Concurso Estudiantil Jorge Pérez- López 2019/ 2019 Graduate and Undergraduate Student Paper Award Competition

El Comité de ASCE del Concurso Estudiantil Jorge Pérez-López está aceptando nominaciones para el concurso del año 2019. Un panel de expertos juzgará a los trabajos sometidos basado en su relevancia, originalidad, calidad, contribución, y la claridad de su presentación. Los trabajos no deben tener como coautor a un instructor, profesor o asistente de enseñanza. Como mínimo, todos los trabajos deben incluir una declaración de la tesis, presentar pruebas o datos que la apoyan, no pasarse de 5.000 palabras a doble espacio, y estar escrito siguiendo uno de los estilos académicos estándares.

ASCE Student Award Committee is accepting nominations for the 2019 Jorge Pérez-López Student Award Competition. A panel of scholars will judge all submissions on the basis of relevance, originality, quality, contribution, and clarity of presentation. Papers should not be co-authored with an instructor or teaching assistant. At a minimum, all papers must outline a thesis statement, present evidence or data supporting it, confine to 5000 words double-spaced length, and follow one of the standard academic writing and citations styles.

More information below.

CALL FOR PAPERS Seminar on Digitalization and Legal Culture: Western and Chinese Perspectives

CALL FOR PAPERS

Seminar on Digitalization and Legal Culture: Western and Chinese Perspectives

This seminar aims to reflect on the current discussion on digitalization, geopolitics, law and legal culture as perceived from Western and Chinese perspectives. It wants to contribute to an understanding of the processes of legal, cultural, political and societal transformations sparked off in the digital era.

China has been a frontrunner in the area of digitalization. As a global force in digital technologies, China has increasingly played an active and contested role in shaping the digital landscape through collaboration and competitiveness with western and other states. Meanwhile, advanced digitalization urges accountable up-to-date ethical and legal guidelines to address the impact of the digitalization on cultural and societal transformation globally.

At this moment, the EU has been a frontrunner in the area of legal regulation, court cases and guidelines to limit the power of the tech giants. Generally, the EU seems to be more reluctant than both the US and China in relation to the benefits related to digital technologies and their influence on individuals and societies. To some extent, this is due to historical legacies.

Digitalization and the digital revolution is changing the world in the 21st century in terms of communication, (resource) control, censorship, commerce and surveillance of people, organizations, and markets. Size matters, huge states, and private actors play a considerable role in this development, where state and private governed ‘surveillance capitalism’ and ‘social credit systems’ coexist globally. The implications of this for political and legal culture are not clear.

A Report From the Front Lines of the Transformation of the American University: Jacob Howland, "Storm Clouds Over Tulsa"

In April 2019, Jacob Howland, wrote a blistering analysis of the great institutional transformations that are occurring at the University of Tulsa. This was no ordinary Jeremiad by someone easily dismissed as a failure within the (teaching side) of the academy. Professor Howland is the McFarlin Professor of Philosophy and past Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religion at the University of Tulsa where he teaches in the Honors Program as well as in philosophy.

The Essay is remarkable for a number of reasons beyond the lamentation about the way in which university programs are being transformed, and the relationship of the university to its athletic and professional programs. Equally interesting to readers ought to be the way in which such transformation has been occurring without the substantial participation of the faculty. That has substantial ramifications. It evidences the continuing transformation of the education side of the university.  First it is no longer necessarily the principle undertaking of an institution--the production of athletic events and professionals readily who might be inserted into higher end portions of the wage labor markets might now be as important, if not more so. It also suggests again that markets rather than knowledge drive the business of education, and that the business of knowledge production is deeply tied to its direct power to generate revenue. While that is well known, the shift from long term to short term calculation  is less well appreciated, though its effects on the way in which American business has been shaped is well known.  Now those birds have come home to roost in the academy.  It also suggests the way that cultures of administration, rather than cultures of knowledge production and dissemination have now come to dominate the operation of the university.  The effects are profound. And apparently in the case of the University of Tulsa, the effects might not be economically viable.

But that opens the real question behind the essay--for whom is the university operated, whose interests does it serve, and to what ends is it run.  One answer may be the trustees and large foundations  who are willing to fund enterprises to please themselves irrespective of the economic (much less academic) consequences? Ironically, while this reduces the role of faculty (and the influence of the academic.side of the house to irrelevance, to a passive object of production), it also reduces administrators to a more servile role (they also perform for their masters). This ultimately provides the most interesting insight of the essay (for me at least)--is it possible that the real transformation of the American academy is not in the shifting of authority from faculty to administrators, but in the transformation of the academy itself from a self-controlled institution, to one in which authority has shifted outward. We know where some of that authority has leaked out--to the state (regulatory authorities can be as fickle and capricious as any patron, and even more politically motivated).  But authority appears also to have leaked to foundations and other actors  whose control of money increasingly shapes the academy form the outside (without preference for political ideology, just financial power politically exercised). Those are some of the ideas that swirled through my head as I read the essay.  But I leave it to readers to make what sense they can from the essay.       

His Essay, Storm Clouds Over Tulsa, was published in City Journal and appeared 17 April 2019.  It is reproduced (without the embedded pictures) below.  The original may be access here.

Without (Much) Comment: "Judge throws out ex-Penn State president’s conviction"

He shall take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the doorway of the tent of meeting. Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for the scapegoat. Then Aaron shall offer the goat on which the lot for the LORD fell, and make it a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness as the scapegoat.  Leviticus 16:7-10

Two stories are worth consideration.  They mark the next stage of a morality tale that started with Pennsylvania's efforts to respond to the horrible events that eventually resulted in the conviction of a member of the Penn State Football coaching staff for immoral acts against children.   They remind us of the complicated relationship between the state, its institutions, and the people who populate both in the shadows of law and justice.

The stories touch on the recent decision by a judge to overturn the conviction of former Penn State President Spanier of his conviction for misdemeanor child-endangerment, the only charge that the state was able to secure a conviction in the long and tortuous process of finding administrators to bear the responsibility for failed institutional duty.  In commentary I note merely remarks made April 13, 2012: Penn State’s New Reality; Reflections by the Penn State 2011-2012 Fellows--Four Lessons Learned About University Governance in Crisis.

Call for Proposals: BHR conference in Vilnius on 23 May 2019

BHR conference in Vilnius on 23 May 2019

Dear colleagues,

 

Mykolas Romeris University (Vilnius, Lithuania) with the support of the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is organizing an international conference on human rights and business issues on 23 May 2019. 

The event will take place very soon and of course we are aware of the fact that the agenda of yours could be booked for the spring period already. Nevertheless, we would like to invite you to contribute to our conference with a presentation regarding business and human rights in general or to address specific topic regarding implementation of the UN guiding principles. Lithuania is planning to update its National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights this year, so we are interested if other countries face the same problems and what are/could be the solutions.

We will encourage also the speakers to publish their contributions in the International Comparative Jurisprudence – an open-access and peer reviewed journal published by our university.

If you have any questions – feel free to contact Arnas Liauksminas  via email arnas.liauksminas[AT]mruni.eu. The deadline for application is 30 April 2019. 

Convocatoria Abierta para el No 24 de la Revista Iuris Dictio--Contemporary perspectives of competition law--Perspectivas contemporáneas del derecho de competencia /Open Call for No. 24 of the Iuris Dictio Journal--Contemporary perspectives on Competition Law

 A continuación se presentan los detalles de una convocatoria abierta para contribuciones al número 24 de la revista Iuris Dictio. Favor considere participar! Detalles en español e inglés.

Posted below are details of an open call for contributions to Issue No. 24 of the Journal Iuris Dictio.  Please consider submitting! Details in Español and English.

On the Battlefield of Shared Governance--Maricopa Community College and the Shift from Ideas to Faction in Shared Governance

(Pix © Larry Catá Backer 2019)

Shared governance appears to have acquired a political patina.  And that is unfortunate--especially since the labels that are used to describe combatants tends to veil rather than illuminate the agendas and ideologies of the combatants.  The field of battle, of course, is that cluster of practices and principles we have come to describe as "shared governance." The conventional liberal-conservative divide appears to have formed around the binary--"for" or "against" shared governance. Those binaries infect not merely analysis of the evolution and protection of shared governance, but induce even the most well meaning to clothe themselves in these labels.

More's the pity for the way it tends to shift the focus from the construction and reconstruction (or perhaps dismantling) of shared governance to the more mundane issues around fidelity to political faction and its orthodox expression of "positions" with respect to "hot button" issues. Indeed, the shift from ideas to faction  points to the difficulties of discussing shared governance under current conditions.  Ideological conservatism could as easily embrace a robust defense of traditional shared governance and champion the protection of the continued professionalization of the profession, grounded in the notion of classical ideals around the production and dissemination of knowledge whose economics are driven by (the communally) shared value of of both.  Factional conservatism can adopt a corporatist stance, viewing education as an industry and its professorate as assembly line workers producing objects (graduating students and outside funded research commodities). Conversely liberal factionalism can easily descend into the sort of totalitarian orthodoxy that seeks to impose quite specific catechisms within the academy and views its academics as instruments for the propagation of a specific gospel. Ideological liberalism can easily foreground issues around the community of academics with respect to whom the process of professionalized knowledge production and dissemination might flourish in way that advance a core vision of the arc of progress of both.

There is a complementarity between liberal and conservative factionalism, as well as between ideological liberalism and conservatism.  One cannot help noticing that, over the course of the last generation, the ways in which the key stakeholders in the governance and ideological construction of the university have tended more and more to favor the factional stance and to marginalize (that is to reduce to empty sloganeering) the more nuanced and important debates around the ideology of the university (as opposed, of course, to the ideology of specific bits of knowledge or judgments which now masquerades as institutional ideologies of knowledge).  

It is in this frame of ideological mind that one approaches the AAUP's excellent work in the case of Maricopa Community Colleges (the report of which may be accessed here).  The transformation of the debate about shared governance from its ideology to its politics--and certainly around what passes for Republican Party politics in Arizona ought to be telling (Report: @ "C. Political Aspirations of Board Members as Motivation").

The AAUP Press Release and the text of the Rport (plus its addendum) follows below.

"How to Become a Full time Law Professor"--A Workshop for Aspirants at the 4th National People of Color Scholarship Conference

The 4th National People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference takes place this weekend in a beautiful setting, at the American University Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C., 21-24 March 2019. For more information see HERE. Great thanks to American's Dean Camille Nelson for the vision to realize this important gathering.

Among the most important work of the People of Color Scholarship Conferences is their mentoring for people seeking entry into the legal academy, and then mentoring young scholars to enhance the prospects of career success. I was delighted to contribute in some way to that work at a Workshop for Law Teaching Aspirants--"How to Become a Full Time Law Professor"--at the 4th National People of Color Scholarship Conference.  To those ends I joined an impressive group of colleagues--Craig Konnoth (Colorado), Melinda Molina (Capital), Anita Sinha (American), and moderated by the great Alfreda Robinson (George Washington).  

The PowerPoints of the workshop follow along with the Panel description.

New Issue of Journal of Legal Education: On the Relationship Between American Legal Education, Globalization, and Internationalism

The American Legal academy continues to consider its relationship to the rest of the world. That consideration takes two quite distinct forms. The first involves the reception of the "foreign" within the United States--and that requires combating a parochialism and legal-centrism long embedded in American legal education. The second involves the projection of Americanism in law and legal education outward. This is something that the American academy has been quite eager to participate in, especially after 1989. It reflects the notions of the central role of American sensibilities in the technical assistance required for other states to "catch up" under the guidance of a more mature system with good (and perhaps universal) principles. 

I have considered these issues from time to time. See e.g., 'Internationalizing the American Law School Curriculum (in Light of the Carnegie Foundation’s Report),' in The Internationalization of Law and Legal Education 49-112 (Jan Klabbers and Mortimer Sellers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer Science + Business Media B.V., 2008); 'Global Law Schools on U.S. Models: Emerging Models of Consensus-Based Internationalization or Markets-Based Americanization Models of Global Legal Education,' 2 Revista de Educación y Derecho/Education and Law Review (España) 4:1-53 (April-Sept. 2011) (with Bret Stancil); 'Human Rights and Legal Education in the Western Hemisphere: Legal Parochialism and Hollow Universalism,' 21(1) Penn State International Law Review 115-155 (2002); and 'General Principles of Academic Specialization By Means of Certificate or Concentration Programs: Creating a Certificate Program in International, Comparative and Foreign Law at Penn State,' 20 Penn. State International Law Review 67 (2001).

This month the flagship journal of the Association of American Law Schools, the Journal of Legal Education, has devoted a substantial amount its Issue 67-4 to the relationship between American legal education and globalization and internationalism, through an examination of international and comparative law. Special thanks to the editors of this issue, American University's Camille A. Nelson and Anthony E. Varona for putting together a group of quite thought provoking articles.

Links to the articles follow.

Call for Abstracts and Panel Proposals/Convocatoria a Sumarios/Propuestas de Paneles: ASCE 29th Annual Conference

 

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS/PANEL PROPOSALS

ASCE's Twenty-Ninth Annual Meeting
Cuba -- Growth or Decline: Is the Revolution Dead? July 25-July 27, 2019

Requirements: Abstracts and/or panel proposals should describe original work related to the economy of Cuba in a broad sense, including legal, sectoral and social aspects of economic development. Abstracts or panel proposals must not exceed 250 words and must be accompanied by a 150 word biography for each author. Abstracts, panel proposals and biographies, or full papers if already completed, should be sent via email to jperezlopez703@gmail.com and asce@ascecuba.org for consideration by the Program Committee. Please include the words "ASCE 2019 CONFERENCE SUBMISSION" in the subject line. Authors of accepted papers or panels will be required to register for the Conference.
Deadlines: Deadlines for submitting abstracts, papers and or panel proposals for the conference are as follows:

•   Abstract, paper or panel submission deadline: May 1, 2019
  
•   Notification of acceptance by Program Committee: May 15, 2019
  
•   Papers due to discussants: July 15, 2019
  
•   ASCE Twenty-Ninth Annual Conference: July 25-July 27, 2019
  
•   Submission of full papers for consideration for Conference Proceedings: September 15,
  2019 
• 
  
• __________
  
  

CONVOCATORIA A SUMARIOS/PROPUESTAS DE PANELES 

ASCE XIX Conferencia Anual 

"Cuba--Crecimiento o Declive: ¿Ha Muerto la Revolución?" 25 de julio-27 de julio 2019 

 

0. Requisitos: Sumarios y/o propuestas de paneles deben describir trabajos originales relacionados con la economía cubana en un sentido amplio, incluyendo aspectos legales, sectoriales y sociales del desarrollo. Los sumarios o propuestas de paneles no deben exceder 250 palabras. Por favor, con el sumario o propuesta de panel incluya una biografía de 150 palabras de cada autor. Los sumarios, propuestas de paneles, o los ensayos si están disponibles así como las biografías, deben ser enviadas por correo electrónico a jperezlopez703@gmail.com y a asce@ascecuba.org para su consideración por el Comité de Programa. Incluya la frase "ASCE 2019 CONFERENCE SUBMISSION" en el asunto del mensaje electrónico. Se requerirá que los autores de los ensayos y/o participantes en los paneles aceptados se inscriban en la conferencia.
   Fechas límites: Las fechas límites para la presentación de propuestas de ensayos o de paneles son las siguientes:
   
•   Envío de propuestas de ensayos y/o paneles: 1o de mayo de 2019
  
•   Notificación de aceptación por el Comité de Programa: 15 de mayo de 2019
  
•   Ensayos mandados a los comentaristas: 15 de julio de 2019
  
•   ASCE XXIX Conferencia Anual: 25 de julio-27 de julio, 2019
  
•   Ensayos sometidos para su posible publicación en la memoria de la conferencia: 15 de
  septiembre de 2019