The Professional Development Committee invites AALS Sections, faculty, and informal groups of faculty to submit preliminary proposals for conferences or workshops in 2016. The Committee prefers proposals for programs that are sufficiently broad that they will interest more than the membership of a single AALS Section or subject area. The AALS also welcomes proposals that contemplate different or innovative programs or that are based on interdisciplinary themes.
Proposals should be submitted by email by June 13, 2014 to profdev[@]aals.org. Jane La Barbera, AALS Managing Director, would be pleased to discuss proposal ideas with you and to answer any questions you have about the Association’s professional development programs. Please send your questions by e-mail to profdev[@]aals.org. im
The Professional Development programs include one-day workshops at the Annual Meeting, as well as two-day workshops at the Mid-Year Meeting. Programs need not fit any particular format, but many past conferences and workshops have fallen into one of the following categories:
- Subject matter programs aimed at faculty who teach particular subjects or types of courses such as the 2013 Mid-Year Meeting Conference on Criminal Justice and the 2010 Mid-Year Meeting Workshop on Civil Procedure: Charting Your Course in a Shifting Field;
- Programs for groups with similar interests other than subject matter such as the 2015 Mid-Year Meeting Workshop on Forty Years of Formal Equality and the 2014 Mid-Year Meeting Workshop on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Issues;
- Programs that cut across subject matter lines such as the 2014 Mid-Year Meeting Workshop on Blurring Boundaries in Financial and Corporate Law; the 2013 Mid-Year Meeting Workshop on Poverty, Immigration and Property; the 2012 Mid-Year Meeting on Workshop on Torts, Environment and Disaster; and the 2012 Mid-Year Meeting Workshop on When Technology Disrupts Law: How do IP, Internet and Biolaw Adapt?;
- Programs dealing with matters of law school administration or legal education generally such as the 2011 Annual Meeting Workshop for Deans and Law Librarians; the 2011 Conference on the Future of the Law School Curriculum; and the 2012 Annual Meeting Workshop on Academic Support-Got ASP?: Leveraging Academic Support Principles and Programs to Meet Strategic Institutional Goals; and,
- Programs exploring the ramifications of significant developments in or affecting the law such as the 2008 Annual Meeting Workshop on Courts: Independence and Accountability.
Proposals should be two to three pages long and include: (1) a description of the areas or topics be covered (e.g., the intersection of criminal law and immigration); (2) an explanation of why it would be important and timely to undertake such a program in 2016; (3) an indication of the format and/or a brief description of panels (e.g. a panel on immigration incarceration, a panel on immigration crimes, a panel on immigration and Miranda amendment). It is also recommended that preliminary proposals include (4) suggestions for members of the planning committee as well as potential speakers and their schools. Since planning committees value diversity of all sorts, we encourage recommendations of women, minorities, those with differing viewpoints, and new teachers as speakers. Specific information regarding the potential speaker’s scholarship, writings, speaking ability, and teaching methodology is valuable, but not required.
Preliminary proposals are extremely helpful to the planning committees. Planning the actual program, including the choice of specific topics and speakers, is the responsibility of the planning committee, which is appointed by the AALS President. Planning committees normally include one or more individuals who are in leadership positions in the proposing Section(s) and other teachers in that subject area.
