Law professors Lani Guinier and Gerald Torres to speak on law and social movements
EUGENE, Ore. -- (Oct. 8, 2008) -- Lani Guinier, Harvard Law School professor, and Gerald Torres, University of Texas at Austin School of Law professor, will present a public lecture at the University of Oregon at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 23.
The Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics is sponsoring the free public event in the William W. Knight Law Center, Room 175, 1515 Agate St.
Guinier and Torres's joint public address, "Changing the Wind: The Demosprudence of Law and Social Movements," will examine key social movements to show how citizens affect public policy and the law.
Their address will analyze the term "Demosprudence," which defines how ordinary citizens, through mobilized movements on both the left and the right, create new social meanings that are incorporated in law and public policy. The discussion will describe how the dynamic relationship between citizens and lawmaking in a democracy creates opportunities for new lawyers, activists and policy makers. Historical examples, such as the Montgomery bus boycott, will be discussed to demonstrate the impact of social movements.
Guinier was the first woman of color appointed to a tenured professorship at Harvard Law School in 1998, where she is currently the Bennett Boskey Professor of Law. She previously worked in the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, and served as head of the voting rights project at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Guinier has published many scholarly articles and books on issues of race, gender and democratic decision-making.
Torres is a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin and the former president of the Association of American Law Schools. Torres is also an expert in agricultural and environmental law. He formerly served as deputy assistant attorney general for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and as counsel to then-U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno.
In their co-authored book, “The Miner’s Canary: Enlisting Race, Resisting Power, Transforming Democracy” (2002), Guinier and Torres examined ways to revitalize democracy through the participation of all citizens and proposed a dramatic, hopeful shift in race and politics in the U.S. The current discussion of "Demosprudence" expands that line of inquiry with consideration of social movements and their impact on the law and public policy.
For more information, contact the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics,
541-346-3700.
About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is a world-class teaching and research institution and Oregon's flagship public university. The UO is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization made up of 62 of the leading public and private research institutions in the United States and Canada. Membership in the AAU is by invitation only. The University of Oregon is one of only two AAU members in the Pacific Northwest.
Contact: Julie Brown, 541-346-3185, julbrown@uoregon.edu
Source: Margaret Hallock, 541-346-3699, hallock@uoregon.edu
Link: Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics, http://www.waynemorsecenter.uoregon.edu
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