CARLISLE, Pa. — Danielle M. Conway, dean and Donald J. Farage Professor of Law at Penn State Dickinson Law, will be the keynote speaker at the Derrick Bell Lecture on Wednesday, Feb. 1, at University of Oregon School of Law. The free, public lecture will be livestreamed at 8:30 p.m. EST (5:30 p.m. PT).
Conway will deliver her remarks, titled “Practicing Antiracism Unapologetically: Using Professor Derrick Bell’s thesis of the permanence of racism as inspiration for ‘Building an Antiracist Law School, Legal Academy, and Legal Profession.’”
The Derrick Bell Lecture is a collaboration between the University of Oregon School of Law and the Division of Equity Inclusion. The lecture is a part of the African American Workshop and Lecture Series, sponsored by the DEI and the office of the University of Oregon president.
Derrick Bell served as the first African American dean of the University of Oregon School of Law from 1980 to 1985. He is considered one of the most influential voices in the foundation of Critical Race Theory, a framework that examines society and culture as they connect to race, law and power.
“Derrick Bell’s thesis of the permanence of racism and his theory of interest convergence are often viewed through a lens of pessimism and linearity. I have chosen to read Professor Derrick Bell’s thesis and theory as a challenge to ideate, prototype, and test solutions for a more just and equal multiracial American democracy that will tap into the law’s emancipatory power," explained Conway.
"In articulating a definition for and a movement around antiracism — focused not on individuals but instead on institutional processes, policies, and practices — more attention can be placed on visualizing those structures, norms, laws and customs that allow systemic racism, racial inequality, and oppression to pervade American institutions," she added. "Eschewing a linear approach, I countenance unapologetic engagement with antiracism using a systems design approach to accept Professor Bell’s challenge. ... One of many reasons to engage with antiracism unapologetically is to contest the operation of racial default rules. Racial default rules fuel racial myths and root false dichotomies to scaffold systemic racial inequality in America.
"The purpose of this talk is to ground a definition of antiracism and its implementation and to convey why the legal profession must lead this work," added Conway. "As well, I will discuss the compelling necessity to engage with antiracism if our nation’s objective is to have a well-functioning, organized, civilized multiracial and multicultural society. Finally, this talk will convey why law schools, the legal academy, and the legal profession have a duty to engage antiracism unapologetically.”
Danielle M. Conway joined Dickinson Law after serving for four years as dean of the University of Maine School of Law and 14 years on the faculty of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, William S. Richardson School of Law. Conway’s scholarly agenda and speeches have focused on, among other areas, advocating for public education and for actualizing the rights of marginalized groups and promoting systemic equity in legal education and the profession. Under her leadership, Dickinson Law’s Antiracist Development Institute was created to facilitate the dismantling of structures that scaffold systemic racial inequality by using a systems design approach focused on implementing antiracist practices, processes and policies throughout organizations.
Conway is the co-recipient of the inaugural Association of American Law Schools’ (AALS) Impact Award, which recognized her work in co-curating the Law Deans Antiracist Clearinghouse Project, a webpage for law deans, faculty, and the public that contains resources and information related to addressing systemic racism in law and legal education. She is an elected member of the American Law Institute, a member of the AALS Executive Committee, and a director of the AccessLex Institute.