Dear Friends,
We are enjoying the tantalizing arrival of spring. By the time you read this, students will have started the new term, and graduation ceremonies will be around the corner. Warm greetings to everyone in the LSJ community – students, staff, faculty, alums, supporters, and friends.
Many of us are preoccupied with new realities. These are difficult times, and universities are among the institutions facing serious challenges. I want to acknowledge that the rights of many in our community are being undermined and that many are experiencing great fear and stress. In these times, the value of the LSJ Department, as a setting for focused study of and sustained reflection on law, rights, and justice, becomes ever greater.
LSJ promotes this study and reflection both inside and outside the classroom. In Professor Morgan Vickers's recent class on reparations, students learned about diverse efforts to pursue remediation for communities that have experienced social, political, legal, and economic harm. In Professor Sebastián Rubiano-Galvis course “Science, Technology, and Justice,” students learned about algorithmic discrimination, the citizen science and open science movements, and various data justice initiatives. Professor Ann Frost introduced a class on “The Criminalization of Pop Culture,” examining the contributions to pop culture from historically stigmatized or criminalized communities and the ways in which dominant social groups appropriate that culture for their own financial gain. In Professor Megan McCloskey’s course “Disability in Global and Comparative Perspectives,” students learned how different societies and cultures understand disability and considered the implications of disability for access to education, sexual and reproductive health care, legal services, and humanitarian services in the context of climate change and armed conflict.
LSJ’s experiential learning opportunities continue to flourish. The Juvenile Parole Project and Prison Book Club continue under the direction of Professor Ann Frost. The Storytelling for Migrant Justice project, now in its second year under the direction of Professor Angelina Godoy, is a three-course sequence in which students co-create stories with detained immigrants facing deportation. Professors Katherine Beckett and Martina Kartman are concluding a study abroad program in New Zealand on indigenous and restorative approaches to justice. Forthcoming study abroad programs in Jamaica, Amsterdam, and Rome address topics such as disability rights, older people’s rights, comparative social control, and comparative legal institutions.
Our faculty continue to produce illuminating scholarship. There are too many publications to list, but I would like to call attention to Professor Arzoo Osanloo’s new co-edited volume on Care in a Time of Humanitarianism, which includes chapters by Professors Osanloo and Rawan Arar. Last October, Professor Arar co-organized a well-attended event to honor the life of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi. In January, Professor Megan Francis delivered a lecture in Seattle’s Town Hall on the November 2024 election. We are delighted that Felicia Foster, LSJ Administrator, has been nominated for the Distinguished Staff Award and Professor Stephen Meyers has been nominated for the Excellence in Global Engagement Award.
Professor Jonathan Beck has accepted a position in the UW Office of the Title IX Coordinator, where he will help lead efforts to prevent sex- and gender-based violence, harassment and discrimination, and contribute to the University's broader civil rights mission. We are sad to lose him as a core faculty member, but congratulate him on his important new position.
This is a time to redouble our efforts to understand the world, to support those in need, and to preserve communities that foster inclusive and honest conversation. LSJ has an important role to play in these efforts. We encourage alums to stay in touch and participate in the life of the department. We would love to hear from you.
Best wishes,
Jamie Mayerfeld
Professor & Chair; Law, Societies & Justice