Posted June 18, 2003
Back to School
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| Professor John Harrison (at podium) teaches 18th- and 19th-Century Constitutional Theories to several faculty members. |
Law faculty brave the classroom to explore new subjects, scholarship
School is back in session for a group of students at the Law School unique not only for what they lack—laptops to take notes on—but for what they have—law degrees and years of teaching experience. Several Law School faculty are attending faculty enrichment seminars, two one-week sessions organized by Law Professor Jody Kraus and taught by professors John Monahan (June 2-6) and John Harrison (June 16-20).
"Although we have ample opportunity to
vet scholarly projects with our colleagues, we had few opportunities
to learn the fundamentals of core areas of law or other relevant
disciplines from them," Kraus said. As a result, he organized
the courses to cater to faculty needs and offer a comprehensive,
efficient introduction to the basics in the seminar teacher's
area of expertise.
Monahan's class, Understanding and Evaluating Empirical Studies, focused on how to formulate an empirical question or hypothesis to test, research methods for gathering information in an empirical study, and interpreting that information.
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| Harrison (above). Professor Earl Dudley (below) poses a question about the Northwest Territory. |
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Harrison is teaching 18th- and 19th-Century Constitutional Theories, but many in his class are not constitutional law scholars.
"It's people who wanted to know more about this and some who have worked in related fields," he said, adding that given the nature of American public law, it's natural for professors to be interested in the subject.
In his class the faculty are given "fairly heavy" reading assignments that explore primary and secondary materials, from historical and legal scholarship to the constitutional debates at the Federal Convention, but are spared from taking an exam and the Socratic method. "I'm confident that faculty have not only done the reading, but done the reading carefully," he joked.
Professor Elizabeth Magill, who teaches Constitutional Law and Administrative Law, attended both seminars. She attended Monahan's class because she's considering working on an empirical scholarly project in administrative law, and feels the Constitutional Theories seminar will enhance her teaching and writing as well.
"It's an untapped resource," Magill
said of her colleagues. "You don't often get this level of
exposure to their expertise, and we don't often have the time
that we have in summer."
• Reported by M. Wood
