Newsletter: Vol. 8, Issue 1, January 2022
From the Director
Season’s Greetings from the Stewart Center on the Global Legal Profession. With classes being back in person this fall, it has been a very busy semester since we last wrote in August.
Below are the exciting research, teaching, and service activities with which we have been involved over the last four months. Happy New Year!
Jayanth Krishnan
Milt and Judi Stewart Professor of Law
Director, Milt and Judi Stewart Center on the Global Legal Profession
Our immigration work continues
In addition to the series of research papers that we released last February, June, July, and October, our immigration work has only continued to move forward. We hosted a lecture given by Ms. Rachel Van Tyle, who serves as the Director of Legal Services at Exodus Immigration, Inc. Based in Indianapolis with an office opening in Bloomington, Exodus is an NGO that addresses the needs of those seeking asylum in the U.S. Ms. Van Tyle spoke to our community about the work her organization is doing to help resettle the thousands of Afghan refugees moving to Indiana.
Relatedly, students from Professor Krishnan’s immigration class are also helping to provide humanitarian aid to the refugees, particularly those being housed in Camp Atterbury. Concurrently, the Center has recently been invited to help in the creation of a new university initiative aimed at establishing an interdisciplinary institute focused on refugee and migration studies.
And, the Center was asked to be part of IU’s Institute of Advanced Studies’ “Bloomington Symposium.” This project involves academics from across the university whose research focuses on both domestic and global immigration policy. These scholars will be holding a major conference between April 28-30, 2022, on migration, human rights, and public policy.
Global engagement with international partners
Our Center colleagues were invited to participate in three exciting global conferences this past semester. In late August, Professor Carwina Weng and Ms. Lara Gose were involved in an international summer school program held by the Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University (Kaliningrad, Russia). Educators from several Russian law faculties, U.S. law schools, and European universities were present, and Professor Weng and Ms. Gose taught a course entitled “Professional Development and Skill-Building through Self-Assessment.”
In October, we worked in coordination with Maurer’s Office of Graduate Legal Studies and International Programs, the IU-Mexico Gateway, and Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México to put on a program called “Explore IU.” Three Center faculty members – Professor Joseph Hoffmann, Professor Christiana Ochoa, and Professor Jayanth Krishnan – gave presentations on their respective research interests to a primarily Mexican audience comprised of lawyers, researchers, public policy analysts, students, and others who wished to learn more about the Maurer School of Law. Our colleague, Professor Gabrielle Goodwin coordinated this fantastic event.
In November, our Center colleague, Professor Ethan Michelson, a specialist on the Chinese legal profession, coordinated two significant programs at the IU-China Gateway, which he directs. On November 5th, the China Gateway hosted an event entitled “Economic Aspects of the Pandemic and the Post-Pandemic Global Economy.” And on November 11th, he organized a workshop, “The Future of Chinese and United States Climate Strategy.”
And then in December, our Center faculty – along with Dean Austen Parrish and Executive Associate Dean Donna Nagy – participated in a major international conference hosted by O.P. Jindal Global University entitled “The Global Law Schools’ Summit.” Dean Parrish spoke on the globalization of international law. Dean Nagy discussed the changing nature of publishing and publications in legal academia. Professor Ochoa presented her views on the intersection of environmental law, contract law, and public policy. And Professor Krishnan served on a panel that focused on law and social movements, which also involved commemorating the 37th anniversary of the tragic Bhopal-Union Carbide gas leak disaster.
New funding received
We received great news that a significant external grant, co-authored by our Center Coordinator, Ms. Lara Gose, and Professor Gabrielle Goodwin, was awarded in October. The funding will be used to support the Stewart Fellows Program and, excitingly, to host two students from Russia to complete the Learning and Working (LAW) LL.M. program at Maurer. Congratulations to Lara and Gabe on this terrific accomplishment!
Speakers
In his capacity as co-advisor for the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, Professor Krishnan wishes to commend the APALSA students for hosting Mr. Greg Zipes as a keynote speaker in October. Mr. Zipes is a lawyer for the Department of Justice, a lecturer at NYU Law School, and the author of the recent, University of Michigan Press book, Justice and Faith: The Frank Murphy Story. In his book, Mr. Zipes discusses the powerful dissent Justice Murphy wrote sharply disagreeing with the Supreme Court’s 1944 ruling in Korematsu v. United States.
The Center will welcome more dynamic speakers in the upcoming spring semester, including Professor Ingrid Eagly (UCLA), who will deliver the Ralph Fuchs Lecture; and Ms. Nicole Ramos, who is the Border Rights Project Director at Al Otro Lado, an organization that provides assistance to refugees and asylum seekers on the U.S.-Mexico Border. Al Otro Lado will provide internships to Maurer Law JD students through the Stewart Fellows Program in 2022.
Best wishes for a productive spring semester. Stay safe and healthy.