CARLISLE, Pa. — Penn State Dickinson Law and Willamette University College of Law will co-host a virtual presentation titled “Legal Education in a Post-COVID World” from 6 to 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday, Jan. 21. The event is free to all students, staff and faculty.
The evening will begin with an introduction by Danielle M. Conway, dean and Donald J. Farage Professor of Law at Penn State Dickinson Law, and Brian Gallini, dean and professor of law at Willamette University College of Law.
Five panelist presentations will dive into the impact of COVID-19 on legal education, quantitative and qualitative findings on how the pandemic has affected retention and mental health of law faculty, the experience of a dean navigating the challenges of COVID, building an antiracist law school during the COVID-19 pandemic, and more. Panelists include Conway, Law School Survey of Student Engagement Project Manager Chad Christensen, Professor Meera E. Deo, Professor Jessica M. Erickson, and Professor Rachel F. Moran, who will serve as moderator.
Immediately following the presentations, a series of breakout sessions will offer participants the opportunity to discuss questions from the panelist presentations:
- Conway and Gallini will moderate groups 1 and 2: “How do we communicate our equity work when equity sometimes requires different responses to different challenges?”
- Christensen and Moran will moderate groups 3 and 4: “Students lost a tangible connection with one another last academic year and therefore lost opportunities for peer-to-peer learning. Moving forward, how do we make sure to address the impact that had on student learning?”
- Deo and Erickson will moderate groups 5 and 6: “What innovations that arose during the pandemic should we continue? Could any of those innovations enhance future opportunities for inclusivity? Are there forced pandemic innovations that we should let go of? What is the process by which we weigh what to keep and what to eliminate?”