Subsidiarity and Federalism: The Relationship Between Law Schools and Their Universities

In his book on the history of Fordham University School of Law, Bob Kaczorowski does not take an explicit position on how decision-making authority on matters ranging from resource utilization to curriculum development should be allocated between a law school and its university. Rather, he offers in detail a story and extensive evidence that tends to reflect and support the view traditionally taken by the American Bar Association (ABA), the vast majority of law faculty, and most law school deans on the subject: listen, you folks over there at the university—we know what we are doing, so just leave us alone to do it. And, most of all, do not steal our resources for your pet projects. Kaczorowski’s is an outstanding book worthy of consideration by anyone concerned with university-law school relations and law school financing. In this regard, I should add, the traditional view of law school advocates and constituents on how their schools should be treated is virtually identical to the positions taken by their colleagues in other disciplinary homes within the university. However, the pervasiveness of a viewpoint is not proof of its validity. I disagree in important respects with the traditional view held within schools on the relationship of those schools to their university, and I want to offer in these pages a different perspective on how to think about the issue

Law Schools, the Justice Mission, and Bob McKay

The general points I make link to the justice mission of law schools. We must produce people prepared to practice at the very highest levels; and we must produce the kind of detached thinking that one associates with a great research institution. Most of us were educated in the system created by Langdell: the casebook method. It is startling that Langdell\u27s method enjoys the pervasive dominance of legal education that it does. The notion of a static corpus juris which provided the foundation upon which Langdell built his model is impossible to maintain. Another general observation, the demographics of our students are changing. Our law students also learn very quickly that the cases they study are not about real people while the practice of law is about real people. Thus their learning is disconnected from the reality of what most lawyers do most of the time. In response to this shortcoming we have begun to develop other modes of education. One final general observation: Even the way we use the casebook method must change. Specifically, to the extent we rely on the casebook method, we should insist that students go deeply into general subject areas over their three years of study. The justice mission demands that students be exposed to what lawyers do in the lives of people on the one hand and to the need for reference to normative disciplines on the other. And the justice mission requires that they be steeped deeply in the law

Law Schools, the Justice Mission, and Bob McKay

The general points I make link to the justice mission of law schools. We must produce people prepared to practice at the very highest levels; and we must produce the kind of detached thinking that one associates with a great research institution. Most of us were educated in the system created by Langdell: the casebook method. It is startling that Langdell\u27s method enjoys the pervasive dominance of legal education that it does. The notion of a static corpus juris which provided the foundation upon which Langdell built his model is impossible to maintain. Another general observation, the demographics of our students are changing. Our law students also learn very quickly that the cases they study are not about real people while the practice of law is about real people. Thus their learning is disconnected from the reality of what most lawyers do most of the time. In response to this shortcoming we have begun to develop other modes of education. One final general observation: Even the way we use the casebook method must change. Specifically, to the extent we rely on the casebook method, we should insist that students go deeply into general subject areas over their three years of study. The justice mission demands that students be exposed to what lawyers do in the lives of people on the one hand and to the need for reference to normative disciplines on the other. And the justice mission requires that they be steeped deeply in the law

In Praise of the Saints: Introducing Medieval Hagiography into the British Literature Survey

Despite increased interest in hagiographic writing among scholars of early literature in the last few decades, serious study of saints’ lives in the undergraduate classroom remains rare. To some degree, this is a result of poor representation in the leading anthologies,[1]but another contributing factor has been the perception of a distinction between hagiographic and other medieval writing it terms of genre or of literary value. Such distinctions, however, are modern inventions, and do not accurately reflect the medieval reader or writer’s view. Nor is the inclusion of the literature alongside the expected “great works” difficult or jarring; a short section on hagiography can in fact be introduced into a survey course with great ease. Indeed, because many texts already common to these surveys assume a reader’s intimate knowledge of the cult of the saints, most commonly-offered surveys (especially courses such as World Literature to 1500 and the ubiquitous survey of pre-1800 British Literature) will actively benefit from the inclusion of hagiographic writing. Students exposed to hagiographic materials will understand the traditions influencing Bede’s biographical sketches, make deeper connections with Gawain’s fealty to the Marian cult, and of course illuminate the import of the “hooly blisful martir” whose shrine the Canterbury pilgrims seek. This short essay offers several suggestions for incorporating the saints into an undergraduate curriculum

The Icelandic Sagas as a Subject for Undergraduate Study

While medieval studies has dramatically expanded its scope and the texts taught as part of its subject over the past few decades, the study of Icelandic saga literature is still a fringe discipline, particularly in North American academe. Rarer still is undergraduate exposure to the sagas, despite their appeal as texts and the rich possibilities they offer to students trained in Anglo-Saxon literature (or at least Beowulf) and familiar with Norse myth and legend through Tolkien or Marvel comics. The insular nature of the culture from which the literature springs is a contributing factor, of course—there is the undeniable ring of truth to Milan Kundera’s assertion that “(a)lthough the glory of the Sagas is indisputable, their literary influence would have been much greater if they had been written in the language of one of the major nations; and we would have regarded the Sagas as an anticipation or even the foundation of the European novel.”[1]Yet this isolation need not, and should not, prevent their inclusion in the literary canon as it is presented to our students. In my experience, the sagas fit well into survey courses on Western, pre-modern, or epic literature, and sustain more detailed inquiry in dedicated courses on Northern European medieval literature and on the sagas as a subject of study in their own right. Unsurprisingly, saga readings can be used to generate discussion and analysis through nearly any critical lens—work on the sagas and gender, law, historicity, disability studies, manuscript studies, formalism, mimetic theory, religious history, ecocriticism, cultural studies, and other topics is ongoing. Of equal or greater value to an undergraduate classroom, the sagas reward careful reading and introduce a type of dispassionate but narratologically rich writing that many students respond to with great enthusiasm. In what follows, I will briefly examine several possibilities for incorporating the sagas into a survey course before considering the advantages of a full course dedicated to saga literature

Saint's Law: Anglo-Saxon Sanctuary Protection in the Translatio et Miracula S. Swithuni

Lantfred of Winchester's Translatio et Miracula S. Swithuni is one of many hagiographical texts incorporating legal and customary traditions connected to the sanctuary privilege as proof of the saints' protection of holy places. Lantfred's specific usage of sanctuary episodes highlights Swithun's intercessory role in secular as well as spiritual matters. Analysis of the "wheat thief" narrative (previously unrecognized as a sanctuary case) along with other tales in the miracle collection suggests Lantfred's strategic use of Winchester's sanctuary space as a rebuke to overzealous enforcers of later Anglo-Saxon law. The text carefully presents Swithun as a merciful alternative to the harshness of royal justice — a notable feat considering the Wessex royal family's close involvement with Winchester and Swithun's early cult

Why the Economics Profession Must Actively Participate in the Privacy Protection Debate

When Google or the U.S. Census Bureau publish detailed statistics on browsing habits or neighborhood characteristics, some privacy is lost for everybody while supplying public information. To date, economists have not focused on the privacy loss inherent in data publication. In their stead, these issues have been advanced almost exclusively by computer scientists who are primarily interested in technical problems associated with protecting privacy. Economists should join the discussion, first, to determine where to balance privacy protection against data quality; a social choice problem. Furthermore, economists must ensure new privacy models preserve the validity of public data for economic research