The 2009 Conference on Catholic Social Thought & the Law at Villanova

CALL FOR PAPERS

JOURNAL OF CATHOLIC SOCIAL THOUGHT

Conference on Catholic Social Thought and Legal Education

Villanova

University

School

of Law

September 26, 2009

 

Saint Ignatius of Loyola wrote in the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus in 1552 that the study of law would not be treated in Jesuit universities because it was too far removed from the purposes of the order. Within thirty years, though, faculties of law were opening in Jesuit universities, and today in the

United States

there are some 27 law schools in Catholic universities under Augustinian, Jesuit, Dominican, Holy Cross, Marianist, Vincentian, Spiritan, and diocesan auspices. The past 10 years have witnessed a renaissance in Catholic legal education. New law schools have opened with an express commitment to Catholic identity, and established law schools at Catholic universities have undertaken to enhance their institutional mission. Catholic social teaching offers extraordinary opportunities for the integration of Catholic perspectives into legal education, as principles in Catholic social teaching such as solidarity, subsidiarity, the option for the poor, economic justice, and the systematic linkage of the religious and the social provide distinctive bases for both critique and reconstruction of existing legal structures. The 2009 annual conference sponsored by the Journal of Catholic Social Thought and Villanova University School of Law will explore a range of topics at the intersection of Catholic social thought and legal education. Among the possible topics for papers are explorations of how Catholic social thought can produce a vibrantly Catholic approach to law and legal education; proposals for the integration of Catholic social thought pervasively into the law school curriculum; examinations of Catholic social thought's particular importance in specific courses such as clinics, jurisprudence, legal profession, poverty law, immigration, business associations and others; Catholic social thought’s relevance to the formation of law students and preparation for the vocation of lawyering in Catholic law schools; and how the principles of Catholic social thought should influence students' experience of law school outside the classroom. The conference will include presentations by law school faculty who have taught classes in Catholic social thought & the law in both Catholic and non-Catholic law schools. The conference will begin a dialogue about the past, present, and future of Catholic legal education in the

United States

within the framework of Catholic social thought.

 

Paper proposals or a question may be directed to Professor Michael Moreland at [email protected], or Dean Mark Sargent at [email protected]. Proposals should be submitted by

May 30, 2009

. Papers will be considered for publication in the Journal of Catholic Social Thought, a peer-reviewed journal.

 

-- Mark Sargent