Public Interest Law & Policy Speakers Series
The 2023-2024 Public Interest Law & Policy Speakers Series features an outstanding line-up of judges, lawyers, social scientists, authors, and academics with expertise in public interest law and policy. The year-long, interdisciplinary series brings to Washington University nationally and internationally prominent experts in such areas as civil rights, racial justice, capital punishment, international human rights, government public service, and pro bono private practice. This popular series is now in its twenty-fifth year. Each program is free of charge and open to the public. All events will be on Zoom unless otherwise noted. Most talks provide 1.0 hours of Continuing Legal Education credit unless otherwise noted. For more information, contact Karen Tokarz at 314.935.6414.
See below for the upcoming speakers for the 2023-2024 season.
Fall 2023
Patchwork Apartheid: Private Restriction, Racial Segregation, and Urban Inequality
MCLE 1.0 hours
Monday, November 6, 12:00 p.m. CT
Anheuser-Busch Hall, Room 310
- Professor Colin Gordon of the University of Iowa. Professor Gordon’s book “Patchwork Apartheid: Private Restriction, Racial Segregation, and Urban Inequality,” on the use of racial covenants in the Midwest, including St. Louis and St. Louis County, is scheduled to come out next month.
- Professor Karen Tokarz, moderator
Co-sponsored by the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government & Public Policy; the Brown School; the Clark-Fox Policy Institute; the Gephardt Institute for Civic & Community Engagement; the Political Science Department; the Black Law Students Association; and the SBA Diversity & Inclusion Chair.
Click here to view the recorded event.
The Politics and Process of State Legislatures: What Makes Government Work
MCLE 1.0 hours
Thursday, November 9, 12:00 p.m. CT
Anheuser-Busch Hall, Room 310
- Fireside chat with Tom Bottern, Secretary of the Minnesota State Senate, and Professor Greg Magarian.
Co-sponsored by the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government & Public Policy; the Gephardt Institute for Civic & Community Engagement; and the Political Science Department
Click here to view the recorded event.
PAST FALL 2023 EVENTS
Reproductive Justice After Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization
Wednesday, September 6, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.CT
Anheuser-Busch Hall, Room 310
- Pamela Merritt, Executive Director of Medical Students for Choice
- Professor Susan Appleton, Lemma Barkeloo & Phoebe Couzins Professor of Law
Co-sponsored by WashU Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; If/When/How Student Chapter; Med Students for Choice.
Constitution Day 2023: U.S. Supreme Court Review
MCLE 1.0 hours
Tuesday, September 26, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. CT
Anheuser-Busch Hall, Room 310
Join WashULaw professors for an in-person discussion of recent, notable Supreme Court decisions concerning the First Amendment, affirmative action, student loans, voting rights, and more.
- Professor Travis Crum
- Professor Pauline Kim
- Professor Greg Magarian
- Professor Andrea Katz
- Professor Karen Tokarz
Co-sponsored by the Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement.
Legal Ethics Developments Every Lawyer Should Know
Thursday, October 5, 4:00 p.m. CT
Legal Ethics MCLE 1.0 hours I Zoom Event
Co-sponsored by the WashULaw Office of the Dean and the Public Interest Law and Policy Speaker Series. Register here.
Why Poverty and Inequality Undermine Justice in America
Thursday, October 12, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. CT
Anheuser-Busch Hall, Room 310
- Professor Mark Rank, Herbert S. Hadley Professor of Social Welfare at the Brown School of Social Work, joint appointment in the Department of Sociology at WashU, and author of “The Poverty Paradox: Understanding Economic Hardship Amid American Prosperity”
- Professor Steven Fazzari, Bert A. and Jeanette L. Lynch Distinguished Professor of Economics at WashU, Professor of Sociology
Co-sponsored by the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy.