerging scholars and those about to enter legal academia to develop scholarly agendas and become better teachers. Several events, including a reception at the Newark Museum and presentation of Revolution‘67, a documentary focusing on the 1967 race riots, will facilitate informal discussions.
Seton Hall Law School serves as a fitting site for the conference. The only private law school in New Jersey, Seton Hall Law is committed to social justice and diversity in the profession, as demonstrated by its diverse faculty, its thirty year-old Legal Education Opportunities (LEO) admissions program for students from underrepresented communities, numerous clinics that serve the indigent and underserved, and its partnership with pipeline programs such as the Summer Institute for Pre-Legal Studies and New Jersey Law and Education Empowerment Project (NJ LEEP).
The Third National Conference follows in the footsteps of its two successful predecessors. More than 400 faculty members, judges, legislators, and practitioners participated in the Second National Conference, which was held at George Washington University Law School in 2004. The Third National Conference promises to be as exciting and engaging as its predecessors. We hope you will join us.
The Third National People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference does not discriminate on the basis of any identity status or scholarly perspective. We are strongly dedicated to the pursuit of excellence by including and integrating individuals who represent different groups, including those based on race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, socioeconomic background, age, disability, immigration or veteran status, or any other status.